More on lateral violence

Last week, I watched the Rosebud Sioux Tribe council meeting and listened to the annual report from Sinte Greska University given by President Dr. Erica Moore and Vice-President Scott Herman. They gave a very comprehensive report by updating the status of all programs at our Tribal university. The SGU report begins at approximately 3:05:00 in the recording on You Tube

I was very impressed with the report and all the work that they’ve done in the last year to get the university on track with the mission statement. Once again, I want to address how our people engage in lateral violence, I’ve talked about lateral violence in previous columns. There have been a lot of social media posts about the administration at Sinte Gleska University. Some social media posts allege wrongdoing. Some of those posts unfairly blamed the current administration for wrongdoing in different areas, but I never saw any actual proof or reports of criminal charges filed against anyone.

These allegations were made against the current administration, when in reality the administration has been working very hard over the past year to bring the university back into good standing with the Higher Learning Commission and with the reservation community. The SGU administration stepped up in big ways to help our students. For example, during the recent SNAP shut down, SGU issued food cards to students. They also issued food boxes to students; they provide complimentary daily meals for students who attend classes. Transportation is provided at no charge for all of our students to attend classes. People can and will say what they want about our Tribal university, but many tribal citizens earned degrees from SGU. If SGU wasn’t here, I’m not sure if many of us would’ve been able to finish our education.

Another good thing about our university is a student can attend SGU and earn a bachelor’s and master’s degree without incurring student loan debt. It’s all good to attend an off-reservation school or university, but there is also great cost involved with attending college off the reservation.

I think people who post things that aren’t true about local institutions or individuals need to post the proof of the allegations they accuse Tribal and other officials of doing wrong, or go file criminal charges. I’ve read a lot of hateful social media statements, but I don’t see real proof to back their accusations up. Many folks also say a lot of disparaging things that don’t need to be said about the people who work in our local institutions and tribal programs. When you gossip or start false rumors about the people who work in our Tribal institutions and programs, it’s wrong. Also, when you align with people and others who gossip or tell lies, you’re basically engaging in dysfunctional behavior and are no better than they are. When you are the type of person who is going to tell lies about another person or accuse them of things they aren’t guilty of, that makes you an unhealthy person one is guilty of inflicting lateral violence on others.

I don’t believe it was one of our Lakota virtues to accuse other people of wrongdoing when they didn’t do anything wrong or gossip about them or tell lies about people. I believe it’s wrong. Our children are very susceptible to all of this behavior. They watch us do this to each other every single day. They listen to us tear each other up sometimes, we even hear it in the public meetings broadcast on YouTube. People tear each other up and say things that are disrespectful and totally uncalled for. It doesn’t look professional. It makes the person who’s doing it look very bad and it teaches our young people that it’s acceptable to act like this in public.

Do we all want our children to grow up like this to be better at inflicting lateral violence than we are? I don’t think so. I think we all need to work harder at treating each other better and not spreading rumors or lies about our elected officials or the folks who work in our tribal programs, tribal schools and at Sinte Gleska university. Please be good role models for our people! Thank you.

Tokata Etuŋwaŋ Wakaŋyeža Owičakiyapi (Looking to the Future, Healing the Children)

ROSEBUD – Four professional counselors from Tokata Etuŋwaŋ Wakaŋyeža Owičakiyapi, a newly formed Wellness program serving Rosebud shared information at an RST tribal council meeting last week.

The TEWO team includes: Charisse Bordeaux, Dr. Kristin Iyotte, Blaise Leneaugh and Lila Rose Leader Charge. They recently launched Tokata Etuŋwaŋ Wakaŋyeža Owičakiyapi (Looking to the Future, Healing the Children), a Sicangu Lakota winyan owned and operated business. They are deeply grateful for Rick Two Dog’s guidance and gifting a name that carries such meaning and vision — looking to the future and healing our children.

About TEWO: We are four Siċaŋġu Lakota women dedicated to strengthening the mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical well-being of our relatives and communities. Guided by the Medicine Wheel model, we ground evidence-based practices with Lakota values for comprehensive holistic care. Our work centers balance, kinship, and healing through counseling, consultation, supervision, and community partnerships. We envision a Lakota-led wellness center rooted in Lakota teachings and holistic care, where healing is guided by culture and carried forward by community. Through clinical services, training, and collaboration, we aim to create a sustainable model for Lakota mental health, education, and intergenerational wellness for the Siċaŋġu Lakota Oyate.

TEWO’s mission is to provide accessible, trauma-informed and culturally grounded mental health services that honor the strengths, resilience, and healing traditions of Lakota people. We strive to restore Wicozani — balance and well-being —through counseling, education, and community connection that reflect Lakota values of compassion, respect, and collective healing.

The program offers Lakota-informed counseling, consulting, and education services, focusing on holistic wellness and community healing. The program is now accepting contracts and open for consulting, training, and program support in the areas highlighted in their brochure.

In October, the team joined a Holistic Roundtable hosted by RST Child Care, sharing ideas about how families and children can be supported here on the Rosebud. The team is now open for contracting and consulting focused on culturally grounded, trauma-informed care and community wellness. The in their digital brochure lists more information and their CVs/resumes.

In November, Charisse Bordeaux and Dr. Kristin Iyotte provided 2 3-hour trainings sessions for the Rosebud Sioux Tribe Early Head Start/Head Start program. The presentation: Practical Skills for Challenging Behaviors of Lakota Children: Building Wicozani in Classrooms through Lakota-Informed Practice, centered on integrating trauma-informed care, Lakota ways of knowing, the Pyramid Model, and developmentally appropriate de-escalation strategies.

If your program or organization is interested in bringing this training, or a version tailored to your setting, to your staff, please reach out. For inquiries or contracting opportunities, please contact them directly through their Facebook  page https://tinyurl.com/25ckpb6a.

TEWO is not designed for emergency or crisis response or care. If you are experiencing a mental health or life-threatening emergency, call 911. If you are in self-harm, suicide, substance use, or mental health crisis or need immediate emotional support, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline for free 24/7 confidential assistance.

Lila Rose Leader Charge, Blaise Leneaugh, Dr. Kristin Iyotte and Charisse Bordeaux make up the team of professional counselors behind Tokata Etuŋwaŋ Wakaŋyeža Owičakiyapi. Photo from Facebook.

The TEWO Team includes: Charisse Bordeaux, (she/her, Soldier Creek) is a Clinical Mental Health Counselor and Counselor Educator, providing trauma-informed counseling across the lifespan (3y+ to elders & end of life) using sand tray, play, art therapy, CBT and DBT. She has provided individual and group counseling to outpatient, inpatient, residential, and incarcerated youth and adults. A doctoral candidate of Counselor Education and Supervision at Adams State University, she teaches courses on counseling theories, ethics, and practicum and group labs. She is a 2024 NBCC Minority Doctoral Fellow and June 2025 Fellow of the Month, and has presented her research at ACA, ACES, and RMACES. She is pursuing EMDR certification and writing her dissertation.

Blaise Leneaugh (she/her, Antelope) is a Licensed Professional Mental Counselor dually licensed in South Dakota and North Dakota. She is a School Counselor at Todd County High School and maintains an independent counseling practice, specializing in adolescents, adults, and Veterans. She focuses on trauma-informed care and integrates traditional ways of healing with evidence-based modalities, including EMDR, EFT, CBT, TF-CBT, CPT, and sensory work. An enrolled member of the Sicangu Lakota Oyate, she brings cultural understanding and sensitivity to her work.

Dr. Kristin Iyotte (she/her, Rosebud) is a Doctor of Human Services, with a specialization in Leadership and Organizational Management. She is a Certified School Counselor, her doctoral project, “Challenging Behaviors and Other Social, Emotional, and Mental Health Concerns in Early Childhood Education: An Applied Improvement Project,” reflects her commitment to addressing behavioral and mental health challenges in educational settings. She is SGU adjunct faculty with the Human Services Graduate Program.

Lila Rose Leader Charge (she/her, Parmelee) holds a Master’s degree Social Work and is a Licensed Certified Social Worker, providing community mental health counseling for relatives pre-K to adulthood. She is currently expanding her knowledge in evidence-based practices such as DBT, CBT, ART, play therapy, and solution-focused approaches. She is also receiving supervision in pursuit of her LCSW-PIP.

TEWO’s services are not designed for emergency or crisis response or care. If you are experiencing a mental health or life-threatening emergency, call 911. If you are in self-harm, suicide, substance use, or mental health crisis or need immediate emotional support, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline for free 24/7 confidential assistance. You can contact them through Facebook:

Reclaiming wellness the native way

Thundermaker Wellness founded by Ho-chunk Tribal member Hunter Thundercloud is helping to reshape the way recovery and mental healthcare are delivered in Indian country.

Based in Arizona, Thundermaker Wellness focuses on substance use and mental health healing through a holistic lens. The program ranges from 6 months to 2 years, beginning with a stabilization phase before transitioning into apprenticeships that teach life and vocational skills.

Our goal is more than treating the symptoms. Thundercloud said we want to instill pride, culture, identity, and real-life skills that can be carried with them for long after they leave the Thundercloud’s vision for Thundermaker was shaped by his own recovery journey after battling addiction for several years, and facing incarceration, he entered treatment eight years ago. “I had three DUIs by 25 and I did nine months in jail I realized I couldn’t keep drinking,” Thundercloud said. “I got into heroin after that and struggled for six years before my parents sent me out here for treatment. My dad said I’m not going to let my son die.”

“What began as a personal transformation became the foundation for Thundermaker wellness when I got clean I started a sweat lodge at my house. That’s where I found my spiritual awakening.” Thundercloud said “culture saved my life.”

Over time, he and cofounder Arrow Funmaker, who was also working in behavioral health built a program, rooted in both clinical and cultural practices.

Today, Thundermaker operates as a long-term recovery program offering psychiatric and medical care alongside culture programming like sweat lodge jump circles and Medicine harvesting the center also partners with local farms to provide traditional food through food sovereignty Program.

“Lots of people in addiction don’t have stable lives,” Thunder Cloud said. “We focus on teaching basic skills how to cook, clean and maintain a home while surrounding them with ceremony and community.”

The facility currently has 17 beds with renovations underway to expand to more than 30 all of Thundermaker’s upper-management and clinical leadership are native, ensuring that the program remains grounded in indigenous worldview.

“The cultural stuff we do, we don’t have to ask anyone for permission,” Thunder Cloud said “Everything we do is through a native lens.”

Thundermaker also hopes to launch a woman’s program soon. “The way women experience, addiction and trauma is very different from men.” Thunder said. “We want to make sure that program is 90% women run and built specifically for their needs.”

Thundermaker wellness stands as proof of what’s possible when recovery is guided by identity, ceremony and love for community.

“If no one knows we exist how can we help anyone?” Thundercloud said. “My goals to build something that works and then bring it home to our people.”

For more information visit https://www.thundermakerwellness.com/

Thundermaker management staff include: Caprice Garcia, Hunter Thundercloud, Arrow Funmaker, Addison Howard and Che Jim. Courtesy photo.

SGU celebrates leadership

Sinte Gleska University proudly celebrates the one-year anniversary of President Erica Moore ‘s leadership and extraordinary year defined by stability progress and transformed transformative accomplishments across every area of the institution.

After a two-year national search, Sinte Gleska University elected Dr. Moore as its President. Dr. Moore accepted the position to guide the university through a time of leadership change and preparation for the upcoming 10-year Higher Learning Commission accreditation Review. Although she was not originally from the local community. Dr. Moore has long been part of the SGU family through more than a decade of service at the Lower Brule community college campus and her national advocacy on behalf of Tribal colleges through her work with the American Indian Higher Education consortium.

During her first year as president, Dr. Moore has made remarkable strides in advancing SGU’s mission, strengthening institutional systems and positioning the university for continued growth and long-term success.

Some accomplishments include:

Development and implementation of the master facilities and strategic plan higher learning commission preparation on Site visit in October.

Established the Office of institutional research and assessment and initiated systemwide assessment plan.

Official opening of SGU ‘s new welding building and the successful implementation of its robotic, 3-D printing arm, expanding STEM and workforce opportunity for students.

SGU launched a mobile GED program to widen educational success through the region and signed a memorandum of agreement with SER to provide essential support services for homeless veterans in the Rosebud community.

SGU completed its first financial audit with zero new findings, demonstrating improve stewardship and accountability.

During the federal funding crisis SGU lost support for the business incubator staff however, Dr. Moore insured that every impacted employee was successfully moved into a new role avoiding job loss during a financially uncertain time.

Progress in SGU‘s Buffalo program as President Moore and the Tribal nations and community team successfully reduced the buffalo herd to a sustainable size vaccinating all animals and forming partnership with cultural and Buffalo management experts, these collaborations have enhanced SGU’S public Buffalo Harvest, which now offers powerful cultural learning opportunities for both campus and community members.

During the Rosebud Sioux Tribe declared state of emergency, SGU responded immediately by enhancing security training, improving safety, communications across campus and stop funding to purchase new work vehicles, including an ADA accessible van for students.

Throughout the government shut down SGU coordinated emergency grocery support, not only for the main mission campus but also for its approved additional locations at Lower Brule Community college and Ihanktowan community college.

Because of careful fiscal oversight, the university is able this year to approve a one-time increase in holiday bonuses to help faculty and staff offset financial strain caused by withheld snap benefits and contribute to substantial donations to the Thanksgiving food drive, Elder’s dinner and holiday toy drive.

Dr. Moore’s leadership has brought stability, innovation and renewed focus to the mission of San Diego university San Diego University extended sincere. Congratulations to Dr. Erica Moore on completing one year of dedicated service and leadership.

Rosebud Sisters Honored Nationally Among Top Women in Hardware & Building Supply

CHICAGO, IL —Ellen Harmon and Serena Harmon, co-owners of Rosebud Building Products, have been nationally recognized as Rising Stars in the 2025 Top Women in Hardware & Building Supply Awards, presented by HBS Dealer magazine.

The sisters were selected from more than 1,000 nominations across the United States, representing outstanding women making an impact in the hardware, construction, and building-supply industry. The Rising Star distinction celebrates emerging leaders whose innovation, integrity, and community focus are helping shape the future of the industry.

The awards gala, held November 10–11 in Chicago, brought together hundreds of professionals from across the country to honor excellence in leadership, mentorship, and innovation. It marked the sixth year of the national program, which aims to elevate women in traditionally male-dominated sectors and to highlight the growing influence of women in construction and building supply.

“To be recognized on a national stage, and to get to share this honor with my sister, is deeply meaningful,” said Ellen Harmon, Co-Owner and CEO of Rosebud Building Products. “We’re proud to represent Native-owned businesses and to show that incredible things are being built right here on the Rosebud Reservation.”

“Our business is about more than materials,” added Serena Harmon, Co-Owner and General Manager. “It’s about building community, creating opportunity, and proving that local ownership and leadership matter.”

Rosebud Building Products (a division of RLH Inc.) is a Sicangu Lakota-owned hardware and building supply company based in Mission, South Dakota. The company provides materials and equipment support for Tribal and Federal Government Programs, contractors, and community projects and do it yourselfers across the region. Since becoming the sole owners 2021, the Harmon sisters have expanded operations, created local jobs, and established partnerships that prioritize community investment and economic self-sufficiency.

According to HBS Dealer, the goal of the Top Women event is “to recognize top women in the industry and to encourage and support them in their career growth.” Past honorees have included executives and rising leaders from national companies such as Lowe’s, Builders FirstSource, and Do it Best, making the Harmons’ inclusion a historic milestone for small Native-owned, reservation-based businesses. Contact: Ellen Harmon, CEO Rosebud Building Products / RLH Inc.eharmon@rlhinc.net

Ellen Harmon (left) and Serena Harmon (right), co-owners of Rosebud Building Products in Mission, South Dakota, received Rising Star Awards at the 2025 Top Women in Hardware & Building Supply event in Chicago. Courtesy photo.

RST will issue tribal enrollment documents in Rapid City

BOX ELDER – The Rosebud Sioux Tribe Enrollment department staff will be in Rapid City December 17th through the 19th, 2025 and during that time they will be accepting applications and issuing tribal identification cards and abstracts. The identification cards and abstracts will be issued immediately to eligible applicants once required documents are received. Staff will be available in the booth area at the 2025 professionals conference at the Box Events Center,631 Watiki Way, Box Elder SD 57719. Look for enrollment staff at the conference booth area, RST Enrollment staff will be available from 9:00am to 4:00pm each day

Tribal citizens will need to bring a $20 money order and a photo identification card and proof of your physical address. Proof of physical address will need to include your name and physical address. It can be a state identification card or a driver’s license, a piece of mail or a lease agreement showing your address.

All applicants must provide an original birth certificate and a copy of the applicant Social Security card. A photo identification card and signature are required for all, as well as parents applying for a child 18 years old or younger.

If you have any questions, please call the Enrollment department. Staff can be reached at 605-747-2381 (ask for the enrollment office). This is scheduled in conjunction with the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, Sicangu Resource Development Department Professionals Conference, December 17th through 20th at the Box Events Center,631 Watiki Way, Box Elder SD 57719. Look for enrollment staff in the conference booth area, RST Enrollment staff will be available from 9:00am to 4:00pm each day.

Our relatives will sustain us

When you ask Google AI which are the poorest counties in South Dakota, three counties are consistently named: Todd County, Jackson County and Oglala Lakota County. Today, a google AI search shows the poorest county at the top of the overview as Oglala Lakota county, which includes the Pine Ridge reservation and has the highest poverty rate of 48.8%. Median income is $34,769 and per capital income is $11,650. Jackson County also rates among the poorest with the poverty rate of 38.9%. Todd County has a poverty rate of 38.4% and is also listed among the five poorest counties in the US. Other counties in South Dakota with high poverty rates based on recent government data include Carson County 35.2%, Zebach County 34%, Bennett county 31.1%, Mellette County 30.9% and Buffalo County at 30.7%.

Every one of these counties are located within an Indian reservation in this state. Last week South Dakota searchlight ran a story about three of these counties which they determined were the most SNAP dependent counties in the whole United States.

I think we’re all accustomed to being judged as the poorest counties in the United States as this has been going on for a very long time. According to the SD Department of Social Services, there will not be any snap benefits distributed this week after being paused due to a US Supreme Court ruling last week. The Supreme Court Granted a temporary stay on issuing the full benefit to the entire United States on Friday.

The United States might judge us as the poorest county in the country, but our Lakota people have stepped up to this challenge in the past year. SicanguCo. has been generously distributing Buffalo meat all summer through their harvest markets and other public events. Pine Ridge’s Sacred Storm has also distributed Buffalo meat to many people in Rapid City and other locations. RF Buche has offered $100 worth of groceries to each SNAP household to help with food shortages.

I hope you’re all taking advantage of the complementary buffalo meat that Sicangu Co is distributing. We all appreciate the food that has been gifted to us through donations and public distributions. We appreciate our Tribal leaders and other visionaries who established our Buffalo herds and provided land for them to graze on so the Pte Oyate could sustain us today. Many of us appreciate our tribal leaders for stepping up to provide healthy food during this short fall. Consequently, South Dakota’s congressional delegation and governor did not support using any taxpayer dollars to provide SNAP benefits during this government shutdown, which is now the longest in history.

Poverty Porn aside: The US government labels our reservations as the poorest counties in the United States and maybe we are poor in some areas, but we still have our culture and our heritage. We still have our songs; we still have our powerful ceremonies. We still have our values such as generosity that we are seeing a lot of during this time, as many of our people are sharing food and helping their families to have enough to eat. Maybe a survey should be done on all the reservations to see how much they still have left too. We might not have enough food, but we have our culture and our families and our relatives to get through this. Where’s the tribal data on our compassion and cultural wealth?

Once before, the US government tried to starve our people by killing off a lot of the Pte Oyate (Buffalo) that our ancestors depended on to eat. And when I think of the SNAP benefit being withheld by greedy government officials, I remember the picture of thousands and thousands of Buffalo skulls piled on top of each other and one man standing at the top.

https://tinyurl.com/tbuj6xwb

They tried to kill all the Buffalo, as they were trying to kill us off, but we survived. Finally, I have attended ceremony where people give thanks for having enough food to eat. Our elders say long time ago a woman prayed for us to always have enough to eat, so I want to encourage you to pray for our children to have enough to eat and also to help your families and neighbors to get meals every day, especially our children and elders. Thank you.

Local Officials at Rosebud taking steps to offset possible food shortages

Sicangu Co is working in partnership with the Rosebud Sioux Tribe to provide a temporary solution if there is a halt to federal SNAP benefits.

Together, we’re ensuring that 5 buffalo from Wolakota will be harvested and processed to create hamburger, stew meat, and roasts. The meat will be distributed to all communities across the Rosebud Reservation to help ensure families receiving SNAP benefits who have an ID and SNAP cards continue to have access to nourishing, traditional food during uncertain times.

We’ll share more details soon about how this process will work including how families can access recipes and cooking tips directly from our Wolakota team to prepare meals with this traditional food source.

We’d like to thank Vice President Lisa White Pipe, Council Members Shere Wright-Plank and Wayne Frederick, Treasurer Wayne Boyd, RST President Kathleen Wooden Knife, AG Operations Manager Bud Colombe, and our CEO Clay Colombe for their continued efforts and dedication to caring for our people.

We extend our deep appreciation to our Tatanka relatives for continuing to provide for us, as they always have. Their generosity reminds us of our responsibility to care for one another.

From a Facebook page: “Good morning, I (KOYA DJ John “Millerman”) have been messaging owner RF Buche last week, as part of the conversation he has in his words provided the following information and ask me to publish to the public. The statement reads as follows:

:

“One important note is that Buche Foods will be giving $100 worth of groceries to each SNAP household recipient if SNAP funds are not processed by November 10th.RF BUCHE concluded by writing, “but more details to follow”. A huge “Wopila” (Thank you) to RF Buche, we all hope that the situation does not escalate for the need to do this and that the US Government can work things out and reopen the US Government.

Another Facebook post from the RST Commodity FOOD Distribution page read: “The Commodity Program is open for business as usual for November 2025. SNAP, however, will cut benefits on November 1, 2025, then retroactively issue November SNAP benefits when the federal government is funded. Information regarding this issue is provided in the attached letter from the Deputy Under Secretary, FNS Consumer Services. Also, if SNAP benefits are not available by November 10, 2025, GF Buche Co. will donate $100 in food to each SNAP certified household. You may contact your local Buche stores for more information.

“I will post any updates that become available to me on this page. Alternatively, you may contact your local DSS for more information. Thank you and have a good day.

The Rosebud Sioux Tribe Vice President’s office is also working on an immediate, temporary fix to supplement our SNAP recipients, who have both an ID and SNAP cards. Wes Colombe of All Stop and RF Buche of Buche’s will work with the Rosebud Sioux Tribe to give discounts on staple food to go along with the buffalo. WoLakota has recipes for buffalo. Let us work together, so that our elders and youth don’t go hungry. This is in the planning stage and updates will be forthcoming.

SWA seeking to increase rent

In a recent Rosebud tribal council meeting, SWA officials discussed increasing rent on Rosebud’s units, however no council action was taken on the SWA proposal.

Listen to the discussion here https://tinyurl.com/3waedjv3

A brief summary of the discussion was: the current rental rates at Sicangu Wicoti Awayankape (SWA) charges tenants was approved in 2002, rent has not increased since. Some tenants have not paid rent for up to 10 years or more, one delinquency is $30,000 owed in back rent. There are no current rates that are different for over income tenants at 80% to 100% by not charging more rent to those over income tenants, SWA is not in compliance with the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 (NAHSDA) requirements because of current rental rates.

The higher rent increases being proposed by SWA would be effective January 1, 2026. Rent would increase at least $50 per bedroom for United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) units. The USDA rents are different from the NAHSDA or low rent units. In recent years USDA has urged SWA to increase rents to help bring it bring in more subsidy funding. SWA is currently not charging enough to maximize the subsidy to maintain housing repairs. SWA had difficulty getting USDA to approve recent budgets for the program due to low rent collection amounts USDA monthly rent will increase $50 per bedroom, per unit. For a one bedroom it’s $50 it would increase to $100 a two bedroom is currently $100 it would increase to $200, a 3 bedroom is currently $150 and will increase to $300. The four bedroom is currently $200; it would increase to $400. The 5 bedrooms are now at $250 and they would increase to $500. Also, per regulations if the rent above exceeds 30% of a tenant’s annual monthly income than the tenant’s rent will be calculated at 30% of the annual monthly income. SWA is considering whether to use 30 or 15% as that’s what has been used in the past. Zero income tenants in low rent units will still be at zero rent. SWA currently has 105 tenants paying zero rent.

Currently, SWA is also out of compliance with HUD regulations by under charging over income tenants. The SWA Board of Commissioners has not taken action on the proposal.For more information on rent increases call SWA at 605-747-2203

Feed your relatives

As most of us know by now, the federal government shut down on October 1, 2025 at midnight. This affects the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP) or Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) that many of our families depend on this program has been frozen for November. On October 16, 2025 USDA secretary Brooke Rollins stated “the SNAP program would run out of funds in two weeks if the shutdown continued” Rollins issued a statement that the USDA directed states to pause sending November files to their electronic benefits transfer or EBT vendors until further notice. Several states have issued public notices that they will not be able to issue SNAP benefits on November 1, unless the federal government reopens. Also, the USDA contingency plans could potentially extend funding beyond October but the administration will not allow it. This lack of funds will also hurt our local grocery stores and the overall economy. South Dakota has posted a notice about SNAP disruption on their website at https://dss.sd.gov/docs/Stakeholder_FAQ_SNAP_Disruption.pdf

Newsweek reported on Friday that House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said that “the administration’s refusal to extend the benefit shows a lack of concern for struggling families, the federal government has the resources to ensure that not a single American goes hungry on November 1, Republicans are trying to weaponize hunger and that is unconscionable.”

In September 2025 many families received SNAP or EBT on the Rosebud Reservation, with the total number of households receiving SNAP assistance was 2,042. The total number of folks receiving SNAP benefits was 4,565 including 2,293 adults and 2,272 children with a total cost of $1,006,928. In Oglala Lakota County for the month of September 2025, 2,535 families received SNAP benefits. The total number of people who received benefits was 5,840 with 3,065 adults and 2,275 children receiving benefits with a total cost of $1,256,909. In Pennington County 5,251 households received September EBT benefits with 9,990 people served including 5,559 adults and 4,431 children the total cost being $1,980,037. https://dss.sd.gov/keyresources/statistics.aspx#snap

The 1868 treaty of Fort Laramie guaranteed rations for Native Americans living on reservations. the people would gather at certain areas to receive their rations from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, but over time the distribution of these food rations became controversial due to issues like some food was unfit to eat or the food would be used to pressure Indigenous peoples to move onto reservations, also the long-term effects of dependency on government rations undermined tribal authority, while disrupting traditional food systems. The modern food distribution programs in addition to SNAP are the commodity program which provides food from the USDA to low-income households on or near reservations. Before we were put on reservations, our people made sure no one in camp went hungry. This was one of our values of being generous and feeding children and elders, and all the other people who lived in the camp. This is one of our values. We’re going have to go back to practicing generosity.

I was glad to see there are already people in communities on Rosebud who are feeding the public in areas where people gather. Also, working people and others with resources should be generous and feed their relatives. Feeding South Dakota comes to our reservation every month, but it’s uncertain as to how long their resources will hold out to feed everyone who utilizes this service it’s time for us, as Lakota people, to walk our talk and display our Lakota value of generosity by making sure that none of our people, especially our children and elders go hungry. Some tribes are processing their buffalo and distributing to the people. Sicangu Co has been doing distribution of buffalo meat to the public through their farmers markets for the past summer. They’ve also handed out free produce to people, but I’m not sure how long this service will continue. Our tribes do have buffalo herds and they might have to tap the herds and harvest more to help the people to have enough food. Please make sure that your relatives do not go hungry.