Thirteen W+H Upper School students ended their summer with a memorable experience connecting with the Native American community on a trip to Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. The four-day, three-night adventure included traditional Native American activities, visits to national landmarks and two nights sleeping in tipis.
W+H students attending the trip included Tapleen Kaur ’25, Adam Eisdorfer ’25, Kate Wolff ’25, Amelie Leu ’25, Aarya Patel ’25, Giselle Rodriguez ’25, Oliver Laskow ’25, Daniel Zaidi ’25, Rajwans Sindhar ’25, Jasteij Sappal ’25, Arjun Vora ’25, Chiara Baldi ’26 and Natalie Chen ’26. They were accompanied by Mrs. Nicole Nolan, Director of Global Programs and Community Outreach, and Taylor DeMaio, Vice President of The Empathy Equality Entrepreneurship Mission (TEEEM). Starr Cuny, the Director of Youth Programs for One Spirit and liaison to the Lakota Nation Community, hosted the group at the reservation.
“The trip opened my eyes to the harsh reality of how people live on the reservation,” Rajwans said. “Starr, who had provided us with many of our necessities, had to plan for quite some time for our arrival simply because there weren't a lot of stores near the reservation that held the bare necessities that she needed. To just see the effort that was put into this trip for us was truly heartwarming. Starr put her heart and soul into making sure that we were enjoying everything.”
After a long morning of travel on the first day, the W+H group arrived at Pine Ridge, where they received a warm welcome from the community. They settled into the reservation and began building their tipis, with the girls taking the lead by participating in the traditional Native American female role of assembling the tipis, where they spent the first two nights under the stars.
Day 2 began with a visit to the Red Cloud Heritage Center and Red Cloud School, named after Chief Red Cloud. The W+H students later toured Lakota Tech High School, where they had helped organize a school supply drive during the summer. The day also included trips to Wounded Knee and Buffalo House.
On the morning of Day 3, the W+H group departed the reservation via the Badlands and Black Hills and visited Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse. On their way back to Denver, the group stopped at the new Buc-ees in Colorado and settled into a hotel for their final night. Before returning home on Day 4, the students and chaperones debriefed and reflected on the trip experience. W+H students appreciated the deeper understanding they gained of the Lakota Nation people during the trip.
“It is one thing to be supporting a cause, but it is another to understand where your efforts are going truly. With this TEEEM trip to South Dakota, we were given a great opportunity to learn more about the people we help: the Lakota Nation,” Natalie said. “To see how these people live and then build connections with them, we all gained a better understanding of our cultural differences. Yet, we are more similar than we may believe. Teenagers are still teenagers, and of course, we are all human.”
The experience was valuable on so many levels, including in the bonds it created among the W+H students.
“Outside of what we learned on our trip, I would also say that a lot of us felt like we had gotten closer to each other as well,” Rajwans said. “Being put in an uncomfortable environment that a lot of us are not used to made us appreciate each other's company more. This trip was truly one that I will look back on for the rest of my life because of that.”
"Our time with the Oglala Lakota in South Dakota was one that left an impact on all of us that is sure to be lifelong,” Mrs. Nolan said. “They are a community that values what they have and each other, looking to the future while honoring the past. We came away from the experience feeling that we should be more grateful for what we have, rather than focusing on what we don't have, as this is exactly the standard by which the people we met with live. Our W+H TEEEM students will look to expand upon and grow the relationships we developed and the initiatives we have built over the past two years to continue to support the needs of the Pine Ridge community.”