Beverly Warne passed away on Sunday. We bring you our conversation with the nurse, mentor and Lakota elder from her South Dakota Hall of Fame induction.
South Dakota’s History of Indigenous Erasure in Education. When someone mentions the name South Dakota, most people are immediately drawn to a few things: Mount Rushmore, farming, and Native Americans. Native Americans are the largest racial minority group in...
Despite the influence of the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota peoples in South Dakota, the state’s history of forced assimilation, failed legislation efforts, and a lack of teacher confidence have limited the presence of Indigenous culture and values in its education systems.
Educators and Indigenous groups in South Dakota are fighting to better represent Native American history, culture, and values in the state’s education systems through teacher training, immersion schools, and other programs.
Native-led community center in the works for Rapid City
April 21, 2021
RAPID CITY, S.D. — He Sapa Otipi stands for community center for the people of the Black Hills and that is exactly what they are trying to bring to Rapid City. The center is in the early stages of vision planning but is hoping to provide a number of different services to natives and non-natives in the area.
Beverly Warne, Organizer for He Sapa Otipi, said, “There will be activities for them, a gym hopefully where they can play basketball and other activities. Families can come and have wakes and funerals that we are traditionally embedded with. The youth will have a place to come, we’ll have an industrial sized kitchen where we can serve food to the children after school.”