Thursday, June 26

Our eastward return home begins and the first stop along our path is Sinte Gleska University (SGU), located in Mission, SD.  Sinte Gleska, along with Oglala Lakota and Dine College in Arizona are some of the first established tribal colleges in the country.  At SGU, we are led by Terry Gray, Sicangu Heritage Center General Assistant, to an introductory class in Lakota language instructed by Tina Martinez.  Tina kindly turns her classroom into an opportunity for our students to ask questions of one another.  She also shares lessons in Lakota philosophy and language with us.  Because our time at Sinte Gleska is so short, we don’t have the opportunity like at OLC, to engage in more substantive conversations about the institution itself.  It is good, however, to have the opportunity to visit the campus of another tribal college, if only briefly.

After a long day’s drive, we arrive in Yankton, SD, for the evening.  This is as good a point as any in our story to describe our traveling arrangements.  Our 14 members traveled for two weeks in three mini-vans.  This trip was the first opportunity several of us had to visit this section of the U.S.  Our vans provided us with comfortable flexibility when not all of us participated in the optional activities.  A big THANK YOU to our conscientious drivers: Jessica Canas, Matt DeMonbrun, Patricia King, Betty Overton and Melinda Richardson.