Voice of The Sacred Bird
A grassroots spiritual organization united in prayer, ceremony, and fellowship — empowering and healing the Oyate through the ancient wisdom of our ancestors.
We are Zintkala Wakan Hoyapi — a prayer team and collective of community members based on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Our mission is simple, but profound: to empower our Oyate through ceremonies, spiritual fellowship, and innovation.
The Pine Ridge Reservation, like many Indigenous communities across the United States, carries the weight of centuries of trauma — from the loss of our homelands to the devastating impacts of the residential school system. The wounds of the Wounded Knee Massacre of 1890 ripple through our community still, shaping every part of how we live.
Our ancestors taught us that when the world feels broken, it is in the coming together of the people — through prayer, ceremony, and collective action — that healing begins. We answer that sacred call every day.
Walk This Path With Us
Six teachings carried across generations — the foundation of every prayer, ceremony, and act of fellowship we offer the Oyate.
Sacred ceremony and prayer form the heartbeat of our work. Through the ancient spiritual traditions of our people, we seek guidance, healing, and strength for the Oyate.
We are connected to all living beings. Our healing is collective — no person walks alone on this path. When we rise, we rise together as one people.
The teachings of our elders carry us forward. We honor the knowledge passed through generations, preserving our language, stories, and ceremonies for the children yet to come.
Historical wounds are real, and so is the path to healing. We create spaces of safety and restoration — for survivors, for youth, for families carrying generational trauma.
We are of this land. The Black Hills, the Plains, the rivers — our identity is inseparable from the earth beneath our feet. We protect and honor our sacred homelands.
We honor the old ways and embrace new tools of healing and connection. Innovation in service of culture — reaching our youth where they are, building bridges to a healed future.
The Lakota people have called the Great Plains home since time immemorial. Our history is written in the stars above the Black Hills, in the language carried on the wind across the prairie, and in the ceremonies kept alive through every generation.
Ours is a story of fierce resistance and great victory as much as of loss. Our leaders won Red Cloud’s War and triumphed at the Greasy Grass; our holy people carried the ceremonies through forced assimilation, the theft of Hé Sápa (the Black Hills), and the Wounded Knee Massacre of 1890.
But we are still here. We have always been here. And we will continue to rise — guided by the sacred teachings of our ancestors, carried forward by every voice that refuses to be silenced.
The Očhéthi Šakówiŋ — the Seven Council Fires — live as stewards of the land, sky, and all living relations across the northern Plains.
The United States and the Plains nations set the bounds of Lakota territory across the heart of the northern Plains.
Maẅpíya Lúta (Red Cloud) leads a victorious resistance along the Bozeman Trail — one of the only wars the United States ever lost to Native nations.
The United States recognizes Hé Sápa (the Black Hills) as part of the Great Sioux Reservation — a promise broken the moment gold was found.
Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse lead the Oyate and their allies to defeat Custer’s Seventh Cavalry at the Little Bighorn — the people’s greatest victory.
Congress seizes Hé Sápa in violation of the treaty. Crazy Horse is killed at Fort Robinson that autumn.
The Great Sioux Reservation is broken apart into smaller agencies; the Pine Ridge Reservation is established.
Weeks after Sitting Bull is killed, US soldiers murder more than 250 Lakota men, women, and children at Wounded Knee. The trauma ripples through every generation that follows.
Oglala traditionals and the American Indian Movement occupy Wounded Knee for 71 days, demanding treaty rights and an end to corruption.
The US Supreme Court rules the Black Hills were taken unlawfully. The Lakota refuse the payment — now worth more than a billion dollars — insisting only on the return of the land.
We rise. Through prayer, ceremony, and collective healing, the Voice of The Sacred Bird carries our people forward into a restored future.
Won Red Cloud’s War and forced the United States to the treaty table. He spent his final years here at Pine Ridge.
A masterful diplomat for the Sicangu people. Sinte Gleska University on Rosebud carries his name to this day.
Holy man and chief who united the nations and foresaw the victory at the Greasy Grass before it came to pass.
The fearless defender of the people — he led the warriors at the Greasy Grass and never put his mark to a treaty.
Wičháša wakẒáŋ (holy man) and survivor of Wounded Knee whose visions still teach the world.
Revered holy man of Pine Ridge who helped revive the Sun Dance and carried our ceremonies through the hardest years.
From Pine Ridge to Olympic gold in the 10,000 meters at Tokyo, 1964 — living proof that our people rise.
Traveling home for Sundance? Relatives coming from out of state will find everything they need for the four days of ceremony — where to go, what to bring, and what to expect.
Sundance — A Guide for Relatives →We are living through a time of great transition. Nationwide budget cuts have strained our already under-resourced community, leading to job losses and the shutdown of critical support systems. Many of our staff and volunteers are struggling to meet their own basic needs.
And yet we remain steadfast. Your support helps us carry out vital ceremonies, maintain our prayer team, provide spiritual guidance, and create new opportunities for growth and healing across the Pine Ridge community.
We believe in the power of collective prayer and action. When we come together with one heart and one mind, we overcome even the greatest obstacles. Now is that time.
"Together, we can walk this sacred path and help the Oyate rise again."
100% of contributions support the Pine Ridge community
Zintkala Wakan Hoyapi · Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota
Grassroots spiritual organization — all donations directly support community programs