Never forget where you come from” is a mantra I hold dear. Even though I’ve been honored to be a 2014 Cooke Young Scholar and a 2019 Cooke College Scholar, I never want to forget where I’m from. While I currently live more than eight hours away as a student at the University of Kansas, I feel a strong pull toward my ancestral home: the Rosebud Reservation in Rosebud, S.D., where I grew up.
When I’m on the rez, I’m in a whole different world compared to being here on my university campus. I think remembering and staying grounded with yourself are really important when coming to a university off the reservation. I’m the oldest of three siblings, and frequently remind my younger sister and brother to stay true to their roots as well. While it’s difficult to be away from my family and my people, my ambitions to go to college and get a degree in public health are also tied to my home.
We don’t have that many resources or opportunities on the rez, but with the Cooke scholarship, that was my way of getting my education. My dream is to go back to South Dakota and build a top-notch recreation center on the reservation after graduation. The lack of infrastructure and opportunity for young people is one thing I want to help improve for Rosebud.
The Rosebud Reservation is home to more than 20,000 people belonging to the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, although my people and I prefer to be called the Sicangu Lakota. “Sioux” was the name the newly formed United States government gave to the many different Indigenous peoples living in the American West and Midwest during colonization.
Since I was a young student, I have felt a strong sense of responsibility to get my college degree and return to Rosebud to help improve it. Native American reservations often suffer from high rates of poverty, substance abuse, and poor health care systems due to many systemic issues. For one, the U.S. government has historically underfunded public health, education, and safety infrastructure for Native Americans living on reservations despite their promise in numerous treaties to do so adequately.
I also feel passionately about sharing my Native American heritage with others, including the good parts about living on the rez. In the media, Native American reservations are often portrayed negatively because of the lack of resources and economic opportunity for Indigenous people. But there’s so much beauty I want the world to see too.
The rez builds you as a person and it builds your character. People should see that we come from powerful ancestry. Our teachings. Our beliefs. Our stories. It’s all bigger than what you see.
The Lakota people abide by seven values: respect, compassion, honesty, humility, wisdom, perseverance, and spirituality. I carry these values with me always, whether I’m on or off the reservation. They helped shape me into the person I am and fuel my passion for giving back to my community through education and opportunity. Never forget where you come from or your roots. That’s what made you who you are today.
— As told to Julia Florence
This story was adapted with permission from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. For more information on the Jack Kent Cooke Young Scholars Program and the College Scholarship Program, visit jkcf.org.
