YOUNG NATIVE LEADERS NETWORK

Creating connections, opportunities across the Native Buffalo community

PHOTO: Tanka Fund Interns (left) work with Range Ecologist Zintkala Eiring (right).

Tanka Fund’s Young Native Leaders Network is focused on creating connections and opportunities across the Native Buffalo community to help young leaders develop skills, build relationships and establish career paths centered on our Buffalo relatives.

The network, a result of our Young Adult Buffalo Lifeways Society working group, is comprised of a variety of programs and collaborative partnerships to enable training and mentorship to young Native leaders, including:

  • Internships for careers in Buffalo care, land management and business

  • Skills development for food sovereignty- and Buffalo industry-related jobs

  • Mentorships and training for young Buffalo ranchers

  • Teaching of traditional cultural techniques for managing Buffalo and the land

Working with the next generation of young Native ranchers

Through training and partnerships, Tanka Fund helps young rancher partners like Brendan Siers of Double S ranch expand Buffalo operations, emphasizing the economic, cultural, and ecological benefits of revitalizing Buffalo ranching among Native communities.

Tanka Fund’s 2024 interns

For summer 2024 , Tanka Fund hired Range Technician interns who worked closely for 12 weeks with our range ecologists in our Climate Smart program. They researched rangeland ecology management of Buffalo, differences between Buffalo and cattle, land stewardship, and traditional ecological knowledge.

• The interns selected specific research topics for an independent project.

• Each intern spent several field days in South Dakota in July with Tanka Fund staff, visiting a research-intensive Buffalo ranch in Hermosa, two Native-owned Buffalo ranches on the Pine Ridge and Rosebud reservations, and participating in a range monitoring exercise in the Black Hills.

• The internship positions were funded by a USDA Climate Smart grant in partnership with South Dakota State University, the National Bison Association and AgSpire as well as by the Cedar Tree Foundation. This five-year project will bring on interns each summer for the duration of the grant.

Meet our 2024 interns below:

NICOLE COURNOYER

Nicole, who is Oglala Lakota, is enrolled with Western Dakota Technical College under the Environmental Engineering Program where she plans to learn how science and engineering can be used to improve both human and environmental health. She is also a work study intern at the Community College of Rhode Island Veterans Affairs Office and studied General Studies in 2023-2024. She is a current Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Specialist with Army National Guard, South Dakota. Nicole is also a kennel technician and a member of the Tanka Fund Young Adult Buffalo Lifeways Society.

Why did you choose this internship?

I was intrigued by the work Tanka Fund was doing when I first learned about the organization through the Young Adult Buffalo Lifeways Society. I was very excited to learn more about their efforts in returning the bison to Native lands, lives, and economies.

What topic have you chosen and why?

I chose to research how bison and cattle differ in management and how different management styles can positively or negatively affect the environment. There has been a common notion that cattle are more harmful to the environment. I wanted to know how true that was. If not managed correctly, bison can actually be more detrimental to the environment.

CLICK HERE FOR FULL INTERNSHIP STORY, NICOLE’S RESEARCH PAPER AND PRESENTATION VIDEO

SKYLAR POGUE

Skylar, who is a member of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, works at GP Ranch, one of our rancher partners, as a Tech Support/Communication Specialist and plans to obtain a degree in Range Ecology. She served active duty with the U.S. Navy as an Information Technician Specialist.

Why did you choose this internship?

I chose this internship to learn more about bison and see how other ranches are managed.

What research topic have you chosen and why?

I chose to complete my project on the importance of quality rangeland management and how it directly impacts the survival and quality of life for bison.

CLICK HERE FOR FULL INTERNSHIP STORY, SKYLAR’S RESEARCH PAPER AND PRESENTATION VIDEO

SKY SEEING LEADING FOX

Sky, who is a member of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma, attends Haskell Indian Nations University where she is studying American Indian Studies. She is an Automated Logistical Specialist for the U.S. Army Reserves, Kansas and in the College Work Experience Program at the Pawnee Nation Agriculture Department. She volunteers with the Pawnee Seed Preservation Society working with Pawnee ancestral corn. She was an ITBC Seedkeepers Crew intern last summer and is a member of the Tanka Fund Young Adult Buffalo Lifeways Society.

Why did you choose this internship?

I chose this internship to further my experience and knowledge in Buffalo restoration. At college, I do a lot of prairie, woodland, and wetland restoration work, so I think this internship will enhance my skills and knowledge in that area. I also want to pass along any knowledge that would be beneficial to my tribe as they prepare for a Buffalo herd.

What topic have you chosen and why?

I am researching "creating Indigenous land stewards using Buffalo restoration." As Indigenous people, we have a pre-existing connection and understanding of the land. I have known and felt it since I was a child. Specifically for tribes in Oklahoma, I am looking at ways they can bring back those Buffalo teachings and how that coincides with learning the land. In my initial interview, I was asked about my relationship with Buffalo. I answered that I am reconnecting with that part of myself and my culture, learning as much as I can to be able to take what I learn home and share it.

CLICK HERE FOR FULL INTERNSHIP STORY, SKY’S RESEARCH PAPER AND PRESENTATION VIDEO