American Indian tribes are the single largest private landholders in the U.S. today. There are over 562 federally recognized tribes in the US. In the lower 48 states, reservation lands account for over 54 million acres and there are 42 million acres of Alaska Native lands. Yet, Indigenous peoples are land rich and dirt poor.
They have the highest poverty rate in the nation—25.7% poverty rate. Forty percent of on-reservation housing is considered substandard (compared to 6 percent outside of Indian Country) and nearly one-third of homes on reservations are overcrowded. Less than half of the homes on reservations are connected to public sewer systems, and 16 percent lack indoor plumbing.
Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation, a nonprofit, on the Pine Ridge Oglala Lakota Reservation in South Dakota is offering a model for change that strengthens traditional culture, offers affordable homes, increases training and employment for youth and most of all leads to self sufficiency and economic independence.
Pine Ridge is the poorest county in the U.S. 97% of the population lives far below the U.S. federal poverty line with a median household income ranging between $2,600 and $3,500 per year.
There is no industry, technology or commercial infrastructure to provide employment for its residents, contributing to its 90% unemployment rate. There are no banks, motels, discount stores, and the one grocery store of moderate size is tasked with providing for the entire community. People spend their money outside the reservation for commodities and services due to the lack of them on the reservation. Therefore, the money goes to the state’s government instead of cycling back to the reservation’s Tribal Council for use within the reservation.
Nick Tilsen, a citizen of the Oglala Lakota Nation, grew up going back and forth from the Twin Cities area and the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, raised by parents who met during the occupation at Wounded Knee. Both of his parents were deeply involved in the Civil Rights and Red Power movements of the 1970s. Nick follows in their footsteps. He founded Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation (TVCDC) in 2007. With Lakota culture, spirituality and language at its core, TVCDC is a grassroots community organization leading a movement of systemic change and transformation on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Innovative solutions and an unprecedented holistic approach to fostering individual and community well-being are building economic prosperity and strengthening community vitality.
TVCDC is a planned, sustainable village on 34 acres infused with the principles of caring for people and the planet and prosperity for the many, not just the few. The entire community is designed in relationship to the sun. The affordable homes, structures and facilities on the site are largely solar-powered, just one of the project’s many design features that revive centuries-old indigenous architectural practices.
Over the years, TVCDC has taken on a wide range of projects that are aimed at tackling the largest issues on the reservation. The organization has established a thriving Food Growing Operation to build food independence, supported the creation of a language immersion childcare program to revive a dying tradition, implemented a Lakota youth leadership summer program, and provided skills training in Green Construction to dozens of young adults, allowing them to take hold of their future, support themselves and contribute to the growing reservation economy. There is an emergency youth shelter, community and education facilities, and retail space for businesses.
In 2015, Pine Ridge Reservation was designated by the White House as a Promise Zone with TVCDC as the lead agency for the reservation. The designation gives the agency technical assistance, coordinated federal staff support and preferential access to certain current federal funding streams. The non-profit is overseeing a project to invest $15 million to boost cultural and economic development opportunities on Pine Ridge.
“We are building of a better world, informed by our practices, culture, and generations of wisdom”, Nick Tilsen,TVCDC founder.
