World Wildlife Fund
Report date
May 2020
What has been most instrumental to your progress?
“Meeting tribal members where they are” was instrumental to making progress; otherwise, the process would not have been accepted as “by the people.” Monica Terkildsen, WWF’s Tribal Community Liaison for the Northern Great Plains, has gone to many community, district, and tribal council meetings across the reservation seeking support for the survey, and door to door to share the survey and find participants. In total, she distributed 2,500 surveys and secured 627 responses. Listening to tribal members’ perspectives was important. Communication at the district level proved invaluable and contributed greatly to getting the survey sanctioned. After the survey was complete, Monica went back out to the districts to share the results, ask that they formally recognize the results through a resolution process, and that they each nominate a member to the working group. It was important to communicate repeatedly with the community on their terms. Through this process, it was agreed that the working group members would report back to the district executive and community members to inform them of the working groups’ discussion and progress, ensuring transparency and inclusivity.
A significant component of our work over the past year was establishing a working group of community members from across all nine districts on Pine Ridge. This working group has met five times in person and has had two Zoom meetings (most recently on May 15, 2020). The working group meetings begin with each member sharing their own perspective, explaining why they hold that perspective, and who they represent. The working group began by creating a timeline to understand how the land described as the South Unit has come be included as a unit of the park. This timeline is dynamic. At each meeting, we put questions on the timeline and conduct ongoing research to answer questions, dispel misunderstandings, and identify data gaps. We also share the survey data from each district concerning a certain topic and have a conversation around that topic to get an understanding of whether there is consensus across districts or not. This information can then be taken back to the district and shared. This allows us to understand our districts’ viewpoints and identify where there are shared viewpoints across our entire community that may contribute to future priorities for the South Unit.
Generating interactions among diverse stakeholders, including tribal council members, tribal program leaders, the National Park Service, and community members, is critical to ensuring that priorities developed by the working group might eventually be implemented as part of the management of the South Unit. So far, we have had several positive discussions among these stakeholders. The working group is beginning to share survey information, thoughts, and ideas with their respective tribal council members. We have engaged with the Oglala Sioux Tribes Badlands Bombing Range Office and identified that their director should attend a working group meeting. The working group asked to meet with NPS personnel and tribal council members, but then decided they wanted to have a complete timeline first. The working group members themselves are developing a sense of empowerment and cohesion. They recently decided that they need to take a guided tour of the South Unit to understand sites that survey participants suggest might be protected as important conservation, cultural, and/or historic or prehistoric sites. Permits and a guide are currently being arranged to make this trip possible.
Key lessons learned
One key lesson that Monica learned is to be persistent to ensure buy-in. She now calls, texts, and messages the working group members before every meeting. She did not do this before the first meeting in October 2019 and no one showed up, which Monica might characterize as a failure. She then went and visited with each working group member, asked for all forms of contact information, and set the next meeting for December. Through these conversations, she learned that the most convenient meeting day for nearly all the working group members was Sundays, so she scheduled subsequent meetings for Sundays from 11:00 am to 2:00pm. For all in-person meetings, we provided food and drinks to help encourage more informal discussion in line with the Lakota way of life. Laughter was shared and some tensions relieved. The December meeting was well attended, and Monica subsequently secured official approval from the two remaining districts due to her persistence in seeking to engage them. To date, the in-person meetings have been held in a central location on the reservation to make travel as equitable as possible.
Over the past year, COVID-19 and the tribe’s response, geographic isolation, and economic standing have required Monica to be creative to support progress and facilitate meetings with the working group, districts, the college, and council members. To maintain momentum, Monica conducted a survey of members to understand what might be needed to participate in virtual meetings. Responses varied, ranging from individuals who only have flip phones, to individuals who have Wi-Fi, smartphones, tablets, or laptops. For the first Zoom meeting, two working group members parked outside the tribal college to use the Wi-Fi signal; two others utilized their data plans at their own expense; and two had to leave their home during a shelter in place order to participate. In response, WWF is arranging to provide equipment for working group members to access these virtual meetings. We will provide portable mi-fi units that provide a signal at no cost to those participants that need Wi-Fi in order to participate, as well as tablets to enable their participation in Zoom meetings. These measures will ensure that participation does not involve any cost or burden to group members.
Reflections on inclusive, collaborative or resourceful problem-solving
Inclusiveness has been the most important element for making progress on this project. Having data gathered from community members who shared their values, perspectives, and desires was powerful. It helped to start the conversation, identify key stakeholders in each of the districts, and articulate our goal: tribal land that is communally owned and sustained with a communal voice. Monica reached out to our family cultural headsmen and gained valuable connections and support. She traveled door to door and attended community and women’s meetings, and tribal committee and district meetings. She also invited council representatives and tribal program directors to come and share their perspectives. Being inclusive allowed tribal members to share their voice, rather than having an idea, strategy, or solution brought to them. Instead, this process involved engaging tribal members to identify ideas, strategies, and solutions. By initiating this discussion and being inclusive, we were able to create a sense of trust in the community and gained support from districts to conduct the survey, nominate the right people for the working group, and share valuable information with the community.
Other key elements of Community Innovation
Using the ancient value of patience, Monica was able to generate meaningful dialogue and understand how processes are interpreted by the local community. As a result of her patience, the elderly were also willing to share their important perspectives. The people care that we are doing this work, and many have questions and stories to share concerning the land. Listening to their stories has helped Monica to understand that a lot of answers to current challenges can be found in examining and working through the past to remove any sense of competition. She learned to listen and communicate in ancestral ways. As she presents more to the communities, Monica will continue to use patience to drive innovation in how tribal members develop solutions together.
Understanding the problem
The 2012 General Management Plan (GMP) identified actions that could ensure that more tribal members benefit from the South Unit’s communal lands, (e.g., cultural heritage center, bison restoration) but none have been implemented due to a lack of unified tribal support. Establishing a working group, reviewing data, having conversations, and exploring tribal member priorities has led to more clarity about how tribal members feel more benefits could be generated from the South Unit’s communal lands. Monica’s approach with the working group is that she works for them. She is there to add capacity and help articulate their priorities for the South Unit. She facilitates conversations, takes notes, and hosts meetings. As the members gain clarity around the process and trust that Monica’s role and purpose is genuine, they have become more empowered and recognize that this process belongs to them. The tribal members are beginning to trust that they will determine the outcome. Monica hopes that, as a result of this work, tribal support for the “Declaration of Priorities” will be more unified and allow this process to move beyond identifying solutions to actually implementing them.
If you could do it all over again...
Monica’s advice would be to quickly identify alternatives to in-person meetings, which are impossible under the current conditions. Because she normally works remotely, Monica knows that technology allows her to attend trainings and meetings more readily, and she recognizes that the same can be true for other tribal members. If she could go back to the start of this process, she would have identified the needs of working group members to enable participation in Zoom meetings immediately, even before the COVID-19 pandemic, so that they could have remote meetings whenever necessary. Monica believes that enabling virtual participation provides important tools to tribal members and generates recognition within WWF and among those we share this work with of a way they can contribute to leveling the playing field for our partners.
One last thought
This is a tremendously important project and could mean so much for the tribe in terms of job creation and designated cultural or conservation areas on Pine Ridge Reservation into the future. Trust is so crucial, and we are building that trust through this process. With this grant, we can protect unique and sacred resources, engage and educate our membership, and possibly provide a model for other national parks to meaningfully involve First Peoples in the interpretation of indigenous lands.