Oglala Sioux Tribe Credit & Finance
The Oglala Sioux Tribe (OST) is a federally recognized tribe on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. It's one of the seven Lakota tribes that make up the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Seven Council Fires). While not all 52,000 enrolled tribal members reside on the reservation, they're connected through rich historical, social, racial, and ethnic ties. Oglala Sioux Tribe Credit & Finance provides loan services, economic development programs, and financial assistance to tribal members and local enterprises.
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We partnered with KLJ Engineering and the Oglala Sioux Tribe to assess cultural preservation, tourism, and economic development along the newly designated Crazy Horse Scenic Byway, a 300-mile designation that connects the Oglala Lakota Nation to the Black Hills of South Dakota and Interstate I-90. Our role was to conduct a collaborative visioning session, analyze over 12 years of tourism and business data, assess national and state-level tourism data, interview key opinion leaders, distribute a community-wide survey, and review case studies of similar Indigenous-led scenic byways.
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Hold community visioning sessions to discuss challenges, strengths, fears, and dreams related to the byway.
Distribute a community survey to gather feedback from tribal members.
Interview Native leaders engaged in local, regional, state, and national tourism efforts.
Review existing data and conduct a market analysis.
Provide strategic recommendations for future development.
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Using community insights, the report outlined ideas for developing a holistic tourism economic sector for the Oglala Lakota. We presented recommendations for visitor centers, agritourism, artist marketing, interpretive trails and outdoor spaces, businesses, retail, hospitality, and lodging, and showed how socio-cultural activities along the Crazy Horse Scenic Byway could increase community well-being for present and future generations.
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Jan–Dec 2022
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Michael Brydge — Tool design, data collection and analysis, on-site visits and communication, data collection, financial analysis, and report writing
Andrea Mader — Data analysis
“I could read that our words were inserted into the study; this shows me that you shared our intentions and provided a document that will obtain investments/capital to make this project a reality.” —Courtney Two Lance, Oglala Sioux Tribe Credit & Finance
