Red Cloud Indian School
Access to nourishing foods is essential to sustaining a healthy community and feeding the minds and bodies of our students for optimal learning. Plus, knowledge of traditional, indigneous methods of food production supports a deeper understanding of Lakota culture. That’s why Red Cloud launched our Food Sovereignty Initiative on the Pine Ridge Reservation.
The Food Sovereignty Initiative brings together learning, health, and local food culture for our students and the Pine Ridge community. With its greenhouses and gardens, Red Cloud schools operate as a hub for produce grown and sold locally, plus creates a venue for local farms and community members to share their harvests through the weekly Farmer’s Market.
As part of this initiative, the Summer Internship Program began three years ago. At the beginning of each summer, interns work to plant the gardens and high tunnel greenhouses. They learn the principals of master gardening as they prepare and amend the soil for planting, select and plant crops, develop irrigation schedules and ensure that the beds and gardens are kept weed-free. Interns also lead and facilitate lessons with younger students.
Another goal of the Food Sovereignty Internship Program is to provide employment opportunities for students and graduates interested in an in-depth exploration of food sovereignty as they learn on the job—for many interns this is their first job! Students increase their knowledge about Lakota plants and medicines as they care for the greenhouses and gardens plus develop leadership skills as they create programming and teach younger students.
Traditionally, the Oglala Lakota people had access to a nutrient-rich diet of lean buffalo meat and fruits and vegetables indigneous to the Great Plains. Unfortunately today, Pine Ridge is considered a “food desert”—a lack of access to fresh, nutritious foods has led to high rates of obesity, diabetes, and other serious health conditions. At the same time, community knowledge of traditional food production is being lost, generation by generation.
Through Red Cloud’s Food Sovereignty Initiative and Internship Program, a new generation of Lakota leaders are helping this program grow into a full-scale school farm—as a way to promote food sovereignty and celebrate Lakota culture. To date, accomplishments include:
- Our cafeteria now serves produce grown exclusively from our own garden and greenhouse, which all students, from kindergarteners through high school seniors, help to grow and harvest.
- A renewed focus on growing traditional foods—like chokecherries, buffalo berries, and black currants—deepen students’ understanding of indigenous culture.
- The Food Sovereignty Initiative offers a crucial new source of fresh, organic produce to promote healthy nutrition across the reservation. Excess food harvested on campus is shared with families and community members through our weekly Farmers Market plus through One Spirit – a community food distribution organization.
