Volunteer Voices: Tree Planting on Tribal Lands Nearly Complete

by Rachel Hamalian, Volunteer

From May 18 – 20, I had the privilege to be a part of Trees, Water & People and Red Cloud Renewable Energy Center’s (RCREC) campaign to plant 30,000 pine trees on Tribal Lands in areas most deeply affected by forest fires. I stayed at the Sacred Earth Lodge in Pine Ridge along with good and new friends who volunteered for this project. We all enjoyed breakfast and coffee together in the morning before heading off to locations on the Oglala side of Pine Ridge as well as at Wounded Knee. In the beginning, I felt nervous about plunging a large sharp blade into the ground to create a home for the baby trees – I’m not a particularly strong person, and I don’t pride myself on my manual labor skills. But, Avery and Silas Red Cloud taught us how to properly create a hole, plant the tree, get rid of any air bubbles, and create a nice bed. By the end of the first day, I was a tree planting master.

Black Hills Ponderosa Pines Seedlings were planted on Pine Ridge, Rosebud, and Cheyenne River Reservations

One of the most memorable moments for me occurred on the last day of tree planting. Henry Red Cloud, one of the founders of RCR, spoke to our group of 25 volunteers as we began to plant. He told us about his beliefs for the mission, how we as humans seem to have lost touch with nature, and we treat it as a machine instead of as something alive. It is true, we take and take, and give little back. Henry told us, this is a way to give back, and these trees will continue to give oxygen and life for generations after us. We planted over 2,500 trees that day alone.

I struggle with finding the right words to describe the powerful lessons I’ve learned from my experiences and relationships built in Pine Ridge. While this project has helped to heal the landscape within the Reservation, there is still much healing to be done. I feel a great love for the Natives we worked with on this project, who invited us as volunteers to come back and continue to learn about their culture and how to be an advocate. I plan to accept their invitation, as well as continue my relationship with Trees, Water & People, and the good friends I’ve made who share similar goals.

Tree planters working during the month of May to fulfill our reforestation goal of 30,000 trees for Tribal Lands

A note from TWP’s National Director, Eriq Acosta: 

Thanks to the incredible donors, volunteers, residents of Pine Ridge, Rosebud, and Cheyenne River Reservations, we are 95% complete with our third season of tree planting on Tribal Lands! Although tree planting season takes hard work and dedication, there is nothing more rewarding than being able to put a tree into the ground, and sharing the experience with like-minded people in the fight for a more just and sustainable planet. We will be headed back up to Pine Ridge Reservation next week with a group of 40 volunteers from Lansing Catholic High School from Michigan, and we look forward to keeping you updated!  

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Photo of the Week: Aerial View of the Red Cloud Renewable Energy Center

A beautiful aerial shot of the Red Cloud Renewable Energy Center in Pine Ridge, SD, headquarters of the Tribal Renewable Energy Program. (click the photo to enlarge)

Building the Sentiment of a Community

by Cate Stone, National Program Intern

Silas Red Cloud and Leo White Bear show off their Ground Source Heating certificates at the 2012 Rhythms for the Planet fundraiser in Fort Collins, CO.

Through sustainability and learning, a greater knowledge of yourself and your community can be achieved. Having pride in what you do, what you have accomplished, and seeing that pride reflected back through others’ eyes offers one of life’s greatest rewards.

As a new member to the Trees, Water & People family, I was exuberant about the chance to attend Rhythms for the Planet, an event that would allow me to see firsthand the special relationship TWP shares with the Fort Collins community. Although I enjoyed the entire evening, one moment in particular stands out in my mind as the shining star. Watching Leo and Silas receive their certificates for completing their Ground Source Heat Training made me feel so honored to be a witness and to be involved with TWP. Seeing their excitement, their eyes light up with happiness and pride as they were applauded for their awesome achievement was truly moving.  Having only been with Trees, Water & People for a few months, this was the first opportunity I had to see how our program affects individual lives. As I watched Henry hand Leo and Silas their certificates and sensing the mutual pride and respect shared between them I became aware of the equal amount of pride spread throughout the audience. People Leo and Silas have never met, like me for example, grinning wide, clapping loudly, and being genuinely happy and proud of these two men. Feeling that sense of community, the notion that I do not need to know you to be appreciative of who you are, is exactly why so many people support TWP and the programs they create.

Building the sentiment of a community that crosses boundaries is what will one day help those boundaries to disappear. Leo and Silas, congratulations on your success, and thank you for letting me share that with you.

Photo of the Week: The Future of Tribal Renewable Energy

Lydia Red Cloud helps install a solar heating system with her grandfather, Henry Red Cloud, owner of Lakota Solar Enterprises and TWP's program partner.

Each dreaming their own version of peace and reconciliation…

I just got back to Colorado from another trip to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Henry and Avery Red Cloud and a TWP friend and donor, Al Byrnes, and I were installing another of our solar heating systems. We’ve previously done about 200 solar heating systems for families on the Pine Ridge and Rosebud reservations. This one, though, was very special.

It was for and at the KILI Radio station, the Voice of the Lakota Nation. Our workshop installation was in conjunction with a major celebration honoring KILI Radio’s 25th anniversary of being on the air, as well as a celebration for the installation of a very amazing pretty darn big wind turbine that will produce about 1/2 the electricity the station needs to operate. It is indeed another big step forward for Energy Independence across the seven Lakota reservations.

Honor the Earth was a big sponsor of the wind turbine project and was there for the celebration, as was the Intertribal Council on Utility Policy (ICOUP). Bands, speakers, the solar heater workshop and installation, a feast, and an amazing giveaway … made this installation all very powerful and good.

We then returned to the mini-campground at the Red Cloud Renewable Energy Center there at Pine Ridge. Henry and Avery live there at this developing sustainable living center.

A major core is the renewable energy training center where Native Americans are trained in family and facility scale renewable energy applications. We are currently building a loft in our main building with two bedrooms, a bathroom and small kitchen so visitors from other tribes have a place to stay as they learn about solar heating, windbreaks, wind turbines, shade trees and the making of solar electricity.

On the Sustainable Living side, there is also a small straw bale office, a greenhouse and garden area, a sweat lodge and a some of the bison from the Red Cloud herd.

For more info on what we are doing, check out our Tribal Program on our website – www.treeswaterpeople.org. Your friendship, your help, prayers and financial support are all greatly needed and appreciated for us to raise the funds and finish manifesting this amazing project.

After a night of stories around the campfire and some fire dancing and fun, we went to sleep … me … in a Red Cloud tipi in the middle of the Sioux Nation … each of us dreaming about our own version of peace and reconciliation.

Richard Fox
National Director
Trees Water & People

Red Cloud Renewable Energy Center

The Red Cloud Renewable Energy Center will be adding two bedrooms, a bathroom and kitchen this summer to accommodate visitors coming from other tribes to learn about solar heating and other renewable energy applications. The Center is managed by Henry Red Cloud who is also the owner of Lakota Solar Enterprises and TWP’s main partner on the Pine Ridge Reservation. It currently includes our main facility, as well as a small strawbale office, greenhouse and garden area, a sweat lodge and several buffalo from the Red Cloud herd.

The new addition to the Center will be in the form of a loft built into our main work and solar heating assembly area. It will be built with volunteers from our friends at Re-Member, a non-profit organization headquartered on Pine Ridge that provides bunk beds, weatherization and other home assistance to Lakota families there.

The materials will be paid for through generous gifts provided by our supporters… who work with us to develop new ways to honor the old ways.

Our Tribal Lands Renewable Energy Program works primarily on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota, but also on nine other reservations across the Great Plains and beyond.

Richard Fox