KUL WICASA OYATE - Lower Brule Sioux Tribe


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          Fancy Dancer LaToya Crazy Bull looks out over the Big Bend of the Missouri River

Cultural Tours and Programs

The Lower Brule Tribe welcomes visitors and encourages opportunities to share Lakota culture in a respectful way that does not sell or exploit the culture, but rather creates an atmosphere of mutual respect and understanding. Tours and Programs share with the visitor “our” unique story and our history by interacting with our people, hands-on learning about some of the traditional foods and customs, and getting out on the land. 

TOURS AND ACTIVITIES

A variety of tours are offered throughout the year.  Some are site specific, others are seasonal tours.  Timing of seasonal tours can be affected by the weather and vary by a week or two.

Seasonal Tours  (include a guide and traditional lunch).

     ·           Sweetgrass Tour – Visit our exhibit area of native plants and grasses and learn the importance of sweetgrass, journey out to where it grows and learn how to harvest it and make your own braid.  Late August through September.

     ·          Sage Tour – Visits areas on the reservation where sage grows.  Learn about the many varieties of sage, the harvesting of sage and its traditional importance.  Late June, July and August.

     ·           Berry and Fruit Gathering – Throughout the summer Lower Brule has a bounty of wild berries and fruits.  Currents, chokecherries and plums are just a few.  Learn the importance of these fruits to Native culture, pick some and take home a sample of jam.  Late June through mid-September.

     ·          Corn Harvesting is another traditional staple of Native Americans.  Tour our cornfields and help harvest some.  Learn its uses – both dried and fresh.  (late August)  Limited tours available at planting time (May).

Site Specific Tours (lunch is provided with tour).

     ·           Interpretive Areas Tour – Visit the historic “Narrows” at the neck of the Big Bend and hike up to the overlook and several other areas where native people have lived for centuries.

     ·           Wildlife Viewing and Photo Hunting – Guided tours to prairie dog towns and the buffalo and elk range where you can view wildlife in their natural environment – hawks, migrating birds, fox, and coyotes, too.

     ·           Eco Tours – The Tribe has an active prairie and riparian (riverbank) restoration program, designed to bring back native plants, grasses and wildlife driven away by agricultural development and the flooding of the Missouri River Valley, and some unique land restoration and shoreline stabilization projects. This tour will show you the Tribe's “green” alternatives for habitat restoration and cultural site protection.

     ·           Reservation-wide Adventure – Let us introduce you to our Reservation, its boundaries, its history, its communities and our people.  See where we come from, where we’ve been and where we are going.  This is a full day and includes lunch, snacks and dinner.

     ·           Agriculture and Ranching – If you want to see how we farm and ranch, tour the Lower Brule Farm Corporation's extensive irrigation agriculture fields and cattle and buffalo ranches. We are one of the largest producers of popcorn in the Nation and run over 1,000 head of mother cows and 300 head of buffalo over the ranges.

     ·           Economic Development - Visit our popcorn packaging plan (Lakota Foods), our small gift production facility (Sung Maka Ska), our state-of-the-art Justice Center and our Tribal Administration Building and learn about the Tribe's plan for economic independence.

  Design and schedule your Tours HERE on our online Custom Tour Request Form.

Contact us: Lower Brule Sioux Tribe, Tourism Office, 187 Oyate Circle, Lower Brule, South Dakota 57548. Phone 605-473-0561 or 888-323-2260.