The Tipi Raisers invites you to join us in thinking big! For over a year we have been hard at work with a top-tier team of investment specialists and are excited to launch this pioneering approach to wealth management over the next ten years. By engaging this strategy, you'll have the peace of mind that comes from both growing your investments while contributing to transformative solutions aimed at ending generations of poverty, addiction, violence, and marginalization on the reservations we support! In collaboration with our tribal partners we have outlined seven potential projects that each have the potential to create culturally meaningful, sustainable industries in the communities we serve. Vision 2035 is our shared hope for the ripple effect of impact that each project has the potential to create!
Lakota Horse Training
Project Introduction and Background
Horses are an integral part of Lakota culture, spirituality, and traditional lifeways - and they have always been part of The Tipi Raisers story. In the organization’s earliest days, horses carried riders across the continental divide to raise awareness and funds for families most in need on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Over the past 10 years, Tipi Raisers has built up a herd of 12 horses. The herd is stewarded in accordance with Lakota horse teachings passed down by Indigenous elders. The Tipi Raisers horse herd has carried Native and non-Native riders thousands of miles on multi-state rides of reconciliation, and serves as a teaching tool around Indigenous wisdom for youth and local community members. Several connections exist between The Tipi Raisers and organizations who breed Nokota horses. Nokota horses are believed to be descended from the great Lakota warrior Sitting Bull’s original herd. There also exists, across the West, a large population of wild horses routinely rounded up by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and sent to be slaughtered. With Nokota and rescued BLM horses and through the passion and skills of tribal members, we plan to establish a horse training program aimed at revitalizing Indigenous horsemanship practices and sustaining an ethical, culturally-rooted horse training business.
The Vision:
The aim of the Tipi Raisers’ Lakota Horse Training Project is to:
+ Train horses, including Nakota horses, according to Indigenous horsemanship practices, + Coordinate the rescue of horses across the West at risk of slaughter and facilitate their training through the expertise of tribal employees + Honor and share Lakota horse culture with the public + Employ and empower tribal members as they gain skills and consistent income within a culturally-relevant horse training and sales model
A crew of tribal members, located out of the Tipi Raisers Lafayette, CO Hub will: + Coordinate with BLM authorities and horse rescue professionals to humanely capture and transport wild horses + Transport and work with donated Nokota horses + Train the horses according to traditional Lakota horsemanship practices + Assess each horse’s temperament and training level according to industry standards and prepare them for sale to horse buyers This project will generate reliable income and skills training for tribal employees, and offers the possibility to create sustainable and culturally aligned livelihoods for Lakota families for generations to come!
Path to Sustainability:
Many of the building blocks for a successful horse rescue and training project are in place already. Tribal members and Tipi Raisers contract employees like elder Nobby Bell and Lakota youth Jimmy Bravo have ample experience training horses in the traditional Lakota manner. Local schools, youth organizations, and individuals here in the Colorado area care for our horse herd and assist with training and riding.
A 20-acre pasture and corral are in use and available at the Tipi Raisers Hub, along with ample horse tack. Hay and feed at affordable rates are readily available and in use by The Tipi Raisers herd. Tipi Raisers leadership has access to contacts at the Bureau of Land Management as well as at various Nokota horse conservation organizations. Each of these connections could easily be tapped into to sustain a herd of horses to be trained and sold.
The program will begin with a small number of horses rescued or donated by Nokota horse organizations; The Tipi Raisers and tribal member employees will coordinate with BLM or other authorities to safely round up the horses, who will then be transported to the pasture at our Lafayette, CO Hub.
Skilled tribal members will be employed as trainers to work with the horses over a period of time using traditional Lakota practices. The trainers will prepare the horses for riding, interaction with other horses and humans, and eventual sale to horse buyers from the general public.
Once the first horses are successfully trained and sold, the program can expand as needed to accommodate additional horses, trainers, or pasture land. Given the proper investment and professional development opportunities for tribal member employees, this program has the potential to establish an exciting, lucrative, Native-led business granting access to high-quality Lakota horses to the wider public.
"For the sake of future generations, we must act now—working alongside our tribal families and community to provide what the U.S. government and others have not!" - Dave Ventimiglia | Executive Director
To learn more call Dave at 720-412-3335 or email us!