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OWASTE OTI: HOME
Oceti Sakowin Community Academy + Community Development Vision Plan

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The Oceti Sakowin; Home project was a plan that encompassed equitable opportunities for the Rapid City area and for the Indigenous people all across North America. This was one of the many diverse regenerative projects that focuses on racial justice, wellness, and education through the lens of cultural identity.

This project includes a K-12 school, affordable housing, community-serving commercial development, healing-informed care, and shelter for victims of domestic violence as well as unhoused youth. The project honors the cultural customs and wicoun (way of life) of indigenous people from past to present and for future generations through social, environmental, and economic benefits that impact all people in a positive way.

This project provided a perspective of connections between communities and natural systems in relation to cultural importance. The plan prioritizes focused systems including those below as part of the seven Oceti Sakowin Essential Understanding (OSEU) of the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota people.

  1. Land use

  2. Ecosystem & Land restoration

  3. Water

  4. Greenways or Trails

  5. Energy

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PROJECT DATA

Location

Rapid City, South Dakota

Year

2022- Ongoing

Client

NDN Collective

Many Thanks To

Michelle Fox, Caitlyn Shoulder, Hermus Bettelyoun, Andrew Iron Shell

Consultant Team

Joshua Hemberger Co-Leader/ Architecture Substance Architecture

Christina Hoxie Co-Leader/ Planner Hoxie Collective

Phaedra Svec Regenerative Systems Planner McLennan Design

Document Link

Owaste Oti: Home Community Academy and Community Development Plan  HERE

Core Team

NDN Collective NDN Collective

Nick Tilsen, President and CEO, NDN Collective

Robby Burroughs, Managing Director, NDN Partners, NDN Collective

Alberta Eagle, Director of Operations, NDN Collective

Bre Jackson, Executive Assistant, NDN Collective

Mary Bowman, Education Equity Lead Designer, NISN Fellow

Abby Menter, Public Policy Fellow Education Equity Team, NDN Collective

Sunny Red Bear, Director of Racial Equity

Korina Barry, Managing Director of NDN Action, NDN Collective

Michael Johnson, Director of Advancement, NDN Collective 

Sarah White, Executive Director, South Dakota Education Equity Coalition 

Anpao Duta Flying Earth, Executive Director,  NACA Inspired Schools

Bino Garcia, Director of NISN North, NACA Inspired Schools

Charles Eagle Bull, Manager of Special Projects, NACA Inspired Schools

Mathew Kull, Director of Operations, NACA Inspired Schools

Design and Engineering Consultants

Tim Hickman Principal Architect Substance Architecture

Leah Rudolphi Architect Substance Architecture

Harison Pitchford Architectural Designer Substance Architecture

Brandon Dake Principal Architect/ K-12 Expert Dake Wells

Lee Harmsen Cost Estimator Stecker Harmsen

Regan Tokos Planner Hoxie Collective

Lance Klein Landscape Architect SWT Design

Will Metcalf Landscape Architects SWT Design

Erin English Water Practice/ Engineer  BioHabitats

Juan Rovalo Ecologist/ Design Specialist BioHabitats

Trevor Butler Director/Engineer Archineers

Jeffrey Crocker Civil Engineer KLJ

Connectivity of Future Generations and Sacred Sites

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The Chokan or Central Space

The Chokan or center serves as a physical or spiritual spaces for student.

The Chokan  Diverse Diagram Arrangements

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The Chokan within the Oceti Sakowin Community Academy

The Chokan embodies connections of the seven Oceti Sakowin Essential Understandings based on what is within and around. 

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Elementary Classroom that surrounding the Chokan

The connecting spaces for students in knowing and learning the seven Oceti Sakowin Essential Understanding.

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