By A new inter-tribal community center called The Kinship Center is ready to open in Aberdeen.
It’s in the lower level of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church at 1410 N. Kline St.
The Wo’takuye Oyate, or the Kinship Nation Inter-tribal Center, is the result of several independent ideas — the need for a tribal community center, a desire to create a diversion program for Native American youth and an interest in establishing a mentoring program for middle and high school-age youth.
A housewarming program is planned on Saturday, Nov. 2 from 6 to 9 p.m. A short work session is planned during which people can discuss programming they’d like to see.
Coordinator Lauren Nikolas said eventually she’ll have a calendar available outlining regular programming, but she expects most activities will be in the evening and on weekends.
“We can’t live our values without knowing our values,” she said. “For The Kinship Center, to have that space to be connected and give to one another and be respected, it’s refreshing.”
Nikolas said she’s hoping the center will be both exciting and rejuvenating.
Brown County diversion program idea came from Pennington County
Kelsi Vinger, diversion specialist for the Brown County State’s Attorney’s Office, started looking into a diversion program for Native American youth who end up in the court system. Initially pitched as Oyate Court, the local diversion program will be called the Family Council Initiative.
Vinger said the idea for the specialized diversion program came from Pennington County, which has a similar program. The goal is to reduce the overrepresentation of Native American youth currently in detention.
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In 2023, Vinger said, Native American youth ages 10 to 17 represented 5.6% of Brown County’s population, but were 26% of the youth in detention.
That’s why Brown County sought and received a two-year grant for $20,000 to establish a diversion program specifically for Native American youth.
Vinger said she hopes the first group of youth in the Family Council Initiative will be in spring.
The creation of the Kinship Nation Inter-tribal Center came about through a combination of visions from Lara Nelson, left, Kelsi Vinger and Lauren Nikolas. Aberdeen Insider photo by Elisa Sand.
Center expands beyond the diversion program
What’s in place is much more than a diversion program.
Nikolas said the creation of the inter-tribal community center came about because of a desire to provide opportunities to reconnect to different aspects of the Native American culture.
Nikolas said she’s lived in Aberdeen for 20 years. Prior to that, she said she lived on a reservation where there was always a connection to culture. Someone was tanning a buffalo hide, for example, or providing instruction on how to jingle dress.
While Aberdeen is home to Indian Health Services and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, she said, there are fewer opportunities for Native Americans to experience their own culture. The new center, she said, aims to provide that connection.
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Nikolas said in her work as a counselor, she’s noticed a missing connection to culture. People are interested in participating in a sweat lodge ceremony, for example, but they don’t know how it works or where to go.
Commonly referred to as a sweat, the ceremony is for spiritual cleansing and purification of the mind, body and spirit. It involves prayer and meditation in a heated enclosed area.
Nikolas said the lodges are sacred spaces, and it’s important to have someone who is knowledgeable in conducting those ceremonies. She hopes there will knowledgeable be a local space for the ceremonies, but care and attention are needed as it has to be safe and protected.
Lara Nelson is director of the American Indian Circle Program at Northern State University, She’s a life-long resident of Aberdeen.
Nelson said students at Northern have peer mentors who work with them to get them through the first couple years. In recent years, she said she’s realized the need to connect with youth as early as seventh and eighth grade. That was the inspiration for a mentoring program called The Prospering Ones, she said. It aims to connect students, families and communities through different activities like college mentoring, academic support and educational opportunities .
While Aberdeen is home to Northern State, Nelson said, the goal doesn’t specifically encourage students to enroll at any particular campus. Instead, she said, it’s to show youth that college is a possibility, how to apply and the importance of taking an ACT exam.
Nelson said she sees students arrive at college who aren’t academically or financially prepared.
“We should be doing that their freshman and sophomore years in high school,” Nelson said.
Coordinator Lauren Nikolas created this painting at the Kinship Nation Inter-tribal Center to depict connections between the past and the present. Aberdeen Insider photo by Elisa Sand.
Nikolas said programming at the center is a group effort
Nikolas said all the programming at the center is a grassroots effort and not something she could have assembled on her own. While there are several components, she said, they’re interconnected.
The goal, she said, is to provide a healthy community for the youth.
“For us, our youth are sacred,” she said. “We need a place that supports holistic healing.”
St. Mark’s is Nelson’s church. As the idea for the center started forming, she said she reached out to see if the church was open to the center setting up a space in the lower level.
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The center itself is nondenominational and plans to get established as a nonprofit organization.
A variety of programs will be available, many of which aren’t yet known. Nikolas said some already coming together include a beading circle, a visual art program, a.class teaching the Lakota language and a program teaching others how to make a ribbon skirt.
“I would love to see people making regalia,” she said.
She’d also like to see someone teach jingle dancing or set up a drum group.
Nikolas said there will also be options for non-Native families.
Another component is an adult support group for those in recovery. Nikolas said Shane Anderson is running that program called Red Road Recovery. Nikolas said he brings the perspective of someone who is not only in recovery, but who ended up in the court system as a youth.
Nelson and Nikolas described the center as filling a need in the community because Native Americans walk in two worlds. While they live in diverse communities, there’s a need to maintain connection to their culture and traditional ways.
Nelson said that’s especially important when it comes to reaching out to elders who can help with ceremonies honoring Native Americans on campus. In order to make those connections, she said, it’s important to know the protocol like, for instance, presenting tobacco, which is a sign of respect in making a request.