PINE RIDGE RESERVATION, S.D. — Understanding was deepened after group leaders from Rapid City spent Thursday on the Pine Ridge Reservation.
“I feel it’s simply so vital that we all know one another and we perceive a few of that widespread historical past,” says Val Simpson, the regional supervisor of public relations and company citizenship for Black Hills Energy.
The tour was organized by the Rapid City Human Relations Commission and has been weeks within the making.
From a cease at Red Shirt Table, the group – consisting of county commissioners, metropolis council members and native enterprise leaders – began the day at Red Cloud Indian School.
“It’s actually vital for us at Red Cloud that we advocate on behalf of our college students and our households that we work for,” says Tashina Banks Rama, the manager vp of Red Cloud Indian School. “When this chance got here for us to construct bridges, to have conversations with Rapid City leaders, we thought that’s actually vital.”
From there, they traveled to the Oglala Sioux Tribe headquarters, the place the group sat in on a authorized and finance committee assembly and met with President Kevin Killer’s employees.
“I feel something we will do to proceed to be taught and bridge cultures is de facto constructive, and I at all times encourage my pals and colleagues in the event that they’ve by no means had the chance to come back to the reservation – it’s simply an hour and a half down the highway from us – and I feel they’ll be taught so much,” Simpson says.
They additionally stopped at Wounded Knee and the brand new Oglala Lakota Arts Space in Kyle.
“I feel this is able to be an vital factor for folks from all features of the group to expertise and maybe we will do extra of this with leaders from the hospital, different governmental companies on the town, even our personal college district,” says Bill Evans, a ward two alderman in Rapid City.
It was a day of understanding and building bridges.
“I hope that our leaders from Rapid City who’re visiting with us immediately begin to look previous any stereotypes that will exist with native folks, with native households on the reservation. This group is a stupendous, thriving group,” Banks Rama says.
Karen Mortimer, the chair of the Human Relations Commission/Mniluzahan Okolakiciyapi Ambassadors, says, “Our objective is that we are going to do higher once we know higher.”
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