Podcasts about thunder valley cdc

South Dakota health care providers are striving to provide access to people seeking the COVID vaccine. Michaela Sieber is the executive director of the SDUIH Clinic . She joins us to talk about the group's pop-up clinic at the Empire Mall in Sioux Falls. Thunder Valley CDC is doing first-time-home-buyers classes for Native Americans. SDPB's Richard Two Bulls joins us with more. Dakota Political Junkies Jon Hunter and Jonathan Ellis join us for our weekly conversation about state political headlines. Today we talk about Governor Kristi Noem's journey to the U.S. southern border. We also remember state legislator David Lust, who died recently at the age of 53. We celebrate the inductees into the 2020 South Dakota Hall of Fame by hearing from them in their own words. The South Dakota Air & Space Museum houses the state's largest collection of military aircraft. It's open to the public after having been closed last summer. We check in with the museum as part of our SDPB Spotlight on

In this episode of Policy & Advocacy in Action, Tatewin Means talks about how a Lakota ran grassroots Community Development Corporation has built a community as a catalyst to create systemic change on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Thunder Valley CDC is focused on building power for our community to create sustainable change and end poverty on the reservation through a multifaceted approach that ultimately creates vibrant and healthy communities. All their work is place-based and comprehensive, centered on applying indigenous innovation in a way that honors their cultural heritage and is adapted for the needs and vision of the local community. Rose Quilt of the National Indigenous Women's Resource Center provides commentary on Murder and Missing Indigenous Women's Day (MMIWG) which takes place on May 5th every year. To learn more about Thunder Valley CDC, visit https://thundervalley.org/.  Produced by NRCDV Radio on May 21, 2020.

Senate Bill 126 suggest to South Dakota making Lakota Nakota & Dakota the official indigenous language in South Dakota. It hits senate floors on Wed. Jan 6, 2019, introduced by Troy Heinert Dem. District 26. Join the conversation with Thunder Valley CDC's Lakota Language Initiative.

We sit down and discuss the Thunder Valley CDC education initiative with Matt Kull and Tiarra Little. Both are very involved with the initiative, where it stands and the future of education on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

Welcome to the introduction of the Thunder Valley CDC Podcast.

Nick Tilsen is the current Ex Dir of Thunder Valley CDC and is transitioning into a new venture called NDN Collective. This is a short interview about his personal life and how he approaches his work. Join us in this great conversation.

Nick Tilsen is the founding Executive Director of the Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation and is now helping build the NDN Collective. During his tenure, Thunder Valley CDC has done some of the most interesting and innovative community building work ever seen. They have been able to remain primarily community activists and organizers even while […]

“We were never afraid to admit what we didn’t know...But we did not fear to dream big...it is your right to dream big bold visions about your future, and your right to pursue those visions.” Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation is doing some incredible work on Pine Ridge. And Nick Tilsen is the Executive Director of the organization. Nick Tilsen, Executive Director of Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation Thunder Valley was created after Nick and others were scolded by some ancestors during a sweat. They had been complaining about the way the rez is. The ancestors challenged them: “how long are you going to let other people decide the future for your children. It’s time to stop talking and start doing. Don't come from a place of fear, come from a place of hope.”  And with that, Thunder Valley CDC was created, named after a spiritual circle on the reservation. Nick Tilsen is an enrolled member of the Oglala Lakota. When he was five years old, his parents separated and he moved to Minneapolis with his father. He went from a predominantly Native American school district to a school where no single group made up more than 20 percent of the population. But no matter how long he lived in Minnesota, he knew his home was Pine Ridge. After high school, Nick spent some time in Alaska fishing. Eventually he joined U.S. Trek. He traveled around the country interviewing leaders in their local communities. He saw the impact they had in their communities and was inspired by them.  Nick had what he calls “a burning desire to be amongst his land and his people.” Nick returned to Pine Ridge to work like those he had interviewed while traveling. He sought to reclaim his family’s land, living in a tent while remodeling his parents’ house. Eventually he had his encounter with the ancestors and he created Thunder Valley. Where a field once sat, Thunder Valley is now a hive of activity disrupting the status quo. Thunder Valley is creating a 34 acre community from scratch. They employ 30 people. The organization has received significant attention recently, including from President Obama. But the work has been a decade in the making. Nick’s work is changing his community for the better. But Nick views his work and that of Thunder Valley as the stewards of the work. It is really the people who are making these changes.  

Sharice Davids is a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin. She also is a lawyer, a former used car dealer, an entrepreneur (Hoka! Coffee), Chair of the board of directors for 12 Clans--Ho-Chunk’s Section 17 holding corporation, MMA fighter, and the Deputy Director for the Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation. Phew. Sharice is a great example of how one’s journey can take curved routes. After spending many years abroad as a military child, she went to six different colleges before earning her degree. The remarkable thing about this though, is that each transfer was for a specific purpose such as to learn about computers, learn sign language, or play sports at a collegiate level. It was very focused, and contrary to what I think is often perception when people move around to different colleges. Eventually Sharice earned her degree but it wasn’t long before someone at a coffee shop urged her to go to law school. Sharice attended PLSI in New Mexico prior to law school. While at PLSI, a mentor urged her to apply to Cornell Law School. Sharice doubted whether Cornell was the right school, at the time she had applied only to one. But she was admitted and ultimately went to New York. After law school, she landed in Kansas City at the law firm now known as Dentons. She learned a lot about the law while at the firm from Steven McSloy. But Sharice also credits McSloy with showing her how to use and maneuver within spaces of power and that she could question people, institutions and even the law. Moreover that she did not have to accept it as it was. She cites this as the most valuable professional lesson she has learned. It is incredibly powerful to learn that you do not have to accept things in the world just because. I think this is a fundamental aspect of being a NextGen Native-that you have the ability to alter the course of your own life, of your career, of your community. Things are not set in stone. Today, Sharice is the Deputy Director of Thunder Valley CDC. The organization is based on the Pine Ridge Reservation. I am not sure how many other CDC’s exist in Indian Country (let me know in the comments!), but it seems to have great potential. One of Thunder Valley’s current projects is to build a housing community on fee simple land on the reservation that is not HUD housing. Thunder Valley also has a number of programs it operates such as language, workforce development, food sovereignty, and home ownership for residents on the reservation. The day after this post is published is the 2015 Giving Tuesday. Thunder Valley is participating in its first Giving Tuesday. If you are looking for a non-profit to support, consider supporting Thunder Valley and other Native non-profits! This podcast could have been much longer, we didn’t even talk about Sharice’s MMA career!  To hear everything we did discuss, including her work as a board member, listen to the full episode. I definitely look forward to having her back on the podcast.