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"The experience was intense. Living and working on the reservation gave me the opportunity to learn about Indian culture and reservation life up close. Going into the program, my beliefs about Indian reservations consisted mostly of stereotypes. It was only after being there and talking with those who live there that true understanding began. I am so glad I had the chance to be in such a position and to help. The situation was definitely one of give and take, which made it all the better."
- Rebecca, Vassar College
Spend a semester living and serving on an American Indian reservation, studying the history, culture, and issues of the American Indians of the Great Plains and directly encountering the issues and concerns confronting this "culture within a culture."
In the first week of the program, you will be on the campus of South Dakota State University at Brookings for an intense orientation in Lakota/Dakota culture and to begin your academic work through classes, guest lectures and field trips. In the second week, you go on a van trip across the state with the American Indian program director as guide, visiting Reservations and important historic, geographic, and cultural sites.
You will then go to your service assignment for 10 weeks, continuing your academic study through weekly correspondence with your professors. The program director makes a mid-term visit to each student and keeps in touch weekly by phone and/or email. Depending on the time of year, you may be able to attend regional pow-wows or be introduced to other special aspects of the Lakota/Dakota heritage.
In the final week of the term, students return to South Dakota State University campus to review their final academic assignments, make a major presentation on their learning, and hear those of their fellow service-learning students.
