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“Our tribal flag”
My name is Tasina Lone Elk and I am 21 years old. I am Native American, French Canadian and Cheyenne. I currently reside on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in Kyle, SD. I come from a big family, I have five younger brothers and two sisters. I am the second oldest out of the bunch. They all live at my grandma’s house in the country, except for my older sister. We love living in the country. We have all the open space and we get to see the prairie dogs every day, running around on our dirt roads. I grew up living at my grandma’s house until I went to high school in Oklahoma. I attended there for four years and graduated in 2012. I than decided to come back to reservation in hopes of making a difference. I attend the Oglala Lakota College and plan on attaining an associate’s degree in Early Childhood Education. I want to be able to teach the younger generations that life has many possibilities and that there is a big world out there, waiting for them to make it happen. In hopes of accomplishing my goals, I want to help others because I feel that it is my life’s purpose. I am currently on summer break. I’m a youth mentor and during the summer we interact with the children from different parts of the reservation. We do youth summits and teach life skills to the communities. When I joined Ogallala Commons, I knew that this would make an impact in my goals as well as others. Its an opportunity to make a difference within our community and our way of life.
“An early morning selfie”
