ONE SPIRIT

Photo by Rafael Peier on Unsplash The cold air bends the tall blades of grass as a frigid October gust crests the hill. The howling night winds are dwindling, leaving room for the hints of sunlight stretching from behind the pine hills. We're just a stone's throw away from Allen. The drive from the youth center was short, and yet the landscape is completely different here in Yellow Bear. What seemed like limitless plains and prairies suddenly morphed into hills thick with tre

“Dacotah Village” by Seth Eastman (c. 1849). While painted in the mid-19th century depicting the Eastern Dakota, this artwork beautifully illustrates the traditional woodland bark lodges, canoes, and riverside lifestyle that the ancestors of the Lakota also shared before migrating to the Great Plains. When we picture the Lakota today, we see an ocean of Great Plains, with warriors riding alongside hundreds of thundering buffalo on horseback. But this iconic image is only half

Combining their ancestral woodland resilience with these new arrivals, the Lakota adapted at an unimaginable pace. Within a 70-year window, they transformed from semi-sedentary woodland farmers to the undisputed masters of the Great Plains. The vast oceans of grass, once too expansive to traverse on foot, became their new, boundless domain. At the peak of their dominance, the Lakota civilization was a vibrant, highly mobile society, perfectly in step with the rhythms of the B

Watch the Highlights! Learn why a tournament like this means so much to the Lakota community. The energy on the court was amazing. We had an incredible turnout with over 40 kids lacing up to play, and a fantastic cheering section of parents and relatives that brought our total attendance to around 60 people! The day kicked off early at 11 a.m., with a dedicated group of kids showing up to help us set everything up—fueled by some well-deserved pizza, of course. To keep the mom

For years, a basic household chore that many take for granted, washing a basket of clothes, has been an exhausting day-long trial for families across the Pine Ridge Reservation. With vast distances, limited in-home plumbing, and few working facilities, doing laundry has routinely meant packing up the car at dawn, driving up to 100 miles roundtrip, and spending scarce gas money just to reach an off-reservation wash station. This spring, that reality began to shift in a big way

Jeri Baker founded One Spirit in 2005, after retiring from her lifelong career in social services. Wait, retirement? For Jeri that wasn’t an option; there’s always more you can do. Jeri shifted her focus to Pine Ridge shortly after visiting the reservation. There, she witnessed a rich and wise culture deeply wounded by centuries of displacement, cultural suppression, and immense suffering. One Spirit came to be from a deep-seated need to help. Jeri’s commitment to providing u

When outsiders try to understand Pine Ridge today, many will see unemployment and poverty statistics. But modern statistics are a terrible diagnostic tool. To understand the reality of South Dakota today, you have to understand the ledger of 1851.

A loud bang rings through the grandstands, and a thousand watching heads turn to the Saloon. A locomotive has crashed into the back of the building, setting off fireballs. The battle has boiled over between the Mescalero Apache, their allies, and the Pacific Railroad Company’s henchmen. As the fighting concludes, the heroes prevail. Winnetou, the Apache leader, and Old Shatterhand, his newfound German ally, have just halted the bloody expansion of the railway straight through

In the face of the hailstorm of harm weathered by our Lakota youth—both through the unbreakable bonds to their ancestors’ suffering and through the steep hurdles that still stand before them today—our youth stand stronger than ever. Fortitude, kinship, and compassion flow through their veins, not just because they are Native, but because they live through their ancestors. These sacred values have been passed down by wise elders who survived a century of atrocities. What was o

To understand the crisis facing the youth, one must look at the environment they are forced to navigate. Pine Ridge is geographically isolated; it is a food desert that offers terribly few economic opportunities. The extreme poverty caused by these systemic conditions has snowballed into shackles that can feel impossible to overcome.

Lakota culture is passed down generation by generation. Through an oral tradition, the values and wisdom of ancestors are shared with each successive youngest one. From a very early age, the youth—revered as wakȟáŋheža, or sacred beings—are taught to ride horses, to cook traditional recipes, to draw a bow, and to craft intricate designs using porcupine quills. It’s these traditions that bind the Lakota to the natural resources they walk upon and the living beings they walk al

Throughout history, the economic wellbeing of a community has largely been dictated by its proximity to ports, trade routes, and fresh water. But for the Lakota, this isolation was not a choice; Pine Ridge’s boundaries were forced upon them. With very little local development allowed or encouraged over the decades, accessibility hasn’t improved much since the reservation’s inception. Today, Rapid City serves as the local hub for necessities, fresh food, and building materials

Food sovereignty has been cropping up increasingly in a variety of conversations ranging across sustainability, off-grid living and indigenous rights. While we can often grasp the general idea, the roots of the philosophy must reach deep to ensure the Lakota can reclaim their food supply chains. It is about keeping the products and their yields local, bridging a feedback loop that sustains growth and reinvestment directly in the community. To dismantle the Food Desert, we dep

To dismantle the reservation food desert, we must secure the community today. Our network of three active food pantries in Pine Ridge—strategically located in Allen, Manderson, and alongside the Buffalo Meathouse—serves as the immediate stabilizing force for the Lakota people. These locations are not merely charity distribution centers; they are community-operated lifelines that provide the strength and breathing room required to build permanent, self-sustaining infrastructur

This camp is a chance for children from Pine Ridge to form new friendships and discover new passions through a myriad of activities, offering a short break from an environment that tests the resilience of many every day.

On Sunday, April 5—Easter—our executive director, Jeri Baker, was awakened around 5:30 a.m. to phone calls. Authorities needed her key to get into the Okini Market, which was on fire. Fortunately, no one was hurt. However, that fire ultimately consumed the building, everything in it, and the attached food pantry for people with diabetes and dialysis. We're talking to our insurance now, but we know it won't cover everything. We estimate it will cost $40,000 to replace what's b

The SAVE Act is a bill passed by the House which is being debated in the Senate. Proponents of the bill say it will make federal elections more secure, but opponents point out that, in doing so, certain people, including Native Americans, will face difficulties registering to vote. Specifically, for those on Pine Ridge, the first major change should the SAVE Act become law is that you would have to prove your citizenship IN PERSON. For many, this means spending more money dri

In the heart of a brutal South Dakota winter, where temperatures regularly plunge below zero, a home is more than just a building—it’s a lifeline, a shelter from the cold. Recently, that lifeline was severed for dozens of our neighbors in a series of devastating events. Over the last several weeks, three separate fires, like the one to the left, and a severe weather incident have left approximately 73 people homeless in the middle of a life-threatening freeze. Two trailers in

Lakota, Nakota, and Dakota. Are these just arbitrary words? Most people do not give it much thought, but in reality, these words have history. History that has affected every American's material reality. Why is that? How do the events of history, as far back as 1862, have anything to do with the events of today? Recently, 4 Lakota were taken into ICE custody, and reports say they are being held at Fort Snelling. On first observation, it sounds absurd: “How can Native American

Today, my grandma made her journey home. Although this is the saddest day of my life, all I can think of is how grateful I am that God has given myself and the entire world my Grandma Tiny for the time she lived on this earth. She truly changed the world with the love and compassion she led with everyday. She lived every day like it was her last. She fiercely fought for the youth and underprivileged. She loved and gave tough love. She had so much compassion for people in all