Closing
Live November 16th 3:00 PM Central
Same link as Tate Topa session
Host - Whitney Rencountre II
Whitney Rencountre II, is Hunkpati Dakota from the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe and is the Associate Director
of The Indian University of North America. Whitney is the Co-Founder and Official Emcee of Social Distance Powwow. Whitney was a 2019 Honoree of Western South Dakota Child Protection Council. Whitney was named one of 605 Magazine’s South Dakota Young Leaders of 2017. Whitney is the Past Chairman of the South Dakota Humanities Council.
Whitney is also the Past Chairman of Visit Rapid City. Whitney serves on the boards for the Club for
Boys, Rapid City Collective Impact and Native American Guiding Council. For 11 years, has been Director
of the Ateyapi Program, a culturally based mentoring program working with over 1,000 students each
year in the Rapid City Area School District. Whitney has served as the Powwow Emcee for Black Hills
Powwow for 5 years, United Tribes International Powwow for 3 years, Indio California Powwow for 2
years, Black Hills State University Powwow for 2 years, Virginia Tech Powwow, UC Berkeley Powwow,
University of South Dakota Powwow, University of Denver Powwow, University of Mary Powwow, South
Dakota Indian Education Summit Emcee for 15 years, United Tribes Tribal Leaders Summit Emcee for 2
years and the Lakota Foods Summit Emcee.
Joseph Circlebear [Wakanmani]
Oceti Sakowin Elder
I was born and raised on the Oglala Lakota Nation; growing up my whole family was fluent in speaking the Lakota language. Lakota was our first language, and English was never spoken, until I attended Bridger Day School in 1960, where my other tiwahe is from, on the Cheyenne River Reservation. From there I moved to Sisseton South Dakota, where I lived for 25 years, and taught Dakota Language at the Tiospa Zina Tribal School. Then again, I moved to Lower Sioux Morton Minnesota, where I taught Dakota Language at the Eci Numpa Charter School.
Currently, I am consulting for the Great Plains Tribal Leaders Health Board of Rapid City South Dakota, and for the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Dakota Language Institute of Agency Village, South Dakota.
Closing Song by Georgia Morse Middle School Drum Band