Earlier this year we shared the news of our work with Tribal members and strategic partners on a ten year plan we call Vision 2035; a dramatic shift in our programming that will  provide job training, entrepreneurial skills and income for our Native relatives across the areas of bison herd management and sales, tiny home building and cultivating cash crops.

Throughout 2025 we remained focused on this vision and, in this last email of the year, we are excited to share with you the first in a three part series of Vision 2035 project timelines.

This rigorous timeline represents a clear path forward, developed in partnership with finance and bison industry experts, herd managers, and CSU’s Department of Veterinary Medicine. Despite the complexities facing our communities, we are poised to reach our 2026 milestones!

None of this would be possible without you. To our 2025 supporters: you have provided more than just food and warmth for those we serve. Your belief in our mission has been a true source of inspiration, keeping us focused on our long-term vision despite significant hurdles. We are clear-eyed about the road ahead; the work we do is challenging, and we are navigating truly unprecedented times. Yet, with your continued support - through sweat equity, thought partnership, and financial contributions - we remain confident in our ability to build a more sustainable and humane future for our Native relatives.

Wishing you all a happy and healthy 2026!

- Lori and The Tipi Raisers' Team
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P.S. Stay tuned here on our website or through these newsletters for both in person and virtual Vision 2035 information sessions!

I acknowledge that this is a step forward, but ...
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TIMELINE:

1. 1889: Pine Ridge Indian reservation established
2. 1890: Wounded Knee Massacre
3. 1930’s: The Gildersleeve family, purchases the Wounded Knee land from the Good Medicine family for $1,000.  Clive Gildersleeve was born in California and built a trading post on the land.
4. 1968: The Czywczynksi family, born in Boston, MA, purchases the land from the Gildersleeve family and continues to operate a trading post there.
5. 1990:  Congress formally acknowledges that the 1890 massacre was indeed a massacre.  
6. 2019: Legislation is introduced (Remove the Stain Act) to rescind the 19 medals of honor given to U.S. soldiers for their participation in the massacre.
7. 2022: The Oglala Sioux and Cheyenne River tribes purchase the land back from the Czywczynksi family.
8. 2024: The Secretary of Defense orders a review of the U.S. soldiers who had received medals of honor for their participation in the massacre.
9. 2025 (September): The new Secretary of Defense, announces that all 19 medals will not be rescinded and will remain.
10. 2025 (December 19): Wounded Knee Massacre Memorial and Sacred Site Act signed, “securing 40 acres of the site for the Oglala and Cheyenne River tribes..."

And so, yesterday, the U.S. government, some tribal representatives and others celebrated an Act that gave back land to the tribes from whom the government took the land, massacred their people on and then sold the land back to, though it took a legislative Act to acknowledge these realities...

HERE’S WHAT ALSO HAPPENED YESTERDAY:

1. According to multiple tribal members at the ceremony yesterday, there were deep divisions and significant tensions among the more than 150 tribal members attending the ceremony.
2. The ceremony - which was attended by South Dakota congressional representatives, the Oglala Sioux and Cheyenne River tribal Presidents, and just two council members - began up on the hill at the gravesite but quickly divided into two groups.  One group, with the official delegation, retreated down the hill into the parking lot by the sign.  The other group, almost all tribal members – and many on horseback – defiantly remained on the hill.
3. At one point, the riders on the hill began screaming their “akisa” – their war calls - clearly drawing the attention and concern of the official delegation and their prominent security detail.
4. This open defiance was clearly at least partially in response to star quilts being wrapped around the shoulders of the two State Senators (Thune and Rounds) as well as the lone Representative (Johnson).
5. There are deep resentments and anger also from some in the Standing Rock tribe, who did not attend the ceremony, as they were not included in the language on the passage of the bill despite Hunkpapa (those now on Standing Rock reservation) people being victims of the massacre.

And so, the ceremony yesterday was deeply marred and interrupted by what is just under the surface at Wounded Knee.


WHY DOES THIS MATTER? 
For many of us who work with, play with, live with, visit, donate to, volunteer and pray for the Lakota people on Pine Ridge as well as Indigenous peoples on the hundreds of other reservations around the United States, we have come to understand that helping and changing generations of trauma, racism (from all sides), profound poverty, corruption, etc. is an immense challenge. We also know that conventional ways of offering help are not nearly enough, and - in fact - can cause harm in many ways. 
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We recognize that the Act, the time extended by the South Dakota delegation, the presence of the Tribal Council Presidents, and the attendance of those who gathered to acknowledge the signing were likely motivated by good intentions

AND:

• There are 146 bodies of massacred Lakota people buried in the mass grave on the hill.
• The gravesite itself, which until recently had a Catholic church built on top of the same hill (recently burned down by community members), is hardly kept up and certainly does not fully or appropriately reflect the honor, cultural respect and truth of what happened there.  
• There have been additional skulls and skeletons found just over the hill within the past two years. Those are likely bodies from those running in terror away from the original gunshots. They remain where they are as the care of these bodies is lost in bureaucratic limbo, dysfunction and inaction.  
• The modern Wounded Knee community itself and Pine Ridge as a whole, is, and has been, in profound crisis for over a century. 
• The tragic and dismal statistics on Pine Ridge and many other reservations remain unchanged - and will not change because of this Act or the ceremony that took place yesterday. Indeed, the riders on the hill, the security detail, the tribal crowd that took sides and split into two factions – all speak truth to those that were there – and those who are watching.

These realities are stark, unsettling, unjust. We are committed to addressing their underlying causes, born out of the massacre and its surrounding history. To move beyond Acts, platitudes, words, programs and actions that are unsustainable and ineffective.

Along with incredibly devoted, inspired, hard-working and positive tribal members, volunteers, donors and supporters from around the world, we are entering the second year of Vision 2035. We are steadfastly focused and committed to creating long term, sustainable change to the reservations – in collaboration with those living in the communities we serve, as well as with people and institutions from around the world. 

Please join us.

-Dave, Executive Director

What if every student learned about Native communities firsthand through service? That's what many local schools have been doing here at our Lafayette, CO hub and on the Pine Ridge Reservation.
Denver Waldorf students have split firewood and learned about Lakota horsemanship at our Hub. Downtown Denver Expeditionary School students helped tan a bison hide, learning hands-on about the role of bison in Native cultures. Elementary students from St. Anne's Episcopal School have been sharing presentations with their classmates about their experiences visiting Pine Ridge.


This week, students from the Mackintosh Academy-Boulder and the Dawson School have spent time packing food boxes with care for Native families. And the Rocky Mountain School of Expeditionary Learning (RMSEL) has taken multiple trips to the Pine Ridge Reservation recently, immersing in Lakota culture alongside tribal members, delivering material aid, and repairing the fence at the pasture that will soon house a Native-led bison herd.

Isaac, a former Gen7 youth intern and RMSEL student who now helps lead trips, said the following of his most recent visit to the reservation: "As you’re driving up to Pine Ridge and you’ve been on a trip beforehand, you kind of expect what you’re getting into - but you always underestimate the Rez. I’m always happy to see my friends who live there. There’s always a lot of eagerness to help. I learned a lot and I think all the students did too."

It's so common today to hear older generations express their concerns about the new generation - but in our experience, the kids are more than alright: young people are leading the charge to be in community with those who look different than them, live differently, and come from different socioeconomic backgrounds. They are curious, courageous, and eager to lend a hand while deepening their understanding of their own communities and those of others.

The present is so uncertain for so many people - but with Gen7 youth leaders like these developing their skills, values, and cross-cultural relationships each day, we believe the future is in good hands.

Our August food box delivery to the Pine Ridge Reservation was full of sweetness! In addition to the distribution of food boxes to 25 Lakota families, a van was donated by a young volunteer to a beloved Indigenous elder. An afternoon spent unloading a flatbed full of firewood (split by students at the Rocky Mountain School of Expeditionary Learning/RMSEL!) alongside Gen7 youth from Pine Ridge, non-Native volunteers and elders brought lots of laughter and cross-cultural connection to life. 

Wage-earning opportunities like these for tribal members not only offer important income for local families, but also help move reconciliation forward! Our volunteers look forward to delivering September's food boxes across the reservation this weekend.
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2. Local students learn and serve Native communities

Speaking of RMSEL, school partners and local students have been hard at work to continue serving Native communities alongside us! RMSEL students continue to split firewood after school each Monday - every piece of which will be utilized by Lakota families throughout the fall and winter for warmth. Students from the Dawson School in Lafayette recently helped us load construction materials for homes on the Hopi & Navajo reservations. Other local schools and Gen7 youth continue to visit our Hub to engage with horse medicine, learn about Native communities and histories, and serve Indigenous families. We love seeing these Gen7 changemakers make a difference!

3. Volunteer magic on the Hopi & Navajo Reservations

The week of August 22nd-28th was jam-packed with service, learning, and connection on the Hopi & Navajo Reservations! A dozen volunteers from all over the country worked side-by-side with Hopi and Diné tribal members to build a tiny home for an elder, repair a roof at the 1,000 year old Village of Walpi, and create meaningful cross-cultural relationships. We're so grateful to the volunteers from D.C.'s National Community Church and beyond who helped make a difference for Indigenous families.

​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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As we watch volunteers and tribal members work together this week on the Hopi & Navajo Nations, we’re noticing something beautiful moving through the group and the communities we serve - the spirit of reciprocity.

Lakota elder and spiritual leader Basil Brave Heart teaches: "When everything has a monetary value, the commoditization of human life begins -- society loses the Sacred and human life starts to cannibalize itself."
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What we're witnessing on this service trip - and invariably each time volunteers come together with tribal communities - is the exchange of things far more valuable than money:

• A Hopi family on First Mesa has passed out blue corn dumplings, piki bread, and Hopi iced tea to the volunteer crew working with them to replace the roof of their humble, 8ft by 12ft home.
• Another Hopi family saw our group repairing homes and invited them in for a lunchtime feast. Their home was not being repaired - and yet the gratitude they felt on behalf of other First Mesa families moved them to share, to give.
• A Diné grandmother sat with a young non-Native woman for 30 minutes to clean the roofing tar off of her shoes with kerosene.
• A struggling Diné artist and elder gave three extra bracelets to the volunteers purchasing jewelry from her, “as a thank you.”
• Our volunteer group, made up of Native and Non-Native youth, adults, and elders, cooks dinner for one another each night. Many brought homemade baked goods to share; others brought ingredients from their own cultures to make special meals for their fellow volunteers.

This is not how the global economy is run. It's not how people "get rich quick." There is no monetary profit to be gained from any of these acts. 
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And yet, there is a wealth of another kind here: richness in love, in connection, in the spirit of reciprocity that makes reconciliation possible, that alleviates poverty, that deepens understanding across cultures....and that, if we all lean into the act of giving and receiving in balance with the relatives around us, may just save our world.
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-Mackenzie and The Tipi Raisers Team

​As we reflect on 2024, we are holding deep gratitude for all who helped us serve Native communities.

It was a year of constant motion - volunteers, youth, tribal members and supporters jumped into action each week to answer the calls for help from the three reservations we serve. It was a year of connection, where hundreds upon hundreds of Native and non-Native people stepped into the fray together - to learn, share, understand and heal.

Just looking at the sheer numbers, an astounding amount of support was brought to our Indigenous relatives in the form of food, firewood, home repair, gardens, and more. Thank you.
Even more impactfully, countless intergenerational and cross-cultural relationships were formed and strengthened. As we grieve the victims of recent violence on Pine Ridge, the importance of these relationships comes into clear view: We are stronger when we work together, across all of our differences and all that we share.

When the problems of violence, generational trauma, addiction, cultural loss, and poverty feel most insurmountable - we hold tight to the transformative power of togetherness and connection, and to the Indigenous wisdom of “Mitakuye Oasin” - We Are All Related.
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As we walk together into a new year, we are energized to move change forward and to positively impact Native communities in new and bigger ways.