​Washington D.C.’s National Community Church (NCC) was the first organization to send volunteers with us to the Hopi & Navajo Reservations in August 2022. NCC made it possible for transformative service to take place here in the tribal communities of the Southwest. Three years later, they have joined FOUR service trips and are fulfilling their promise to the Hopi and Diné communities with whom they have engaged in literally thousands of hours of service. It is beautiful to witness as they greet our local Hopi and Diné partners as longtime friends.

Other volunteers who joined us this week from Colorado, New Jersey, and Massachusetts also embody what it means to keep one's promise. 

Duane Mullner, The Tipi Raiser's board president has worked and played alongside us for over a decade. This week, he lifted walls with Diné elders, split firewood for Native families, and built lasting connections with local tribal members. Last night, he shared with us: “For me, my choice to participate in a volunteer trip deepens my experience as a Tipi Raisers Board Member; it deepens my purpose, value and offers much guidance in my role to carry out our Mission!"

Another volunteer is logging his 5th service trip with us to the Hopi & Navajo Nations, and continues to build homes and bridges with tribal members - whom he now calls dear friends.

A young family flew across the country for their third Tipi Raisers trip, incorporating service and cross-cultural connection into the lives of their kind, leadership-oriented, and hardworking teenage children.

Broken promises are a central element of Native & non-Native relations, but what if the story is changing? What if promises fulfilled can heal old betrayals. And, despite everything, our shared future can be one of reconciliation, of abundance, of love?

This week, volunteers have split firewood, painted a community center on the Navajo Nation, continued constructing a tiny home for a Diné elder, spent time visiting with an Indigenous grandmother and artist, and are helping to remove a collapsed roof at 13th century Walpi Village alongside Hopi tribal members.
We are enjoying another day of meaningful work and play with local families today as we close the trip out.
-- Mackenzie & The Tipi Raisers Team

Lakota elder and spiritual teacher Basil Brave Heart, on whose land The Tipi Raisers’ bison herd will roam, recently shared this wisdom with us: “Tell the people, especially the young ones: It’s time that they come here. It’s important for them to hear the stories and the teaching of the Pte Oyate (Buffalo/Bison Nation). It’s time for the bison to come back here, and for the lessons to be told again. I’m ready to share these stories. It’s important for them to be told at this time.”

The Bison Rehoming Project continues to move forward and we are pleased to share that pasture fence repairs began this summer. And, in answering Basil's call to action, additional work will be carried out by a diverse group of young people this fall! We're looking forward to working alongside youth from schools across both Colorado and the Pine Ridge reservation.
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With their help, the pasture will soon be ready to receive dozens of bison from Colorado State University and other partners. This progress is all thanks to the kindness our community of supporters have shown this year.

Here is what our Lakota relatives shared about how this project and and the return of the bison to this land will impact their communities: A skilled young Lakota horseman with two small children will be working directly with the herd. Sustained employment as a herd manager could change his life, and the lives of his family. Here’s what he had to say about the opportunity: “The bison will help me and my little family a lot. It will help me a lot more than what I’m earning now.”
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A Lakota mother and grandmother and her children (two of whom are pictured below with a volunteer in the pasture a few weeks ago) will also be working with the herd and earning a wage for their efforts. We asked her how the project will impact her family and community, and here is what she shared: "It would really help me and the family out by having extra meat and meat for the community - the ones that really need the help. Even teaching us how to keep bison, be around bison, and giving the kids activities and something to keep them busy."

On a spiritual level, as stated by Basil Brave Heart, the importance of these sacred beings’ return at this moment in time cannot be overstated. And on a material level, this herd will be transformative for families and youth experiencing the ripple effect of poverty on the reservation.

This is just the beginning of our commitment to bring transformative change to life for Lakota families. We are honored to move this program forward alongside our supporters, our partners on the reservation, and the sacred Pte Oyate towards a brighter future for our Native relatives.
Wopila (a deep and immeasurable thank you).
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- Lori and The Tipi Raisers Team
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