OLCERI

The Oglala Cultural and Economic Revitalization Initiative

The Oglala Lakota Cultural and Economic Revitalization Initiative (OLCERI), is the evolution of its founder, Bryan Deans 20+ years of experience as a  rancher, community developer and social and ecological entrepreneur. OLCERI is using a combination of modern and indigenous technologies to revitalize the food system and housing infrastructure across Pine Ridge Reservation. Recognizing that the suffering affecting the residents of Pine Ridge requires a holistic approach to the various complex and  interconnected problems on Pine Ridge.

A keystone project we are working on is the Indigenous Wisdom Center (IWC), an education and community center being built on our homestead site in Slim Buttes. This center is going to have a multi-faceted impact on the community through cultural preservation and education. The center will be a cultural hub for the Oglala Lakota to help preserve and bolster their ties to their ancient traditions and culture. The design and construction of the IWC is based on an Earthship-style design, that uses thermal mass to passively control temperature in the hot summers and frigid winters. It features rainwater catchment and greywater redistribution, and is built from recycled materials found easily on the reservation.

Working with local partners, we are also implementing a food hub system that includes multiple disability-friendly gardens and food forests strategically placed across the reservation to provide better access to fresh organic food, and education around growing one’s own food. The reservation, a food desert, continually suffers from food scarcity and food-related illnesses. The lack of access to healthy, organic food is driving these epidemics, and the community will soon benefit from intelligent growing systems that produce higher yields and distribution systems that remove the barriers to the community's access to organic, nutrition-rich foods.

Our guiding principle is the 7-7-300 vision pioneered by Bryan, driven by the wisdom of his people. Every decision made for our project takes into account: the seven (7) tenets of the Lakota Medicine Wheel, the potential impact that decision will have on the next seven (7) generations and the effect of that decision 300 years from now. It's our belief that this road map and vision is the only way we'll be effective in addressing the needs on Pine Ridge Reservation as these needs have proven to be far too great and interconnected for any one solution to solve.

With annual community events, strong partner organizations’ volunteers regularly visiting our homestead site, and a growing digital community, we have taken our project very far with the limited resources at our disposal. The largest barrier to our ability to reach more people is having an organizational infrastructure and a talented team that can help us deliver over an efficient and consistent timeline. A strong and supportive infrastructure will enable us to organize more effective fundraising campaigns that will help us become fully self-sufficient to complete the work we’ve set out to do.

Some of the technologies we employ: efficient rocket stoves made from local materials as alternative and sustainable heating and cooking source, renewable energies (e.g. solar and wind) to power our off-grid homestead, appropriate irrigation systems to manage water, Earthship building design for sustainable housing, and integrating our food solution hubs with walipinis and high tunnels for more optimal food output  

We  use traditional ecological knowledge such as companion planting, and using polyctures including native plant species, to maximize harvests and improve soil conditions. The structures used are designed to minimize energy and water usage through intelligent design.

Our project is innovative because it is the only one that takes an interconnected, holistic, and grassroots approach to solving the problems on Pine Ridge. We are pursuing a 300 year holistic approach to community building. This three hundred year vision and framework ensures we will be able to continue to do this grassroots work for generations to come. Our project is also designed to support reskilling of its residents and creating opportunities for employment in a region that has over 85% unemployment rates.

All technologies developed by OLCERI are open-source. We will have programming in the Center to skill the residents in both the applied technologies. During the annual Indigenous Wisdom and Permaculture Skills Convergence, locals and permaculture enthusiasts from all parts of the country get to interact with the demo projects. This year we are hosting two Permaculture Design Certifications which we will offer for free to select, eligible locals. The convergence is also a free event for the locals and other Indigenous communities to attend, and we raise funds to help with stipends, travel costs, etc.

The Indigenous Wisdom Center and our three primary Food Hub sites will act as training centers to train residents throughout Pine Ridge Reservation. We also will have forty-seven satellite sites going up, each for a different family. With an average of 6 people in each family, 250 people will be directly provided with training and the means to grow their own food. We estimate each one of these people has the ability to reach up to 10 people, acting as a grassroots and community outreach program.

Over the next year, we plan to bring the Indigenous Wisdom Center to 80% completion. Further, we will implement our food hub system and begin distributing food from our gardens during the winter season. Our long-term goals include creating five model Earthship-style homes, that will be used as demonstrations to help secure further communal and financial support to scale this building technology across Pine Ridge. Through the convergence and other events we have partnered with many local orgs on the reservation and often invite other indigenous and local communities for knowledge share

• Secured national grant for implementation of the Food Hub solution

• The IWPS Convergence has been covered by various media sources such as Vice, Come to Life, SD PBS

• Secured building inspection approval and broke ground on the Indigenous Wisdom Center

• Developed partnerships with Re-Member and Thunder Valley, two significant non-profit organizations on Pine Ridge

• Continued to improve relations with the community and make allies with community members inspired to make a change

Other partners include Engineers Without Borders, Transition US, Coordinating Committee for International Voluntary Service,

Solve has the infrastructure, experience, and network that can help us go from the gritty, boot-on-the-ground organization we are and grow into a more organized and effective organization.

• Re-Member, Food Hub Partner
• Rebel Earth, Food Hub Site, community partner 
• Indigenous Wisdom and Permaculture Skills Convergence, partner event organized by a volunteer committee that we host each summer 
• Food Not Bombs Fort Collins - volunteer run, helps feed our volunteers and partner for food and clothing drives 
• Tiyospaye Winyan Maka - partner for Indigenous Wisdom Center, liason for Community Engineering Corps from Colorado State
• CCIVS, volunteer corps 

Housing and Urban Development - contractor to implement our housing technology across Pine Ridge Reservation. 

Oceti Sakawon - building and construction partner, we can use our team, our equipment and technologies to help construct sustainable houses across the Oceti Reservations