Mo Brings Plenty of Yellowstone revisits the Lakota Nations Education Conference

RAPID CITY – The 48th Annual Lakota Education Conference drew large crowds to the Best Western Ramkota last week. At the helm of the conference were founders Maurice Twiss and Terri Jo Gibbon, who continue to excel at bringing together presenters who offer meaningful educational solutions for school challenges across Indian Country.

One such presenter was Brent Gish, who has spent more than forty years in public education serving the students and families of the White Earth Ojibwe and Red Lake Ojibwe Nations in northern Minnesota. The Red Lake School District includes a middle school and high school serving more than 1,400 students with 165 teachers—30 of whom are Native American— along with 130 support staff. It is the district with the highest number of Native American teachers in Minnesota.

In 2005, the Red Lake School District experienced a devastating active shooter incident. Ten people were killed, beginning at the gunman’s private residence where he murdered his grandfather, his grandfather’s partner, and a police sergeant. At Red Lake High School, he killed seven more people—five students, a teacher, and an unarmed security guard. In the aftermath, 221 students left the district.

“It was my goal as Interim Superintendent to bring those children back,” Gish said. “We are laying a better foundation—no blame, no shame, no finger-pointing— because it needs to be our responsibility.”

Following the tragedy, the district set a goal to become a high performing school grounded in Ojibwe language, art, and culture. Gish emphasized that parent engagement is crucial to student development and that tribal leadership must be part of the process.

“Strategic planning too often sits on a desk and collects dust,” he said. “We used to plan for three to five years. Now we plan for five to seven years to ensure implementation and success.”

Red Lake has seven clans, each with a hereditary chief, and only federal or tribal governments have jurisdiction. Gish requested monthly reports to Tribal Council regarding students who were not attending school.

“Tribal Council thought I was dumping the problem on them,” he said. “Parents get frustrated too—they tell me they can’t get their kids up in the morning or get them to school.”

The district adopted a culturally grounded approach, but collaboration with Tribal Council was essential.

Heroes emerged from the school shooting. One student attempted to tackle the shooter and was shot in the head. He survived but lives with paralysis. “Seeing him hold his diploma at graduation was great,” Gish said.

After the incident, the State of Minnesota, Indian Health Service, and Tribal Health offered full support. Teachers, principals, paraprofessionals, and even bus drivers worked together to show students they were cared for.

“A bus driver is the first person a student sees,” Gish explained. “They can make or break that student’s day.” He contrasted negative greetings with positive ones that show genuine care.

Gish also emphasized discipline rooted in respect. “We want students to self monitor and reflect. We don’t allow profanity or bullying.” He recalled making eye contact with a student who immediately apologized. “They realized they were at school. We were inspiring those children and giving them hope.”

During the conference, the Isna Wica Owayawa Drum Group, led by Crazy Horse Memorial CEO Whitney Rencountre, dazzled the audience with powerful drum songs as students sang with pride.

Then came keynote presenter Mo Brings Plenty, actor from the hit series Yellowstone. A Lakota man with a life story familiar to many in Indian Country, Brings Plenty reflected on growing up on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation and attending He Dog School in Rosebud. He often says he comes from the Lakota Nation because he lived on three different reservations.

“I don’t believe in segregating our people,” he said. “I believe in unity, and we should stand side by side.”

He recalled a counselor who once asked him to write down three careers he wanted: math teacher, Marine Corps fighter pilot, and firefighter. Instead, she told him he would become one of three things: an alcoholism statistic, an incarceration statistic, or dead at an early age.

“Why those three things?” he asked her. “Because Crazy Horse is dead,” she replied.

“She was smart,” Brings Plenty said. “All she did was give me the desire to remind the world that Crazy Horse still lives.”

He spoke about understanding children as individuals, cultural diversity, and the importance of representation. “I wasn’t the most popular kid—I was the class clown,” he said. “I used to be quiet and shy, and now I stand in front of people giving speeches.”

He entered acting because Native people had been misrepresented for too long. A friend told him Marlon Brando and Henry Fonda got their start in a small community theater in Omaha, Nebraska. So he packed up his truck, moved there without knowing a soul, worked as a welder by day, and took acting classes at night. He built sets, painted, auditioned, and learned the craft.

“I had to cut the umbilical cord of comfort,” he said. “I had to make a change and give our children something to see.”

Brings Plenty shared humorous stories about his love of horses—including being bucked off a colt and trying to outrun it home so his wife wouldn’t see what happened.

“What children see, they learn,” he said. “It’s not what you tell them—it’s what you show them.”

He spoke of elders who reminded him that he represents not just himself but Indian Country. “How you treat people is how people will treat all Indian people.”

He reflected on growing up in Porcupine, riding bikes, playing basketball, and passing the mass graves at Wounded Knee. He lived with Howard Hunter, whom he described as a father figure and “the coolest cowboy I ever saw.”

Brings Plenty once told his grandfather, Phillip Brings Plenty, that he would change the world. His grandfather asked, “If you had sixty seconds to address the world, what would you say?” That question shaped his life.

He spoke of traveling the world, shaking King Charles’ hand, and speaking Lakota to him. “It wasn’t about me—I wanted him to see the Lakota in me.”

“We are the doers,” he said. “We set examples for many generations. That is what it means to be Lakota— lovers of life.”

He closed by honoring the teachings of the Uncis (grandmothers) and the responsibility to live as spiritual beings. Brings Plenty reminded the audience that the Lakota spirit is rooted not in hardship, but in resilience, compassion, and responsibility. “We are spiritual beings first,” he said. “When we live that way, we honor our ancestors and give our children a future.”

He spoke of Tatanka as a source of strength, horses as medicine, and the cultural teachings that shaped him. “What children witness becomes their understanding of life,” he said. “So show them something worth becoming.”

(Contact Kirk Dickerson at salesmanager@nativesunnews.today)

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