How One Family’s Legacy Is Helping Revitalize Lakota Lifeways🪶

This week, we’re honored to share a deeply personal story from one of our generous donors, Amrita. Amrita and her family recently made a significant gift to our Food Sovereignty Initiative—one rooted in love, memory, and a powerful commitment to healing. Her donation came from the sale of her late parents’ land in Nebraska, and she chose to entrust Sicangu Co with these funds because of her deep gratitude for the chance to offer some measure of repayment for land that was part of the traditional territory of the Sicangu Oyate.

It’s been wonderful to get to know Amrita through this process and we’ve been inspired by her and her family’s generosity. We look forward to staying in contact as her donation is put to use expanding our garden and strengthening our food sovereignty and land stewardship work.

In her own words, Amrita shares the story of her family and her heartfelt connection to Sicangu Co:

“Charles and Celia were born in the central United States in the late 1920’s.  Their parents farmed land in southwestern Nebraska – lands once part of Lakota and Pawnee territories.  In the late 1920’s the land was closer to prairie habitat with painted daisies and flowers dotting the pastures, and with wild grapes, wild plums, chokecherries, and mulberry trees in small crevices.

The 1930’s brought economic challenges and dust storms to farms of that era.  Many farms failed while others struggled.  Celia’s mother died in childbirth with her tenth child, leaving her father with the challenge of caring for nine children (the youngest child being only around two) and also farming.  Since it was impossible to do both, all of the younger children went to an orphanage for a while, each returning home when they got older.   The combined challenges for Celia’s father meant that several years later he sold the farm to a cousin and looked for other work.

Farming changed over the years, from using horses or mules to help cultivate the land, to smaller and then larger and larger tractors and machinery.   In early years farmers saved their own grains to replant the seeds.  There were granaries for wheat and tall corn cribs that held corn on the cobs that was shelled to feed animals, and also to plant the next year’s crop. Over time this shifted.  Dryland crops were irrigated.  Planting seed from the farmer’s own corn crop shifted first to hybrid corn and eventually to genetically modified corn – farming based on considerable amounts of chemical fertilizers and herbicide use.

When World War II broke out, Charles’ older brothers went into the service and Charles, who was not old enough for the draft, dropped out of high school for a year to help his father with farming.  Celia’s brothers also went into the service.  She graduated from a rural high school, and like her mother taught for a few years before marriage.  She waited until Charles graduated from high school before becoming a full time wife and mother.   Charles began farming a small portion of land alongside his father.   Things were tight, especially the first year of their marriage after a late frost killed the all crops.  

Charles and Celia began a family, eventually having nine children that survived to adulthood.  They worked hard – with Charles working Saturdays at the local sale barn in early years to bring in extra money for groceries.   There were tough years and, after an especially bad year, Charles’ younger brother who also had been farming with him, left to train for another job in town.  Charles stayed, and with some better years, over time was able to irrigate some of his land and to buy additional land.

Charles’ dream of passing the land along to a child never materialized.  The son who most loved farming had health challenges and was not able to follow the vocation he loved.

Given the deep love of the land by Charles and Celia, after the passing of Charles and Celia, on behalf of their children, we give back a portion of the proceeds from the land to the Sicangu Oyate, for their food sustainability initiative.

From the first time that I contributed -- when they got back to me with kind reinforcement, to the patchwork quilt handwritten card from Matte Wilson and the Food Sovereignty Initiative Team, I felt truly welcomed. I had already been inspired by the 7Gen Vision on the website and have been so delighted to see that "food sovereignty" includes buffalo restoration and native plantings along with other plants such as herbs, vegetables, apples and peaches. I love the prairie lands of my childhood when it was more natural than it is now, and am grateful for those who work to sustain, restore, and renew the planet.

I like the breadth of the Sicangu Co vision — from healing the land, to restoring language, to health, housing, and other economic development. Healing community and reaching out to others is what we truly need to turn the world around and I am grateful to join Sicangu in contributing a little to that process. In seven generations (or before) may we be considerably closer to that ideal.”

Amrita B., Sicangu Co Donor

Wopila 🙏

We are deeply grateful to Amrita and her siblings for entrusting us to carry on the legacy of their parents. Their donation will support the upcoming expansion of our small-scale regenerative farm as we expand production from 1 acre to 8 acres. Not only will that increase access to local food, but it will provide a place for connecting and learning for future generations.

If you — like Amrita — want to be part of the movement to bring the 7Gen Vision to life, reach out to Brandi Charging Eagle to start a conversation.

Brandi can be reached at brandi@sicangu.co.