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Sustainable Spring Break Journal

From March 13-27, a small group of Carleton students will experience firsthand some of the problems facing the White Earth and Pine Ridge Indian reservations in Minnesota and South Dakota. After visiting local groups in Northfield and Minneapolis, they will travel to the reservations to learn about reclaming native land and rebuilding healthy Great Plains economies. In South Dakota they will also stay on the buffalo ranch of author Dan O'Brien to learn about prairie restoration and make day trips to significant places like Ted Turner's buffalo ranch, Bear Butte, the Badlands, Mount Rushmore and Custer Park. The group will volunteer for their hosts and build links between communities struggling to keep their traditions alive as they shape them to function sustainably in the future. Along the way, they'll share their experiences and observations here. The trip was organized by The Wellstone House of Organization and Activism (WHOA).

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Pre-trip: Itinerary

March 4, 2005

Sunday, March 13: Leave Carleton. Meet with representatives from Just Food Co-op and Northfield RENew. Drive to White Earth Reservation.


Monday, March 14 - Wednesday, March 16: White Earth Reservation. Spend one afternoon touring with the Res Biologist to look at historic sites and points of interest. Spend a day volunteering with the maple sugar harvest. Do a meals on wheels program run by an 87-year-old elder. Meet with Winona LaDuke. Talk with the Sustainability Coordinator. Visit the offices of the White Earth Land Recovery Project and Native Harvest.

Thursday, March 17: Leave White Earth and travel to a grass fed beef and organic farm outside Sioux Falls, S.D.

Friday, March 18: Leave farm and travel to Pine Ridge Reservation. Meet host, a member of the Lakota Action Network.

Saturday, March 19 - Sunday, March 20: Visit the Wounded Knee massacre site. Meet community elders to learn about Lakota culture/history. Visit the radio station and learn about their wind turbine project. Visit the tribal college. Meet with a family who have gone back to the traditional ways.

Monday, March 21: Visit Pine Ridge High School with Carleton alum Peter Hill who teaches there. Visit the Heritage Center Museum in the school. Leave for Dan O’Brien’s ranch.

Tuesday, March 22 - Thursday, March 24: Stay on the O'Brien ranch, learning about buffalo ranching and prairie restoration, making day trips to sites like nearby Custer Park, Sage Creek, Mt. Rushmore, Harney Peak, Bear Butte, The Broken Heart Ranch.

Friday, March 25: Leave ranch.

Saturday, March 26: Travel to Ted Turner's ranch at Bad River, S.D. Learn about his buffalo and prairie restoration projects from the ranch manager.

Sunday, March 27: Travel to Montevideo, Minn., to visit the Land Stewardship project there. After brief visit, return to Northfield.

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