The Tatanka and Our 7Gen Philosophy in Action
The 2023 calving season is underway at Wolakota, bringing new life and revitalization to the Pte Oyate (Buffalo Nation), as our interns continue to foster a sense of community on Rosebud.
Our Range Manager, TJ Heinert, shares that “this time of year is always the most rewarding of them all. Seeing the new life around the ranch is always a heartwarming feeling and makes the difficult days just a bit easier.”
A Growing Herd, Opportunities, and Challenges
Growing along with the herd are both opportunities and challenges.
On the positive side, Wolakota has hired a new employee to help increase community engagement opportunities at the site, which is home to the largest Native-managed bison herd in the world. This addition will allow us to build on the field trips and traditional harvests we have already hosted to bring those opportunities to additional community members.
Regarding challenges, Rosebud suffered a historic blizzard this winter, which continued to wreak havoc on the ranch until recent days. The storm dropped 20-foot snow drifts on the ranch which, over the course of the winter slowly thawed and re-froze into large ice sheets that covered existing fencing. In order to prevent to buffalo from using the ice as a bridge, our staff responded by building temporary fencing and avoided having any buffalo wander off. However, the extended emergency conditions put great strain on our fantastic staff and halted other planning that was intended for winter.
Ironically, despite the amount of snow, fire danger remains high in the region. In fact, a few fires have broken out on neighboring properties this spring—all of which were fortunately addressed very quickly.
However, this has been a great reminder to assess our current fire fighting capabilities, and we have identified significant investments that we have already begun to make. These include: a new fire fighting truck, equipment that attaches to existing wells in remote pastures, as well as staff training.
These additional needs were not accounted for in our initial budget and fundraising plan, so we are grateful to our donors and grant partners who continue to provide support for these unforeseen needs.
To learn more about how to support our work, visit: www.sicangu.co/wotakuye
Living a 7Gen Vision
We are happy to share the success of our 7Gen Summer Youth Internship as a partnership between Sicangu Co and Sicangu Nation Employment Training Program (SNETP). The internship was designed to empower the next generation of Sicangu Lakota leaders by encouraging interns to identify and develop their strengths in order to engage in community development work on Rosebud.
Throughout the 8-week internship, learners joined with various teams across the Sicangu Co ecosystem to learn more about areas such as food sovereignty, education, holistic health, financial literacy, communications, and more. The summer program culminates with each intern working on a community impact passion project that puts their learnings into practice.
The work has directly benefited the Sicangu Lakota Oyate through community-based projects that uplift the Oyate in a variety of ways.
Notably, the interns hosted a variety of events to serve the community, including: hosting an elders' night bingo, a clothing drive, and a “little Winyan” (woman) day to empower young women. The process of identifying community needs was integral to the success of the interns who developed their skills in economic and community development through both a systemic understanding of community needs as well as direct service.
We are especially pleased to announce that the internship was recognized for the Outstanding Employer Award at the 43rd Annual National Indian and Native American Employment & Training Conference. Sicangu Co employees Jessica Larson (Learning and Development Director) and Sarah Hart (Manager of Lakolya Waoniya) traveled to Mashantucket, CT to receive the award alongside SNETP’s program coordinator, Lauri Bordeaux, on May 3rd, 2023.
We are so proud of our interns as well as our leadership team for actualizing this important effort for community and economic development on Rosebud! Sicangu Co is excited to see the continued effects of the internship as we approach our second year with the 7Gen Internship.
