Celebrating a Year of Cultural Preservation and Community Healing
Dear Valued Supporter,
As we reflect on an extraordinary year at Oceti Wakan, our hearts are filled with gratitude for your unwavering support of our work on Pine Ridge Reservation and surrounding areas. Through your generosity, we’ve expanded our reach and deepened our impact in preserving Lakota culture, while building a stronger, healthier future for our children and youth. Wopila! Thank you!
2024 Highlights
Expanding Educational Impact 
• Now serving 44 schools across SD, ND, and NE, reaching six reservations and Native dormitory schools
• Successfully launched our first Annual Teacher’s Conference, bringing together 60 educators, administrators, and Behavioral Health providers from five reservations
• Implemented our new 11th-grade curriculum for teens
• Introduced our new Ancestor Stories for kindergarteners
• Published an updated edition of “Learning Prevention Using Lakota Values”Cultural Rediscovery
Cultural Preservation & Community Healing
• Celebrated our 50th Annual Sundance
• Hosted our 2nd annual cultural camp for girls, where participants created traditional ribbon skirts, learned how to put up a tipi, participated in the life skills curriculum, learned how to make traditional foods, experienced a horse camp, and visited the Black Hills
• Partnered with Tribe to Tribe (www.tribetotribe.com) to deliver the “Change your mind… Create new results” transformative workshop for community members, leaders, and those in Pine Ridge jail. Because of our work on Pine Ridge with our Lakota relatives, Tribe to Tribe is now expanding our impact to the Hopi and Wind River Reservations, with more tribal communities on the horizon
New Resources 
• Visit our new website: www.ocetiwakan.org
• Created our first Oceti Wakan Calendar for 2024, featuring stunning Native artwork, followed by a 2024/2025 school year edition, and hot off the presses our 2025 Calendar
• Developed an updated edition of A Guide to Transformation Using Lakota Values for 2025, which will be implemented for our relatives in jail
Holiday Spirit of Giving
Last year, thanks to supporters like you, we brought holiday joy to over 200 children and youth who might otherwise have gone without. This year, we aim to reach even more children, but we need your help to do this.
How You Can Help
• Make a direct donation online
• For donations of $100 or more, receive our beautiful 2025 calendar
• Share our mission with friends and family
• Every dollar donated for holiday gifts goes directly to purchasing presents for children
Our culturally-inspired Life Skills curriculum continues to be a beacon of hope, helping to prevent addiction and suicide while preserving a precious cultural heritage. Through health and wellness practices, teacher training, and parent engagement, we’re further building strong foundations for future generations.
Your support makes this vital work possible. As we approach the holiday season, please consider making a gift that will directly impact the lives of Lakota children and youth. Contact Us: Oceti Wakan P.O. Box 1958 Pine Ridge, SD 57770 (605) 454-1489 ocetiwakan@gmail.com.
Wishing you and your loved ones a peaceful and blessed holiday season,
The Oceti Wakan Team
Every gift, no matter the size, helps preserve our culture and build a brighter future for our children