About Us
Our mission
Pine Ridge Parks, Recreation & Trails is a nonprofit organization formed to provide for the funding, creation and sustainability of parks, recreation, and trail systems for the residents and visitors of the Oglala Sioux Tribe located on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.
Our history
Pine Ridge Parks, Recreation & Trails was developed in 2022 by Oglala Sioux Tribal member and resident, John “JJ” Wilson Jr., a veteran who, upon returning to Pine Ridge after his career and worldwide experiences in the US Air Force saw an absence of parks, recreation and trail systems throughout the reservation’s 9 district communities. With lived experiences and exposure to the social inequities, public safety challenges and the mental and physical health disparities impacting contemporary reservation life, JJ began doing outreach and discovered that, to date, there is no organization or entity tasked with the responsibility of providing for the funding, planning and sustainability of parks, recreation and trails on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
Priorities
Pine Ridge PRT seeks to revitalize our community's connection to the land and nature by providing unique opportunities to increase access to the outdoors, and develop a shared understanding of traditional Lakota beliefs surrounding conservation and stewardship.
Pine Ridge PRT is working to achieve the following priorities:
- Develop trust and establish vital partnerships with Oglala Sioux Tribe (OST) Parks & Recreation Department, Badlands National Park, Pine Ridge Chamber of Commerce and other entities to build support for our local network of parks, trails, and recreational infrastructure and programs;
- Create and convene Lakota elders, traditional knowledge keepers, and community advisory groups to identify and elevate the cultural conservation and preservation needs that will guide our work;
- Design and implement projects identified by community members and organizational partners that are grounded in traditional Lakota understandings of conservation and stewardship;
- Fundraise and build organizational capacity to advance the work
board OF DIRECTORS
ERNEST WESTON, president
Ernest Weston is an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe and was born and raised on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Currently, Ernest serves as the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration's first Tribal Economic Development Representative for the Denver Regional Office.
Kathey Wilson, vice president
Kathey Wilson is Oglala Lakota from Pine Ridge, South Dakota, and is currently the Program Coordinator for Wopila, LLC, a company based in the DC area and specializing in grants management. Kathey’ education includes a BA in Social Work and a Masters in Health Law. She retired from the Indian Health Service, after 40 years. Her 40 years of Government service started out as a Mental Health Specialist, and then on to administration. As an administrator she served in Quality Assurance and Accreditation, Risk Management, Injury Prevention, as Community Health Director and Hospital CEO.
Kathey has 2 children and spends time between her home in Pine Ridge, South Dakota and Rapid City, South Dakota. Her hobbies ’ are sewing and running half-marathons.
Taniya Bethke, treasurer
Taniya Bethke has a background in wildlife and conservation biology, environmental education, and community outreach. She has a B.S. in Conservation Biology with minors in Biology and Captive Wildlife and an emphasis in Ecology from the University of Wisconsin- Stevens Point. Taniya is an alum of the Leadership South Dakota 2020-2021 cohort and have been accepted to the 2022 cohort of the National Conservation Leadership Institute. She actively builds relationships between people and the natural world and strives to amplify, bridge-build, instigate, and partner in ways that elevate diverse voices in the world of conservation to develop creative, inclusive solutions and overcome systemic barriers. Through the national Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA) Diversity and Inclusion Working Group, Taniya contributes to diversity, equity and inclusion in the conservation community to ensure that all people not only feel they belong in wild spaces, but are welcomed there by others. Taniya is the Director of Operations for the Council to Advance Hunting and the Shooting Sports and former R3 Coordinator for the State of South Dakota Department of Game, Fish, and Parks.
nakina mills, member
Nakina Mills is a proud tribal member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe from Pine Ridge, S.D. Her Lakota name is Tate’ Cik’ala Win, which means Little Wind Woman. In her professional career, Nakina has worked in state/tribal child welfare and secondary/post-secondary education, as an elected official for the Oglala Sioux Tribe, as a patient advocate for Indian Health Services, and as a Program Manager for a native scholarship non-profit. Nakina currently is the Tribal Education Specialist for the National Indian Education Association, where she works closely with the Program and Legislative team to implement culturally and developmentally appropriate standards in partnership with tribal nations. She collaborates and partners with tribes to help expand tribal education capacities within tribal communities. She completed her bachelor's degree from Creighton University and her master's degree in Lakota Leadership & Management from Oglala Lakota College.
PERI POURIER, member
Rep. Peri Pourier is a South Dakota lawmaker in her second term representing District 27 in the state House of Representatives, serving on House Judiciary Committee, Military and Veteran Affairs Committee, House Taxation Committee and State Tribal Relations Committee.
As an Oglala Lakota born and raised in South Dakota both on the Pine Ridge Reservation and in Rapid City, Rep. Pourier spent her life in service throughout her personal life and professional career.
Rep. Pourier is a decorated Navy veteran whose intelligence work was highly valued towards the United States military “hearts and minds” operations in southern Afghanistan. She garnered numerous commendations in her eight years as an intelligence analyst, providing vital insight into complex socio-cultural issues that impacted the field of conflict and delivering critical "ground truth" to decision makers.
Since her return home to civilian life in South Dakota, Rep. Pourier led the Oglala Sioux Tribe’s Background Investigation and adjudication program for six years before launching her own small business. She co-founded and created a project to help meet essential needs in persistent poverty areas during emergency crisis, created a related nation-wide action network that assists persistent economically challenged young mothers and infants under an emergency, and a mothers helping mothers initiative to help meet essential needs during emergencies on Pine Ridge.
Her cross-cultural, personal and professional experience makes Rep. Pourier uniquely situated to the work of bridging the gap between Native and non-Native stakeholders to foster clearer understanding and craft actionable, data-informed solutions that will better the lives of all South Dakotans.
Rep. Pourier has a proven record of success in building bridges across the aisle and political spectrum, among her achievements was prime sponsoring legislation that established the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Liasion office under the South Dakota Attorney General’s Office. Thefirst of its kind in the United States.
Support Our Work
DONATE
Contributions to the fund should be directed to our Fiscal Sponsor:
BHACF/Pine Ridge Parks, Recreation & Trails
PO Box 231
Rapid City, SD 57709.
Black Hills Area Community Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Contributions are deductible to the maximum extent allowable for federal income tax purposes and are governed by BHACF’s policies and variance power.
Pine Ridge Parks, Recreation & Trails
PO Box 54 Pine Ridge, South Dakota 57770
