The Moccasin Telegraph Podcast

11/17/2025

So excited & proud of thošká! Jimmy Sweet's book is out!!

10/29/2025

Living a spiritual life requires the hard work of waking up. If you are finding it more and more difficult to participate, you will find this helpful.

you ever felt an overwhelming pull to step back from the world? In this profound exploration, w...

10/27/2025

Hau Mitakuyapi,

I hope you and your families are well, safe and warm.

It has been a while since I messaged and given you an update of work we are doing in the Lakota Oyate. We helped finish the house in Rosebud and continue the conversation to implement her dream.

We are now working in Pine Ridge with Crazy Horse School and the Wanblee community. Over the next 3-5 years, we are establishing at Crazy Horse School an outdoor play/learning environment that encomposses around 18 acres. In this area we will create an arboretum, open prairie area, play and education areas, dye and natural fabric gardens, a plant and tree nursery, an underground greenhouse and a school garden for food production. We will also be constructing straw bale storage buildings and a house on the campus. This will house visitors and elders that are helping at the school. We are doing this all through immersion education.

Students, faculty, staff, administration and Wanblee community members will be involved with the learning and skill building. The goal is to build food and housing sustainability by creating our own systems to address the enormous need for highly nutritious food, homes and healing. Healing will be incorporated into all the things we will be doing together. As part of the goals, we are passing on skills so by the time students graduate, or before, they will be able to create their own food system that feeds them and their family, build their own affordable, energy efficient home and learn how to address trauma and unhealthiness in their lives. The community will be part of all of this, as well.

We will be bringing in knowledge holders from different areas of education and practice that are willing to pass on their knowledge to the students and community, so they can learn other skills. I will be reaching out to those of you that can help in this effort to see if this is something you would like to help with.

If you want to get a hold of me and learn more, feel free to write.

ONE MORE THING. This is an ask from me. I know that we are all dealing with many things in our lives and I know at the same time we help each other, as best we can, to get through some rough things.

I have a relative that has a very important role in the Wanblee community. She has been hit this past few weeks with a painful loss to her and family. Tragically, her daughter, granddaughter and nephew all passed into the spirit world after a car accident. She has run out of her bereavement leave pay. She needs more time to take care of the family affairs and to grieve her losses, before she comes back to work, but if she does not come back to work, she will not get paid.

I cannot imagine the strength it takes to grieve for the loss of a child or a grandchild or a nephew. So the fact that she lost all three in the same accident, all gone from under her roof, is beyond comprehension. She cares for her elderly mother who is sick with grief and now pneumonia, just a week after she arranged 3 funerals.

My Lakota relative needs help with the sudden financial burden she bears on top of trying to figure out how to grieve. Everyone is having a difficult time right now but if you're able to help it would be deeply appreciated, even $5 helps.

You can send donations to me and I will make sure she gets it immediately.

Paypal: [email protected]

or Mail: 809 Fuller Street, Spencer, SD 57374

May you all be blessed with your needs being met and good health.

Mitakuyapi pilamayelo,

Cânté Sütá-Francis Bettelyoun, Pȟežúta Ȟáka, Oglala Lakȟóta-Očhéthi Šakówiŋ

09/23/2023

Oíč’ihiyapi. To be sovereign by taking care of yourself, independent, self-sustainability.

08/25/2023

Hau mitakuyapi,
Please check out this edited video of the tipi raising on the Rosebud Reservation. Pilamaye to John Gwinn for sharing his editorial skills. Feel free to share!

Created with WeVideo

07/19/2023

UPDATE: GO TIME!!

The building of Florines home is back on. If you would like to receive these updates immediately via email, then message this page or comment on this post to be added to the email list! We hope to see you the last weekend of July!

Heres the update with specifics from Cânté Sütá-Francis:

Hau Mitakuye,

I hope you are all well and in good health. This is an update on building Florines' home.

We were informed this morning that all materials, except the finishing roofing, are in at Menards and these materials will be delivered to Florine on Thursday, July 27th. The roofing panels may make the delivery, if not, we can install the panels when they do arrive.

We will begin building on Friday, July 28th & continue Saturday, July 29th & Sunday(if needed), July 30th.

We will have 4 experienced builders/carpenters on site educating all while installing the foundation, exterior walls, roof trusses, exterior walls and roof sheathing, electrical runs, insulation and interior sheathing for walls and ceiling. This is an opportunity to learn while donating your time.

There is an attachment that lists additional building materials and interior living items. The materials list is for framing bunk beds, creating a bathroom space, shelving and plumbing. These items that have dollar amounts will be purchased immediately when the funding comes in, so we can put them on the delivery going out on Thursday, July 27th.

If the building materials list is filled and these materials come out with the delivery we will build the bunk beds, build the bathroom walls, get the electrical runs in the bathroom and build the floor of the tipi.

To Donate Please Use this Link: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=VDMXK3A8C99MQ

The rest of the Appliances and Miscellaneous Household Items list can be filled and installed or given, as soon as possible. On this list items listed New, need to be New and all other items can be new, refurbished, overstock, scratch and dent, thrift store or reuse center purchases or what you have extra or don't use. All items must be fully functional and easily cleaned up.

Other items not on the list that anyone can purchase for Florines' family are dish soap, laundry soap, shampoo and conditioner. Since we will be installing a grey waste water system, these items need to be "biodegradable" or "biocompatible" and free of: salts, sodium compounds, boron, borate, borax, chlorine bleach and other synthetic compounds that degrade soil quality, like coloring agents, synthetic fragrance and artificial preservatives.

Ingredients to avoid: sodium and ingredients with the word "sodium" or "salt" in them, boron/borax(toxic to plants), sodium perborate, petroleum distillate, anti-bacterial soaps and cleaners, "whiteners" and "softeners", chromium oxide, artificial colors, FD&C colors, synthetic fragrance, artificial preservatives, parabens(methyl, propyl, butyl and ethyl), chlorine bleach/sodium hypochlorite(household bleach).

Hydrogen peroxide and white vinegar are acceptable alternatives.

07/12/2023

Western cultures expect us to work to be alive.

Indigenous cultures expect us to be like nature, alive.

The difference is human doing or human being.

-author unknown

03/21/2023

Hau Mitakuyapi, Anpetu Waste!
Hello, I greet you to the day my relatives!
It has been a while since I communicated with you all. I would like to tell you Pilamaye! Much appreciation for all the support you have given me at the Native American Medicine Gardens. I am honored to have been part of the education, healing and building of community at the Native American Medicine Gardens. I have been part of the greatness that was created when we all began or continued our role as caretaker of Unci Maka-Grandmother Earth.
I am also writing to let everyone know that we will be changing the page according to the vision we have moving forward. The page will be called The Moccasin Telegraph. With the utmost respect to the Native American Medicine Garden and all the relatives she took care of, I will make sure her spirit will be part of all we are doing.
Below is a letter sent to the Native American Medicine Garden listserv today, that will give more detailed information about we are doing now moving forward. I will also be giving a talk in St. Paul at The Good Acre on April 1st, also detailed below.

"Hau mitakuyapi,
It has been a while since I have addressed you, my friends. I needed time to cleanse from the disruptions and heartbreak that seeped into my family’s life and to reestablish that solid foundation and focus in helping all my relatives. I feel the deepest appreciation for the support, kind words and understanding that you all gave me and my family. Pilamaye!

For more than 16 years the Native American Medicine Garden (NAMG) gave me the ability to heal and learn the importance of my role on Unci Maka. I have missed the NAMG community and the teaching role I was able to enact, but it is not possible for me to step back into the system of institutional supremacy rooted in Manifest Destiny and dedicated to conquering and commoditizing Unci Maka and the relatives she gives life. Working outside the University, I have continued practicing the values and knowledge of the culture/spirit of being Lakȟóta. Ma Lakȟóta!

Over the past couple of years, I have been spending much time with my relatives who are, like me, trying to eke out an Indigenous, land-based cultural existence in a system that is oppressing and exterminating all our cultures, with no remorse. For centuries, this nation has interfered with our spiritual, intellectual, emotional, and physical cultural practices. It has kidnapped our children, r***d our relatives, divided our families, and forced their values and practices on our governance and ways of life.

In my Indigenous community, we have become separated from the wisdom of our elders and are assimilating into the oppressor’s system, following a shiny facade of a better life that doesn’t offer real support. Our grandmothers and grandfathers are taking care of 3, 5, 9 or more grandchildren without help or support; our relatives are self medicating because the system does not have the resources to dedicate to healing trauma; our elders are dying alone and homeless; our young ones are taking their lives because they feel hopeless.

Despite our best intentions, we are practicing colonizer politics: their religions, their educational systems, their legal systems and have been assimilated to the detriment of our cultural ways. Few of us remember or are practicing fully the ways of the Očhéthi Šakówin.

We are practicing colonization, by practicing individualism.

But instead of reshaping our Očhéthi Šakówin culture under the colonizing system, we have a new intention to preserve our cultures and re-create our own educational system.

It is time that we come together as the fullness of the Očhéthi Šakówin and re-Indigenize.

Our community has been divided, but can rejoin in a decision-making process to strengthen ourselves. The reservation and membership do not define who are the keepers of knowledge. We all have knowledge and can help make the Očhéthi Šakówin Oyate strong again - One hundred percent Inclusion of all who are the Očhéthi Šakówin Oyate!

Let us all practice the values we know—kindness, humility, respect, and honor—to re-Indigenize the Očhéthi Šakówin Oyate, so that we can learn the fullness of who we are and teach one another.

Our non-human relatives and Unci Maka need us all to be caretakers and fulfill our responsibilities as citizens of land-based cultures.

Our settler relatives who have been colonized so long that their land-based roots are almost lost can turn from assimilation towards shared values and mutual support as we all re-Indigenize.

Over the years, you have asked what you can do to help. We invite you, all our relatives, to participate in the initiatives we are beginning…We are seeking immediate assistance and funding support with two initiatives:"

The Moccasin Telegraph Podcast
The Moccasin Telegraph was created to help teach our truths and values that we practice through our land-based culture to a wide circle of relatives, allies, and tribal community members beyond the reservation borders. We will address matters of pressing importance and provide possible pathways towards:
• food sovereignty and climate resilience
• restoring Unci Maka
• reclaiming land-based culture and history
• upholding treaties and land back
• healing intergenerational trauma and supporting mental health
• achieving housing security
• Očhéthi Šakówin citizenship and governance

Roles for Participation:
We are seeking guidance and technical skill to develop the podcast. While it is important that we retain creative license and build according to Očhéthi Šakówin vision and tradition, we welcome support on the production side: filming, sound control, editing videos, and publication.

We envision four distinct roles with capacity and willingness to develop a deep understanding of the vision:
• Audio Editor
• Video Editor
• Graphic Designer/Marketing Assistant
• Web Designer

We hope to establish a team of allies to continue helping us with editing, design, marketing, and compiling resources.

If you would like to share your skills towards the realization of this vision, we look forward to connecting with you! Please write to [email protected] and/or make a donation through our nonprofit, Buffalo Star People.

The Moccasin Telegraph Solidarity Alliance-
Immediate Housing Assistance
We invite our past NAMG community, the future audience of our podcast, and anyone who’d like to share their knowledge, energy, and financial resources, to join together and quickly share support to those in need- just like the “moccasin telegraph” quickly shares news.

Our reservation communities are experiencing a severe shortage of adequate housing- which leaves many elders in substandard living situations and imposes outrageous heating bills due to inadequate insulation. Although those with tribal membership are entitled to land, the land itself does not provide year-round shelter.

Two of our elders—Florine, a knowledge-keeper and caregiver to three grandchildren, and Tony, an accomplished traditional artist— are in immediate need of shelter. Tony has been staying in an inadequate shelter that is slated for demolition and Florine and her family have faced $600 monthly heating bills and have had to close off the completely uninsulated kitchen in the space they lease. Florine and Tony are also at the center of our plan to sustainably build permanent housing, an artists’ residence, and a cultural immersion center (described above)- but they are in great need until those visions can be fulfilled.

Anyone able to donate a functional and livable trailer, 5th wheeler RV, or Tiny Home, or funds to put towards these purchases, please contact [email protected] or make a donation through our nonprofit, Buffalo Star People, copying link: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=VDMXK3A8C99MQ

Within our community, we are also currently working to build several long-term resources for re-indigenization:

The Očhéthi Šakówin Repository-
A physical and digital repository for cultural resources of the Očhéthi Šakówin– such as artifacts, books, writings, research documents, recorded media, and seeds that have been gifted or repatriated – joined in a cultural network linking elders and youth in a land-based immersion education program. We see this repository as vital to recovering our knowledge of who we are and where we come from. Its resources will support our healthy decisions for the future.

Housing and Cultural Immersion Education for Community and Allies-
A space where allies and community members in need can support and learn from one another on our land and nearby in the Sicangu Lakȟóta community. The center will offer housing for knowledge-keeping elders in need and visiting space for community members or allies to spend time, visit, and learn. We will offer workshops on food sovereignty, from the healing of Unci Maka through to the processing of foods for storage and year-round sustainability, along with teaching different life skills that will help build the knowledge and practice needed for independent sustainability.

Mental health education and healing will be an integral part of all teaching and support.

We invite you to join the Moccasin Telegraph Solidarity Alliance’s first meeting on:
Date: April 1st
Time: 10 AM - 12 PM CST
Location: The Good Acre (1790 Larpenteur Ave W, Falcon Heights, MN 55113)
Zoom will be available as well for virtually tuning into the gathering

This is the first of many gatherings to begin the crucial cultural & systemic shifts needed to Re-Indigenize, deeply Decolonize, and Heal as a society. This has been ongoing work. But we are now at a point where we cannot just focus on projects. Join us in building a movement.

By engaging with us, you are now part of an emerging network of allies leveraging their respective circles to surface the resources available in our communities. Regardless of your financial and physical capacities, your presence and energies can contribute to the collective sourcing needed to support this movement.

Please RSVP by March 27 by clicking or copying link here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd8ffR6e3zQwxedllFnQ0RlCzkGn92exDQ7OdYSCQKvKFu0iA/viewform?usp=sf_link

- space is limited so please let us know ASAP.

Pilamayelo,
Cânté Sütá-Francis Bettelyoun, Oglala Lakȟóta-Očhéthi Šakówin and enrolled member of the Ihaƞktoƞwaƞ Oyate.

Educator of Indigenous History, Biological & Ecological Knowledge
Past Coordinator of NAMG (Native American Medicine Gardens-UMN)
Co-creator Buffalo Star People Nonprofit
Transformational Education & Healing for Adult Survivors of Childhood Traumas & Abuses

Help support Buffalo Star People by donating or sharing with your friends.

12/07/2020

Also...

(See the South Dakota PBS special on Mr. Horse Road https://www.sdpb.org/blogs/arts-and-culture/artist-anthony-horse-road/.)

South Dakota Public Broadcasting produces commercial-free TV, Radio, and Internet programs and provides valuable community education outreach and resources.