Growing Lak̇ot̄a Knowledge, Building Lifelong Skills, Making Memories
This week’s newsletter is from Brooke Burnette (right), a participant in our 7Gen Internship Program. The 7Gen Internship is built to help individuals identify and develop their strengths, learn about economic and community development work on Rosebud, and advocate for change through leading a community-based project.
My name is Brooke Burnette and I am a part of the 7Gen internship here at Siċaƞġu Co. Each of our weeks is broken into one of the many great departments here at Siċaƞġu Co. In our third week we learned about food sovereignty. Before working here I had hardly heard the term and had no idea what it meant. The experiences and lessons I learned this week have stuck with me. I am going to be telling you about some of the things I learned and what all this week entailed for us interns.
The week started by becoming familiar with the term and its meaning. We learned about the history of food sovereignty and how through the decades the effect of colonization had on the food and culture of our people. Boarding schools started around 1869 and lasted until the 1960s, we as people could not even practice our culture legally till 1976. All of these deeply affected our food system and the way we live today. When I asked Matte Willson, head of food sovereignty here at Siċaƞġu Co, what food sovereignty means to him, he stated, “it empowers communities to take back the power of their health, food, and their community." That perfectly defines it.
On the second day, we went timpsila harvesting. We went out to a hill in my community, Ring thunder. We carried shovels and tote bags up the hill to get ready to harvest them. Once Foster showed us what the timpsila looks like, we all started digging. One thing I will never forget about the experience is when we found ground plums. As we picked them off the ground everybody just started eating them. Never did I think I would eat a plant right off the ground until that day. In the Afternoon we made blueberry jam and pickled pickles. As a team, we all worked together to make sure the jars were just right and waited anxiously to eat them.
On the day of the Buffalo harvest, I was very nervous. Once we got to the ranch everybody there did a check in with each other. One thing I love about Siċaƞġu Co is every day we check in to see how our people are feeling. Once they brought the buffalo in it all suddenly became real. The animal lying in front of us was just alive a few hours ago, and now we are preparing to harvest it. I could not get myself to partake in the cutting of the buffalo, but I am so grateful I got to experience this in person. Witnessing this important process made me appreciate life and I just felt extremely thankful. I watched as my peers harvested and how hands-on they were. I asked Sydni Burnette, a fellow intern and she said, “ Feeling the connection back to my people like that felt so great." I am so proud of my fellow interns and beyond grateful for this experience.
At the end of the week, we made a salad bar out of vegetables we bought and lettuce from the garden. Matte taught us how to make two kinds of vinaigrettes. Then we made life maps. At the start of the week, we made life maps about where we had been in life. On the last day we made a life map about where we wanted to go. I learned a lot about my fellow interns and how strong they all are. I feel this activity brought us closer together.
This week was a week I will never forget. I never thought that I would be harvesting buffalo, digging timpsila, making jam, and pickling pickles for my job. What a summer this has been already, each week has brought new experiences and knowledge. I am proud to work at Sicangu Co and thank you to everyone for making this week unforgettable!
-Brook Burnette, 7Gen Intern, Siċaƞgu Co