Interview · South Dakota · Lydia Whirlwind Soldier · OSEU 7
Themes: Land & stewardship, Kinship & family, Identity & belonging, Values & generosity, Community & responsibility, Economy & livelihoods, Listening & observation, Children & young people, Self-determination & leadership
Learn About questions
What is a Tribal Council?
Why is it hard to bring businesses to the Reservations?
What might be productive ways of using the land on the Reservations?
Why do elders and children come first in decision-making?
How do casinos support communities?
What are Tribal Land Enterprises?
Learn From questions
Has my family or I ever been responsible for the stewardship of a piece of land? How did we care for it?
Do elders and children come first in decision=making in my family? Why or why not?
What is my relationship to the land around me?
Transcripts
Productive Use of Reservation Land - Lydia Whirlwind Soldier - OSEU #7
Watch this interview on YouTubeOn our reservation, our Tribal Council is really struggling to bring jobs to the reservation, but we also have to think about the impact those companies have on our land. And with owning a million acres, we have to start thinking about the use of that land. How are we going to use it so it's productive, and how is it going to benefit our people? And we still have that tribal way of living that we are responsible for one another. And we have to make sure that everyone is taken care of, the children, the elders. And they come first.
They always come first in all our decisions that the Tribal Council makes. They talk about the elders, what the elders need and what the children need. And the people in the middle are supposed to take care of business. So our tribe has a casino, and that casino supports the communities. They provide money for medical travel, for any kind of emergencies, funeral expenses, and all that. And they provide for children's or the community children's activities for entertainment and all of that. And so the casino has really helped our people.
And also we have Tribal Land Enterprises. We're the only tribe in the whole United States that has Tribal Land Enterprises. And that is a collective ownership of land, and that's that million acres. And the tribe buys land as it becomes available, if they can afford it. And that land goes into TLA, Tribal Land Enterprises, and that benefits the entire tribe. So the lease that comes off of that land goes to the tribe. And also we as tribal members can apply for land to live on.
And so the Tribal Land Enterprises, I think, are really beneficial to our people.
Resource text
Learn ABOUT Learn FROM
(deep listening, information) (deep sharing, transformation)
What is a Tribal Council? 1. Has my family or | ever been responsible for
Why is it hard to bring businesses to the the stewardship of a piece of land? How did
Reservations? we care for it?
What might be productive ways of using the 2. Do elders and children come first in decision-
land on the Reservations? making in my family? Why or why not?
Why do elders and children come first in
decisi kine? 3. What is my relationship to the land around
ecision-making?
me?
How do casinos support communities?
What are Tribal Land Enterprises?
From the current WoLakota source page:
Productive Use of Reservation Land
Lydia Whirlwind Soldier
Transcript
(deep listening, information)
(deep listening, transformation)
Some indexed text was extracted from scanned material. Check the original source for exact wording and spelling.
Source materials
Supplied transcript document. Text preserved as supplied; spellings and transcription uncertainties have not been corrected.
Additional source transcripts
Productive Use of Reservation Land
Productive Use of Reservation Land - Lydia Whirlwind
Soldier - OSEU #7
On our reservation, our Tribal Council is really struggling to bring jobs to the reservation,
but we also have to think about the impact those companies have on our land. And with
owning a million acres, we have to start thinking about the use of that land. How are we
going to use it so it's productive, and how is it going to benefit our people? And we still
have that tribal way of living that we are responsible for one another. And we have to
make sure that everyone is taken care of, the children, the elders. And they come first.
They always come first in all our decisions that the Tribal Council makes. They talk
about the elders, what the elders need and what the children need. And the people in
the middle are supposed to take care of business. So our tribe has a casino, and that
casino supports the communities. They provide money for medical travel, for any kind of
emergencies, funeral expenses, and all that. And they provide for children's or the
community children's activities for entertainment and all of that. And so the casino has
really helped our people.
And also we have Tribal Land Enterprises. We're the only tribe in the whole United
States that has Tribal Land Enterprises. And that is a collective ownership of land, and
that's that million acres. And the tribe buys land as it becomes available, if they can
afford it. And that land goes into TLA, Tribal Land Enterprises, and that benefits the
entire tribe. So the lease that comes off of that land goes to the tribe. And also we as
tribal members can apply for land to live on.
And so the Tribal Land Enterprises, I think, are really beneficial to our people.