CAIRNS is located at Wingsprings, a retreat and conference center on Oglala Sioux allotted trust land in Bennett County, South Dakota. The site is located 8 miles east and 3 miles north of Martin and provides easy access to Pine Ridge and Rosebud reservations. The unique headquarters building functions as a multi-use research, study, meeting and dining space; a curved bathhouse provides private bathroom and shower facilities; and tipis and rustic cabins serve as lodging accommodations. The surrounding landscape of rolling grass-covered hills, crosscut by an intricate system of draws that empty into a natural network of spring-fed pools, serves as an open-air classroom for the study of native plants and provides numerous opportunities for recreation.
CAIRNS is developing new and innovative materials related to American Indians that are primarily intended for classroom use. These materials supply teachers and students with high quality educational products that address a wide range of American Indian cultures and histories. Other materials will provide American Indian perspectives on contemporary issues and topics such as the Lewis and Clark bicentennial, land tenure, sacred sites and tribal identity. CAIRNS is also developing an archives to bolster the resources available to program participants and the public at large. Its first collection was a gift of manuscripts from Elizabeth Cook-Lynn, an author, critic and professor in American Indian Studies who is regarded as one of the writers of the twentieth-century American Indian literary renaissance.
As a meeting ground for peoples and ideas,
CAIRNS also conducts programs for educators and interested individuals at its facilities. CAIRNS has partnered with Washington University in St. Louis, Washington and Lee University, Grinnell College, and the South Dakota Humanities Council (SDHC) to teach both students and teachers about Lakota culture. During the summers of 2007 and 2008 for example, CAIRNS offered six unique workshops with SDHC support that explored different approaches to understanding and teaching Lakota culture. In 2007 participants focused on the governmental, educational, and ceremonial aspects of Lakota culture with an emphasis on both the Oglalas of the Pine Ridge Reservation and Sicangus of the Rosebud Reservation. In 2008 participants concentrated on the governmental, artistic, and ceremonial aspects of Lakota culture, focusing specifically on the Oglalas of the Pine Ridge Reservation. Participants developed curriculum guides and lesson plans based on readings, films, presentations by experts and scholars, and also visited content-related sites on Rosebud and/or Pine Ridge Reservations.
During the summers of 2006 and 2008, CAIRNS partnered with Washington University in St. Louis to offer a seminar to students called On Location: Exploring Pine Ridge. Both seminars focused on an event-centered approach to Oglala Lakota history with a strong emphasis on the importance of place and site-specific research. Seminar participants developed an understanding of Lakota culture and history through intensive research and guided travel to specific Lakota sites.
Center for American Indian Research and Native Studies
28649 226th Avenue, PO Box 448
Martin, South Dakota 57551
605/685-6484
info@nativecairns.org
