Viggo Mortensen's
Favorite Causes

We recently asked Mr. Mortensen what concerns are closest to his heart.

Two organizations that he supports are the North Country Children's Clinic in northern New York State, and KILI Radio, serving the reservation lands of the Lakota Indian Nation in southwestern South Dakota.

Located on the highest point of the Pine Ridge Reservation, KILI, 90.1FM, is the largest Indian-owned and operated public radio station in America.

From the Sunrise Prayer to the Evening Drum Circle, KILI provides a vital service on the reservation, with over 60 public service announcements read each day in both English and the Lakota language.

KILI, which means "cool" or "awesome" in Lakota, works closely with Porcupine Clinic, the only independent Indian community-controlled health clinic in the country.

The community they serve is truly needy.

• Pine Ridge is the poorest county in the U.S., with 80 percent unemployment.
• The county has the highest infant mortality rate in the country.
• Life expectancy is just 48 for men, 52 for women.
• Average family income is only $3,700 a year.
• Nearly half of the adult population has been diagnosed with Type II diabetes, the result of inadequate nutrition.

Mortensen got to know KILI Radio and the Lakota while filming Hidalgo in South Dakota.

The film follows the life of long-distance rider Frank T. Hopkins, who was part Lakota (Sioux). The early scenes of the film recreate a Ghost Dance and the massacre at Wounded Knee, when 250 Lakota, mostly unarmed women and children, died under the guns of the 7th US Cavalry in 1890.

Mortensen ended up creating a book about the Ghost Dance, made up of photos shot on a single roll of film during a recreation of the ceremony in March, 2003. The pictures capture the mystical, dreamlike delirium of the Ghost Dance, as the Lakota and other tribes danced in an attempt to restore their lost world.

Titled Viggo Mortensen: Miyelo, the volume of photographs and historical commentary is available through Perceval Press (along with many other works by Mortensen). A portion of Miyelo's sales goes to the SueAnne Big Crow Boys and Girls Club of Pine Ridge to provide nutritious snacks of fruit and vegetables, as well as Christmas presents for every child.

You can help protect the culture, heritage and health of the Lakota Nation by joining the Allies of the Lakota. Visit www.lakotamall.com/allies or send a contribution to the Allies at:
Allies of the Lakota
Attn: Paul Iron Cloud
PO Box 275
Porcupine, SD 57772.

All donations are divided equally between KILI and the Porcupine Clinic.

Mortensen returned to South Dakota in December, 2003, to participate in the annual Big Foot Memorial Ride, held to commemorate the journey of the Lakota from the camp where Chief Sitting Bull was murdered on Dec. 15, 1890 to the site of the Wounded Knee Massacre on Dec. 29. Today the emphasis of the ride is on the education of Future Generations in traditional values and respect for their ancestors.

[You can read an excellent interview done by a Native Voice reporter with Viggo after the ride.]

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The North Country Children's Clinic, founded in 1971 to provide better care for the children in Watertown, NY, provides a model of what community based health care can be.

Today the agency serves children and young adults from the prenatal months to age 21 in four northern New York counties. The children's families come from all walks of life, some with insurance, some without.

In addition to primary health care, the clinic provides:

• preventive care,
• dental care, and
• mental health services to over 25,000 area youth each year.

Visit the North Country Children's Clinic website at www.childrens-clinic.org or call 315.782.9450 to find out more about its many programs and to join Viggo Mortensen as one of the clinic's supporters.

-RWright

originally published in 9ine Magazine, 2004

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Viggo Mortensen speaks out for American Wild Horse Preservation
Click here to view the video of his PSA

Frank Hopkins, portrayed by Mortensen in Hidalgo, was a life-long supporter of the Mustang, and in the movie's closing scene, rescues a band of horses about to be exterminated by the US Government.

Now America's Wild Horses are in grave danger again, thanks to a rider slipped into a government spending bill, with no time for public debate or comment.

Mustangs were recognized by Federal law in 1971 as "living symbols of our Nation's spirit" (1971 Wild Free Roaming Horse and Burro Act).

The new law, however, will open the way to the slaughter of tens of thousands of these horses, removed by the BLM from their natural ranges at the request of cattle and oil interests. The horses will be butchered and sold to horsemeat dealers abroad for human consumption.

You can protest and help reverse this injustice by signing the petition online at:
The American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign
(www.wildhorsepreservation.com)

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Above, Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings.
Tolkien's classic work makes the point that everyone can make a difference, if they will only try.

Mortensen's respect and affection for horses is well documented. Another of his recent works, available through Perceval Press, is titled "The Horse Is Good."

Featuring photos taken by Viggo Mortensen of horses around the world, "and perhaps from the view out your window," the book presents horses "as partners, as teachers, as heros...asking no favors and returning respect for respect."

Above, the cover of The Horse is Good. © Perceval Press. All rights reserved.

Visit these websites to find out more about American horses:

Wild Horse Spirit

Return to Freedom American Wild Horse Sanctuary

Watch a video from Horse Rescue of America

The Spanish Mustang Registry

History of the Spanish Mustang

T.J., the horse who played Hidalgo in the movie, is a Paint Horse, one of the many varieties of American Horse.

 

Hidalgo Photos ©Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Lord of the Rings Photos © New Line Productions. All rights reserved.

- RW

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