The Tipi Raisers/Ti Ikciya Pa Slata Pi

The Tipi Raisers engages youth and volunteers to address conditions of poverty, amplify Indigenous wisdom and create unique opportunities for reconciliation dialogue in direct partnership with our relatives in Native communities. We are a multi-cultural and intergenerational community in which an exchange of courageous conversations and mutual understanding are emphasized, inevitably leading to an organic evolution of friendship and respect across lines of difference.

The Tipi Raisers / Ti Ikciya Pa Slata Pi is a 501(c) 3 organization registered in the states of South Dakota and Colorado. The nonprofit was originally founded in 2009 as the Buffalo Boy Foundation. When it changed to the current leadership in 2012 the Lakota elders on the board felt that a new name should be given in ceremony. Ti Ikciya Pa Slata Pi was the name that came out of an ensuing Inipi Ceremony (sweat lodge) on Pine Ridge. The elders had some difficulty coming up with a translation for what they heard that night but ultimately agreed The Tipi Raisers would be a loose translation. The elders shared that the concept of "Ti Ikciya Pa Slata Pi", represents this idea of everyone coming together in a reciprocal exchange of community building.

Primary Programs:

Gen 7 Youth – We engage Native and non-Native youth throughout all our activities and programs, facilitating opportunities for them to bridge cultural gaps, be in service, participate in paid internships and gain the experience necessary to understand - and bring forth - their inherent gifts. Gen7 youth have traveled together to attend various youth leadership summits as well as to visit National Parks, go whitewater rafting and engage in service projects across the west and southwest.

Volunteer Service Trips – Gen7 and volunteers from across the country travel with us to the reservations throughout the year to address conditions of poverty in partnership with Native relatives.

Addressing Food Insecurity – We provide employment for Tribal members to regularly distribute food and supplies on Pine Ridge and work with local farms to establish gardens for families across the reservation.

Firewood Bank – We fund a year-round wood bank in which our Tribal partners earn wages to oversee and distribute to homes across Pine Ridge.

Bison Reintroduction – In collaboration with Colorado State University, our Gen7 youth work to restore and relocate herds of the American Bison that descended from the original 82 animals left following the near extermination of the species.

Lakota Language Preservation – In response to requests from our relatives on Pine Ridge, this bi-monthly class covers Lakota language fundamentals with an end-goal that students will be equipped to one day read, write, and speak the language. Entering its fourth year, over 20 students regularly attend the Lakota Language Class. 

Examples of Impact:

The needs on Pine Ridge are seemingly endless and we have a nearly 12-year track record of listening to the community, and working at their direction, as we engage our Gen7 youth and volunteers of all ages in meeting those needs.  A very partial list of examples follows:

·         Planting and providing ongoing support for over 25 gardens across the Pine Ridge reservation.

·         Working with the Wounded Knee community to restore a vandalized community center.

·         Employing Tribal members to run a year-round firewood bank on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

·         Providing multiple, ongoing, wage-earning opportunities for Tribal members.

·         Working with Tribal members to regularly distribute food and hygiene supplies.

·        In partnership with the Tribal housing authority, employing Tribal members, and providing the training necessary, to repair and winterize hundreds of homes on Pine Ridge.