The day started with a sunrise visit to Wounded Knee. The emotional impact of the visit seemed to carry forward for many of us throughout the day.
We then returned to Oglala Lakota College (OLC) to hear from Gerald One Feather—an elder, Kevin Killer—an Oglala Tribe Member and State Senator, and Michelle Tyon—a Soros Justice Fellow. Our organizers paused the itinerary to acknowledge that many of us had just visited the powerful and sacred Wounded Knee.
Listening to the voices of the elder generation and the thoughtful response and articulation of a vision for the future put forth by Kevin Killer made me reflect on the significant new energy and focus that we saw in both Cheyenne River and Pine Ridge.
My Artspace colleague Naomi Chu and I met with Gerald Cournoyer, who is Rosebud Lakota. Mr. Cournoyer has his MFA and teaches art at OLC. He has been teaching out of traditional classrooms, with no studio space, storage space, or other support space that exist in most art classrooms. He has taken it upon himself to go outside the system to identify an empty, former Head Start building and has received permission to turn it into the first dedicated fine arts classroom at the college.
Future OLC Fine Arts Classroom
When we returned to OLC we heard from Tawney Brunsch, Executive Director of Lakota Funds, and Ivan Sorbel, Executive Director of Pine Ridge Area Chamber of Commerce. The two shared important stories about their economic development efforts on Pine Ridge.
The next stop was to Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation (TVCDC). The TVCDC has truly ramped things up—they have a new headquarters facility on their acquired property, complete with a community organic garden.
We also went to the TVCDC Community Center Facility where we participated in a Community Visioning Session, the same type of session that they have been doing with many stakeholder groups on the reservation.
We wrapped up our learning tour by visiting Sun Dance ceremony grounds where the idea of the TVCDC was created. This is a very sacred and powerful place, and we felt very fortunate that Nick Tilson of Thunder Valley made this visit possible.
We are extremely grateful for the people we met and the places we saw, and we look forward to building on and strengthening the relationships as we work with the people of Pine Ridge and Cheyenne River. What a wonderful trip!
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