On Sunday, March 17th, Nis’to, a Native Dakota-led non-profit, led 50 UVA faculty, students and community friends in painting a buffalo robe at the Visible Records art space in Charlottesville.  Such painting echoes the Dakota tradition of winter counts, where important events were represented on buffalo robes by Dakota chosen for their knowledge and skill. This particular robe is meant to record the nearly decade-long collaboration between Nis’to and the Global Studies, Environmental Studies and Education programs at UVA.  Symbols represent past and current efforts to restore native prairie, support buffalo herds, co-design buildings and infrastructure, teach computer coding , and grow the  next generation of Dakota land-steward and water protectors through skill-building and leadership development through the Bundle Carriers Camp.  All of this work takes place on the Lake Traverse Reservation in South Dakota.  Land recently purchased by Nis’to will serve as the permanent site for the Bundle Carriers Camp. The Bundle Carriers Camp Land will serve as a 30 acre tallgrass prairie and water restoration site. An educational outdoor classroom with the cultural lens of the Dakota people.    

As a nonprofit serving Dakota youth and young adults, Nis’to focuses on leadership development, skill building, peer mentoring, and community organization using a holistic cultural approach. Nis’to offers a range of creative workshops in ancestral cultural practices and language. If you have any questions about the event or would like to learn more about the organization, please contact Dustina Gill at dustina@nistoincorporated.com or visit their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/neeshtoinc/.  

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