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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend April 11, 2006 Ben Harlow of Medford left Sunday on a 70-day, 3,000-mile bicycle ride to raise money for American Indians who lost their homes in the Louisiana bayous during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli Louisiana or bust By BILL KETTLER Mail Tribune If everything works according to plan, Ben Harlow is pedaling down Highway 101 today somewhere south of Crescent City. Harlow left Ashland Sunday, bound for Louisiana to raise awareness of the plight of American Indians who lost their homes during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. He said Indian people who live in the marshes near the Gulf of Mexico have been mostly forgotten in the rush to rebuild New Orleans. "We’ve always forgotten the Indian people," he said last week as he prepared to leave on the 70-day tour he calls "The Red Ride." The 23-year-old will travel down the California coast to Arizona, then east to the Four Corners (where the boundaries of Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado intersect). Then he’ll travel east to Oklahoma and Arkansas before turning south into Louisiana. He’ll visit tribal lands along the route, asking the Indian people to offer prayers of healing for the Indians in Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes, where Louisiana meets the Gulf of Mexico. Advertisement "Mainly we’re trying to organize little small events in Indian communities," he said. Harlow said inspiration for the ride came from an appeal for help from the Four Directions Solidarity Network, a group that works with indigenous people. The Indian people in southern Louisiana do not have tribal recognition from the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, so they are not eligible for some kinds of federal aid that might be available for recognized tribes. Four Directions wants to help the Indian people raise their homes on stilts to prevent damage from future floods, but that will cost about $25,000 per house. The organization’s Web site says as many as 80 percent of the Indians live below the poverty line. Harlow hopes to gather financial support for the Louisiana Indians from tribes that have a strong income source such as a casino, and encourage donations from others by talking to newspapers and television stations as he travels. Harlow said his own Indian ancestry also fired his interest in the Louisiana Indians. His grandmother had Indian blood, but nobody was quite sure how much. "They kind of covered up their Indian-ness" in those days, he said. Harlow said he intends to stay in Louisiana and work with other volunteers who are helping the Indians. "I’ll be flat broke," he said. "I won’t have the means to get back." Harlow will carry a laptop computer and post the story of his journey on his Web site at: www.cloudforest.org/bicycleride . To contribute to the Four Directions Solidarity Network, visit the Web site at: www.eswn.org/ Reach reporter Bill Kettler at 776-4492, or e-mail Louisiana or bust ">[email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker Custom Build Computers Computer Security Discount Hotel Reservations online casinos news Send Flowers California Casinos GMAT Prep Windermere Van Vleet Deep Muscle Stimulator Sports Equipment Online Casino Reviews Hammocks Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Online Casino Fundraisers Sudoku Online Casinos Canada Email Security Advertisement s Advertisement