Bringing Lakota Traditions Into The Workplace

Siċaƞġu Lak̇ot̄a Makoce— Earlier this summer, Lakolya Waoniya language learners helped construct a sweat lodge near the main offices of Siċaƞġu Co to have a designated space hold inipi ceremony for employees and relatives.

To understand the significance of this event, one must look through a historical lens at Lak̇ot̄a traditions and spiritual practices. Siċaƞġu Lak̇ot̄a relatives and all other Indigenous tribes on turtle island practiced their traditions freely before settler contact. These rights were violently stripped away post-contact through forced assimilation, genocide, and control by colonial law and regulations.

After years of activism by groups like the American Indian Movement, the American Indian Religious Freedom Act was passed, making it illegal to interfere with the religious freedom of Indigenous people in the United States.

Before the passing of this act in 1978, cultural bearers, elders, and teachers risked much, including their lives, to carry on our Lak̇ot̄a traditions and practices. Which now brings us to this moment in time, where one can now understand the significance of seeing programs like Lakolya Waoniya providing a sweat lodge for employees and relatives.

When Lakolya Waoniya, our adult language revitalization immersion program, was in its early stages of development, program director Christian Johnston talked often about how the language and culture go hand in hand. That means that having space to lean into cultural practices was vital to the success of the program, and with the addition of this sweat lodge near the program’s main offices at Siċaƞġu Co, programs like Lakolya Waoniya can continue to flourish in all the ways they deserve to.

And as our people continue connecting with our language, culture, and spiritual practices, our oyate will also flourish.