Mission, Vision and Values Statement

MISSION STATEMENT

The Honoring Dakota Project, through cultural preservation and land-based practices, bridges cultures, organizations, and generations. The impact of our work creates a unified world for the next seven generations, inspired by Dakota lifeways where Indigenous voices are heard, respected, and honored.

The Honoring Dakota Project envisions a world where we all reflect in ourselves and in each other, what it means to be a good relative to all of creation. We do this in order to preserve, create, and nurture a thriving world for the next seven generations.

VALUES STATEMENT

The HDP believes community is the extension of life’s journeys, with generations walking side by side, carrying forward respect, reciprocity and belonging. Living in full acknowledgement of the interconnectedness of all living things, we harmonize with the land, human, and nonhuman worlds to honor Mitákuye Oyás’iŋ—we are all related—and to create the conditions to move forward together in right relationship. We do this by:

• centering the wellbeing of the land and all of creation in what we do  

• valuing relationships that are focused on reconciliation and honoring the contributions of lived experiences 

• being adaptable in responding to the needs and changes of community 

• centering the voices of Indigenous people 

• rooting into practices that heal the wounds we carry through love and compassion 

• being in shared communal spaces to learn from oral traditions

• integrating youth through ancestral knowledge and teachings