Everyone is invited to a free benefit concert on Saturday, Dec. 15, 2007 from 7 - 9 p.m. at the Falling Rock Cafe and Bookstore in Munising, MI

For the second time in four months, the Turtle Island Project (TIP) is organizing the concert to benefit the White Buffalo Calf Woman Society (WBCWS) in Mission, South Dakota.

The WBCWS is battling an alarming increase in teen suicides, domestic violence, sexual assault on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation, the home of the Sicangu Lakota people.

Performing original music and songs of the season will be Pastor Lynn Hubbard with John Evans on guitar.

Rosebud officials declared a state of emergency this year because of the teen suicide crisis - 18 deaths in two years and nearly 500 attempted suicides. If these deaths involved white teenagers there would be a much bigger public reaction and news coverage.

The WBCWS has pleaded with the U.S. Government to send more counselors for the teens but the requests have not been honored.

The public needs to act now to help stop these deaths that stem from poverty and hopelessness and the troubles those conditions create. Sadly, it's a problem that's growing in many indigenous communities.