Sitting Bull College

SittingBullCollege-Garden
The Standing Rock Indian Reservation is located in South and North Dakota. It is home to over 8500 Lakota and Dakota People (Sioux), including the late Sioux Medicine Man, Sitting Bull. Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) is a rich part of their cultural heritage; having developed a vast knowledge of their plant resources through the centuries. This rich heritage included an understanding of the flora and fauna used for food, medicine, dyes, ceremonies and building materials. Today many Elders and tribal members are working together to preserve TEK, as well as incorporating this knowledge into community, health, and education programs.

The Sacred Seed Garden will be located at Sitting Bull College and will serve as a traditional ecological knowledge-based garden. Visitors will enjoy walking around a garden designed as a medicine wheel as they learn about culturally important plants. A path lined with traditional fruit trees (i.e. chokecherry, juneberry) will lead to the college’s science building where one can learn more about the environmental science program at Sitting Bull College or can choose to continue their walk on an interpretive trail through the prairie grasslands behind the college. Informational signs will guide people through the trail teaching them about the culturally significant plants used by the Lakota and Dakota People in the past as well as today.

The Lakota and Dakota People are part of the Sioux Nation. Their relatives spread out across the Great Plains on several reservations in South and North Dakota, Nebraska, Montana and Canada. The Sacred Seed Gardens from the Crow Creek Indian Reservation and the Standing Rock Reservation will collaborate together to meet the same goal of passing traditional ecological knowledge forward to future generations.

This project is in the planning stage; look for more information in the coming months.

At A Glance

  • Region
    North America
  • Country
    United States
  • Area
    Standing Rock Indian Reservation, North and South Dakota, USA
  • Latitude
    0° 0′ 0″ N
  • Longitude
    0° 0′ 0″ E
  • Partners
    Sitting Bull College
  • Ecosystem
    Missouri River Basin, Prairie Bioregion, Rangeland
  • Cultural Scope
    Missouri River Basin, Prairie Bioregion, Rangeland