SDSU Welcomes Back Maštíŋska Oyáte and New Wokini Scholars
On August 16 the American Indian Student Center welcomed a new group of Wokini Scholars to campus with a special Welcome Week for Native American students. Upperclass Welcome Week Leaders and AISC staff planned and facilitated the special week, which included a introduction dinner with their advisors at First-Year Advising Center, located in the
Wintrode Student Success and Opportunity Center. Chemistry professors Dr. Derek Brandis (RST) and Dr. Matthew Miller introduced freshmen to the hands-on aspects of STEM with an interactive laboratory demonstration.
While the students were getting settled into campus life, on August 17 the CETL Fall Faculty Conference kicked off the year for instructors and professors with "Supporting Well-Being at South Dakota State University". The Wokini Initiative sponsored guest speakers Dr. Kris Lee and Dr. Darryl Tonemah (Kiowa, Comanche, Tuscarora).
Following the conference, Dr. Tonemah visited the students at AISC Welcome Week. Dr. Tonemah spoke to the students about the science of trauma and ways to regulate stress during intense times in the semester. He is also an accomplished singer-songwriter who goes simply by Tonemah on the music scene, and he performed a concert with storytelling at the amphitheater just outside the AISC.
The freshmen Wokini Scholars number about 53, come mostly from the region but also from as far as California, and they have ties to 19 different tribes both within the region and further afield. As part of their scholarship, they complete coursework within the American Indian and Indigenous Studies program while simultaneously pursuing any of the 200+ majors on campus, and they form an on-campus residential community, the Oyáte Yuwítaya Thípi.
Wokini Welcomes New Coordinator of Native Student Recruitment!
Paige Cain, Class of 2022
Paige is a tribal descendant of the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe and grew up in Flandreau. She just completed her undergraduate at SDSU in May 2022 with a triple major in
History, Geography and American Indian and Indigenous Studies. She started in July and spends one day a week with students at the AISC, bridging the transition between the admissions process and full-time enrollment for new students. Look for her at the next college fair or when questions come up about the Wokini scholarship, she is happy to help.
Also in the News
Derek Brandis Becomes First PhD Wokini Graduate. The biochemist from Winner is finished up his PhD work this summer and tells about the journey in an interview he sat for in May with News@SDState.
Well-Experienced Oglala Administrator Welcomed to New Role
On September 2 in a ceremony replete with tradition, Oglala Lakota College held an inauguration for its new president, Dr. Dawn Tobacco-Frank. The event took place on the campus powwow grounds seven miles southwest of Kyle, SD.
SDSU's Barry Dunn was a guest speaker in attendance, conveying to his peer well-wishes and congratulations in her new role. Sarah Bad Warrior-Vrooman, Director of Wokini, was also present, as well as
Oglala Sioux Tribe leadership, and many relatives and colleagues.
Dr. Frank brings 17 years of higher education administration and accreditation experience to this new role. She started in July after Thomas Shortbull, the former president, retired. Her name in Lakota is Ta Oyate Wiyankapi Win, meaning Her People See Her Woman.
The Wokini Initiative Sponsors Innoskate
Skateboarding, Innovation, Art, and Native Resilience Come Together for Groundbreaking Festival in Pine Ridge and Sioux Falls in July
On July 5 representatives from the Wokini Initiative joined collaborators from Ground Control on Pine Ridge, Skate USA, the Levitt Sioux Falls, the Lemelson Center at the Smithsonian, and Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra for a special event celebrating the innovation and art within the world of skateboarding, Innoskate.
Innoskate in Sioux Falls July 7-9
Following June 5 in Pine Ridge, the crew rolled on to Sioux Falls for three days, with concerts at the outdoor amphitheater, an art alley and more. Representatives from the Office of Admissions, the AISC and Wokini fielded questions and promoted the opportunities at SDSU. Wopila tanka to the SDSU Marketing team for capturing some truly awesome images from the day.
This recommendation comes from one of the Advisory Board members for the training course Wokini is producing. One of the topics for the training course will be about Indigenous research methods and methodologies.
A description of this groundbreaking text states: "Indigenous researchers are knowledge seekers who work to progress Indigenous ways of being, knowing and doing in a modern and constantly evolving context. This book describes a research paradigm shared by Indigenous scholars in Canada and Australia, and demonstrates how this paradigm can be put into practice."
Wokini Initiative, South Dakota State University, Morrill Hall 119, Brookings, SD 57007, 605-688-4030
