TIYOSPAYE WINYAN MAKA

The purpose of Tiyospaye Winyan Maka is multi-layered. First, we work to raise awareness and educate the general public to the fact that on the majority of Reservations, Native Americans are living in third world conditions. Elders and children trying to survive harsh winters in substandard housing with inadequte, or no heat; eating food that creates diabetes, heart conditions, etc. Second, we promote alternative housing and energy, nutritional and educational sovereignty for Indigenous women and their families. Finally, we created the “Wicosani Community Project” to address all of these concerns. We have partnered with Engineers Without Borders, George Washington University, Village Earth from Colorado State University, various perma-culture and organic gardening agencies, as well as Trees, Water, People, and Lakota Solar Enterprises belonging to Henry Red Cloud.   A single dome prototype was built that summer. The integrity of the earthen shelter remains strong after three years and thus, encouraged TWM to move forward with the vision of building homes with” the earth beneath the feet” of the Lakota.This vision is very straightforward: we believe the time is NOW to move beyond crisis intervention in Lakota communities; to reframe critical needs for secure and sustainable homes on Pine Ridge into an opportunity for tribal members to develop high demand skills in building trades at the Wicosani Experiential Learning Laboratory. This coming summer, 2012, our generous funders will help Tiyospaye Winyan Maka construct the Wicosani Experiential Learning Laboratory, (herein known as the WELL) an innovative training facility in Wounded Knee, South Dakota. From this central location we will be training and equipping multiple crews of Lakota families and their allies to construct a variety of Earthen Homes. We will be able to meet the needs of four or more different families living on the Reservation. Your generous grant or gift will be used to match funding committed for the 2012 summer launch of the “WELL”, TWM’s premiere project; (as written up in the recently released: ). The W.E.L.L. is a tangible extension of our vision, “to build the future on the foundation of the past using sustainable technologies of today with indigenous families.”