Education
Fostering a resilient foundation for Indigenous children and young adults
At Oceti Wakan, we are dedicated to fostering a resilient foundation for Indigenous children and young adults, empowering them to make informed and healthy life choices, giving them the gift of a life of service. Our Life Skills Curriculum is thoughtfully designed to help establish a Lakota, Dakota, or a Native American identity and promote overall well-being.
Lakota and Dakota Values from our Ancestors
(Kindergarten & Grade 1)
Empowering young learners with a rich cultural foundation through our Lakota and Dakota values from Ancestors program. Designed for kindergarten and first-grade students, these 32 weekly stories build a lasting Lakota/Dakota identity. Each story is packed with values, virtues, and engaging activities, including coloring pages. By week’s end, children not only enjoy the stories but also embody the timeless wisdom they impart.
Woohitaka Mani Yo – Life Skills For The Young Lakota/Dakota/Native American (Grades 2-8)
Embark on a transformative journey with our culturally enriched wellness prevention curriculum, currently benefiting over 6,000 students across 40 schools in South Dakota.
Tailored for 2nd through 8th grades, Woohitaka Mani Yo – Life Skills for the Young Lakota classes start out with a Health & Wellness Practice, featuring activities such as talking circles, meditation, emotional freedom tapping, dance/movement, virtues practice, affirmations, breathwork, and journaling.
These proven methods not only set the tone for a productive day, taking our children from a brain in stress and trauma to a learning brain but they also instill into our children a daily self-care habit which will lay a healthy foundation for their lives.
The curriculum includes 56 lessons covering our physical, emotional, spiritual, and mental aspects of the medicine wheel. Students experience 14 lessons in each of these aspects throughout the year. Rooted in Lakota storytelling, nearly 400 ancestor stories are applied to 95% of the lessons. With a mission to combat the alarming over 70% high school dropout rate among Native American Youth in South Dakota, we believe that students with a strong cultural identity and education to make healthy choices can be successful to break the cycle of addiction and abuse.
These life skills lessons help each person to understand that each aspect of ourselves (physical, emotional, spiritual, and mental) must be equally developed in order to live a life of health and wellness, learning to walk in balance.
Teachers’ Manuals accompany each book and are also available.
They were created to empower educators of all backgrounds to effectively teach our curriculum.
Available in both hard copy and digital format via jump drive, each Teacher’s Manual is meticulously crafted to provide essential support and resources, including:
- Summaries of concepts, key questions, objectives, and expected outcomes to guide lesson planning.
- Strategies and activities tailored to engage diverse learners and facilitate effective teaching.
- Values from our ancestors matched to each lesson, accompanied by discussion points and student questions to deepen understanding.
- Assessments for ongoing evaluation of student progress and comprehension.
Parent Handbooks are also available.
Designed as a vital companion to ‘Woohitaka Mani Yo – Life Skills for the Young Lakota’ and ‘Wolakota – Life Skills for Teens,’ our Parent’s Handbook empowers parents to actively engage in their child’s moral and character development.
Recognizing that education begins at home, where parents serve as a child’s first teachers, this invaluable resource enables parents to reinforce the lessons learned in school. With insightful guidance rooted in cultural teachings, parents can strengthen their children’s resiliency by bridging the values instilled in the classroom with those imparted at home.
Wolakota – Life Skills for Teens
(Grades 9-11)
Responding to the unique needs of high school students, ‘Wolakota – Life Skills for Teens’ has been developed to engage teens in exploration of the values and virtues that guided their ancestors, historical trauma, finding one’s purpose in life, how to address anxiety, family dynamics, peer pressure, the power of the brain and how to make it work for you, the pros and cons of social media, organizational skills – how to plan for the future, codependency, addiction and abuse and societal issues to name a few.
Through talking circles and open dialogue, we cover topics like communication skills, substance abuse, navigating relationships, addressing racism and prejudice, and finding personal happiness. Students become active participants in sharing tools that help them embrace their potential for personal growth and understanding.
This program is to give them the tools to live their best life even with the dysfunction, addiction, and hopelessness that surrounds them in our communities.
Teachers’ Manuals accompany each book and are also available.
They were created to empower educators of all backgrounds to effectively teach our curriculum.
Available in both hard copy and digital format via jump drive, each Teacher’s Manual is meticulously crafted to provide essential support and resources, including:
- Summaries of concepts, key questions, objectives, and expected outcomes to guide lesson planning.
- Strategies and activities tailored to engage diverse learners and facilitate effective teaching.
- Values from our ancestors matched to each lesson, accompanied by discussion points and student questions to deepen understanding.
- Assessments for ongoing evaluation of student progress and comprehension.
Learning Prevention Using Lakota Values
(Primary-coming 2025- and Secondary)
Embark on a transformative journey with Learning Prevention Using Lakota Values—a comprehensive course spanning Primary (coming in 2025) and Secondary levels. Our unique workbooks employ a holistic spiritual educational approach, grounded in the sacred medicine wheel encompassing the physical, emotional, spiritual, and mental realms. Empowering readers to navigate life’s complexities, this course leverages time-tested Lakota values as a robust foundation.
These workbooks use a holistic spiritual approach to prevention that empowers individuals to break the cycle of addiction and to make good choices about life. Lakota values serve as the foundation for the prevention of alcohol and drug abuse, as well as depression and suicide. The greatest strategy for addressing personal challenges is early prevention which promotes making good choices and walking a good Red Road.
By instilling a commitment to making wise choices and fostering deep respect for oneself, others, creation, and the Creator, this course equips learners with the tools for a fulfilling and purposeful life.
Lakota Language Resources
Lakota Language Workbook/CD (Books 1 & 2)
Learning to speak the language is central to learning about any culture. These workbooks/CDs were developed to supplement any Lakota language program.
Guiding Your Child in Speaking the Lakota Language Books/CDs (Yrs. 1-3)
These books make it easy to share Lakota language with your children at home or compliment Lakota Language Program used in schools.
Lakota Language Book/CD
A beginner’s manual of common everyday conversational phrases accompanied by sacred songs for participation in the Inipi (purification) ceremony.
Lakota Culture: Books & CD’s
Sacred Fireplace – The Life and Teachings of a Lakota Medicine Man
This book provides a biography of Pete Catches Sr., who shares spiritual teachings and traditional knowledge regarding customs, beliefs, and ceremonies. This was written especially for his people as it was the first Lakota medicine man that wasn’t heyoka or written through a white mind such as Black Elk Speaks and Lame Deer, Seeker of Vision.
Realities Within
Experience a profound exploration with Realities Within, a collection of poems and prose by Zintkala Oyate, a revered 38th generation Lakota medicine man and the last of the Spotted Eagle keepers. Enjoy this poetic journey as he delves into the pursuit of spiritual truth and love, navigating life’s inevitable courses and challenges. Through evocative language and profound insights, Realities Within invites readers to connect with the rich tapestry of Zintkala Oyate’s spiritual exploration, gaining wisdom and inspiration along the way.
Seven Sacred Rites of the Lakota CD
Zintkala Oyate shares the timeless symbolism and meaning behind the seven sacred rites given to the Lakota people for their growth and development from the Spotted Eagle view. This was created for our young people. This CD also includes several songs used in ceremony.
Professional Development
Our workshops for Educators address historical trauma with practical strategies to support children’s well-being and cultural identity using the Life Skills for the Young Lakota / Dakota / Nakota curriculum. Life Skills for the Young Lakota/Dakota was created to help give our children a healthy cultural identity and the necessary tools to live a healthy life, free from the traumas of the past.
There are very few communities who have experienced greater trauma than the Lakota/Dakota/Nakota (LDN) Nation. Starting with the stealing of Native lands, followed by the cultural genocide that residential schools brought to this great nation, and today the extreme poverty and hopelessness that still exists.
Teacher trainings start with an overview of historical trauma, the only way to address the current problems is to understand our past, this also helps teachers who may not be familiar with this history have a greater understanding of and empathy for our children. We then move into exploring what impact Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE’s) is having on our children and the community, we dive into understanding Epigenetics and how historical trauma is impacting our children and youth, how our brains work and the need to take our children from a trauma brain (or a brain in stress and survival) to a learning brain. Trainees learn about trauma healing exercises and the great impact they are having on inner-city schools from coast to coast. We then take an interactive deep dive into the curriculum; teachers have hands-on experience to go through lessons and the Teachers Manuals.
These workshops are having a transformative impact and is helping everyone understand not only where we have been but also where we can go with healing!
Teacher Trainings are offered as one- or two-day trainings and is modified for the needs of each school system. Smaller schools may only need one day, whereas larger schools do best with two full days of training. The longer we have with teachers, the more hands-on training we are able to provide. Each Teachers Manual that accompanies the curriculum is unique to that book, therefore hands on experience with the Teachers Manuals will give all teachers the tools they need to effectively teach each lesson.