Native Lens: A journey for community stories amidst protests and pandemic [Video]

With heavy hearts in the Wakpa Ipaks’an, the past few months have been difficult in the community of the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe of South Dakota. After a great loss of their relatives to Covid-19, the hearts of the tribal members were heavy with grief and fear. Looking to create some good healthy memories again within the community, organizer Dustin Beaulieu, a few colleagues and the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribal Council began planning a Rejuvenation Round Dance, which had not been done in Flandreau in over 40 years.

This is usually a time to interact with one another closely but due to Covid-19 there were strict guidelines that had to be followed which presented a unique challenge in organizing the Rejuvenation Round Dance. The Round Dance is a way for the Indigenous communities to heal and uplift each other through song and dance. In the midst of this pandemic the …