SACRED STORM BUFFALO

Sacred Storm Buffalo is “a whole support ecosystem”

Rapid City, SD – Tanka Fund announced in July 2024 that it had partnered with two other Native nonprofits to purchase a Buffalo processing plant in Rapid City. The facility, Sacred Storm Buffalo, held its grand opening on July 27, 2024.

The culmination of a 10-year goal, Dawn Sherman, executive director and founding board member of Tanka Fund, said owning a plant had always been part of the organization’s plan to provide economic opportunities to Native Buffalo ranchers. “Last fall, I got a call about a chance to partner on the purchase of a turn-key operation,” Ms. Sherman said. “We are partnering with two other Native nonprofits, Wambli Ska Okolakiciye and Makoce Agriculture Development, with support from NDN Collective. The facility is local to many of our Buffalo rancher partners and it has community history. This opportunity is not going to happen again, and our board said yes.”

Tanka Fund’s mission is to return Buffalo to Native lands, lives and economies. For years, the organization has had a program called Tanka Resilient Agriculture focused on providing economic outlets for its rancher partners. “Finding plants willing to process Buffalo is hard,” she said. “There are a few individual Native meat processors, but many ranchers end up having to truck animals to a Wyoming plant or even farther, none of which are Native-owned.”

The investment in Sacred Storm Buffalo with the partnership, named Hóčhoka Kin Holdings (The Camp Center), creates the only private, Native community-owned processing facility in the Northern Great Plains and NDN country. “Not only does Sacred Storm provide a much-needed service to our rancher partners, it’s a whole support ecosystem. It will also provide training to Native youth and healthy meat to our community food systems,” Ms. Sherman said.

Sacred Storm is designed as a workforce development enterprise whose mission is to create sustainable futures through food sovereignty and cultural preservation. The young apprentices, many of whom will live onsite in The Warrior Lodge employee housing, will learn the art of meat processing, field harvesting, whole carcass utilization and other business- and industry-related skills. Through the holding company, Tanka Fund will be available to help with supply chain, equipment needs, and technical assistance, such as helping with USDA issues, meat certifications, and research and development.

“This partnership with Wambli Ska Okolakiciye and Makoce Agriculture Development is a crucial step in our mission to return Buffalo to Native lands, lives, and economies,” Ms. Sherman said. “Through this collaboration, we will continue to create opportunities within the Buffalo economy and market. Historically, the Buffalo economy was integral to our people's way of life and was unjustly taken away to subjugate and relocate our people. By supporting the stewards of the land and the Buffalo, we aim to restore and revitalize these opportunities, ensuring a regenerative and sustainable future for our communities.”