Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation (CDC) is an Oglala-led, Native American 501(c)3 non-profit public charitable organization based out of the Thunder Valley community of the Porcupine District on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. OUR FOCUS AREAS:
~Food Sovereignty
~ Lakota Language
~ Social Enterprise
~ Sustainable Housing
~ Workforce Development
~ Youth Leadership
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der Valley CDC has developed a comprehensive, innovative and grassroots approach to collaborating with and empowering Lakota youth and families on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. We are building a regenerative community development that goes beyond bricks and mortar –– we are creating our own pathway out of poverty by building local skill and leadership capacity, exercising our sovereignty, and creating a space that empowers our community to realize its fullest potential. We see our regenerative community development as an ecosystem of opportunity that creates deliberate action and systemic solutions as large and comprehensive as the historic challenges facing our communities. Thunder Valley CDC intentionally disrupting the status quo by creating models of change that will overpower intergenerational poverty and build momentum towards regional equity. THUNDER VALLEY HISTORY:
In the fall of 2006, a group of people closely involved with the yearly Thunder Valley Sundance and the surrounding community began to discuss the creation of a non-profit organization that could address social, economic and cultural issues facing our Native youth and communities. Thunder Valley is located in the northern part of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation between Sharps Corner and Rockyford. We are just a few miles off of being physically located in the geographic center of the Oglala Lakota Nation. The heart of this winding valley was formed over thousands of years as Porcupine Creek carved its way through the grass-covered hills at the edge of the badlands of South Dakota. It was long ago in this region the Lakota people, originated, having spread out and flourished in the 18th and 19th centuries. The origins of the name Thunder Valley have long been forgotten, and until recently, only the elders and old ranchers still used the name Thunder Valley. Now the name is synonymous with an amazing renaissance of traditional values and cultural pride. In 1998 the rebirth of the ancient rite of traditional Lakota Sun Dance was reintroduced in the Thunder Valley community. This celebration of sacrifice, life and rebirth lay the foundation for change offering culture, tradition and a renewed sense of responsibility toward family and community. As this circle of change grows larger with each passing season, more and more individuals and families have become involved creating the energy and passion needed to set a powerful path forward. The organization of Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation was created using this same energy of resiliency and community values. Nurtured from conversations voiced by youth to elders who realized we honor the best of our past by utilizing new tools, new ideas and new strategies as we create the opportunities of the future, Thunder Valley CDC came into being. The Thunder Valley Community House was the first endeavor of this collective thought, moving from concerned community to putting in place tangible opportunities that could be shared beyond the geographic area of Thunder Valley. A 1,700 square foot community center was completed in 2007. It was built from donations and sweat equity from volunteers near and afar. The community house provides space for public use such as community meetings, faith based activities, and trainings and serves as proof that positive outcomes can arise beyond community conversations into something practical which serve a collective need. A lot has happened in the eleven years since those first conversations around the ceremony fire on how can we improve the quality of life on the Oglala Lakota Nation. Thunder Valley CDC has evolved to be a community resource in large part because of our commitment for community input and community driven solutions to our collective challenges. It is ever-evolving as a spirit and a place where young men and women, children through elders can reconnect to native identity, culture as well as having a mechanism to nurture positive change for future generations. The values we lead from are as solid as the million-year old geography of Thunder Valley community, powerful as the vision and dreams our ancestors had for our well being, putting into place a real sense of ownership for those who share in the dream and goals of Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation. PINE RIDGE INDIAN RESERVATION DEMOGRAPHICS:
The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is a federally recognized tribe, known as the Oglala Lakota Nation. Initially it was known as the Red Cloud Agency and shared with the seven council fires of the Lakota Nation lands in Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota and Wyoming. Today, Oglala Territory consists of 3,468.86 square miles of land in western South Dakota. It is larger than the State of Connecticut. Geographically the second largest tribal nation in the United States. There are (9) political ‘Districts’: Eagle Nest, Lacreek, Medicine Root, Pass Creek, Pine Ridge, Porcupine, Wakpamni, White Clay and Wounded Knee. Since 1889 when South Dakota became a State, the sovereign lands of the Oglala have been reduced to the entirety of Oglala Lakota County (formerly Shannon County), the southern half of Jackson County and the northwest portion of Bennett County. The resident population residing within the jurisdiction of the Oglala Lakota Nation is approximately 30 thousand with thousands more enrolled members living off reservation homelands. Sixty-five percent of the population of the Oglala Lakota Nation is under the age of 25 years old making for a youthful and vibrant population.
