Dine With Us presentation features Pine Ridge

Plenty Bull explained that the reservation is home to the Oglala Lakota Sioux. The reservation area is more than 2.1 million acres, about the size of Connecticut.  

“The Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota was established in 1889 as a Camp 334 for Indigenous prisoners of war as white colonists pressed westward across the North American continent,” Plenty Bull said.

The Oglala Sioux Tribe (OST) is under the Bureau of Indian Affairs with an agency in Pine Ridge. The Pine Ridge Agency provides services like fire management, real estate services, land operations, social services, and administrative services. Plenty Bull said social services work with the Oglala Sioux Tribe to deal with gang violence and present solutions. The reservation has 33 police officers and eight criminal investigators responsible for all emergency calls.

The tribe’s government has its headquarters in Pine Ridge. The constitution was approved in 1946 and amended in 1969 and 1985. Council members come from each district.

Schaer talked about the education system, mentioning the Oglala Lakota College in Kyle, S.D. The college, founded in 1971, started as a two-year community college but is now a four-year college and even offers a master’s in Lakota leadership. The are nine college centers through the reservation.

There are three Indian Health Centers located at Pine Ridge, Kyle, and Wanblee, with smaller stations in Manderson and Lacreek. OST has five ambulances to serve the reservation. The hospital in Pine Ridge is the biggest in the reservation and the other health centers and health stations operate within the Pine Ridge Service Unit.

Plenty Bull shared brief biographies of famous and inspirational Lakota including Tasunke Witko (Crazy Horse), American Horse, Red Cloud, and Kill Ree. He also mentioned activists, educators, writers, and artists like Arthur Amiotte, Cat Clifford, Kyrie Irving, and Olympic Champion Billy Mills.

He also explained some traditions. A sweat is a prayer for thanksgiving or guidance. It is also used for spiritual cleansing after returning from military service or healing after being in a prison or a hospital. An uncle or friend typically conducts the sweat, and they need to have been chosen by spirit and prayer in the Native American church.

Plenty Bull talked about a legend in the tribe about a plant, peyote, that was brought to them by the water bird. Peyote is an herb with medicinal purposes.

“They say the water bird is a bird formed from water that went deep into the ocean to bring peyote (medicine) to the people, and this is why the bird is revered in Native American culture,” Plenty Bull said.