{"id":39326,"date":"2025-10-10T00:10:31","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T05:10:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/dakota-nakota-woman-announces-city-council-run-in-south-dakota\/"},"modified":"2025-10-10T00:10:39","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T05:10:39","slug":"dakota-nakota-woman-announces-city-council-run-in-south-dakota","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/dakota-nakota-woman-announces-city-council-run-in-south-dakota\/","title":{"rendered":"Dakota, Nakota woman announces city council run in South Dakota"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Valeriah<\/a><\/p>\n

Valeriah Big Eagle poses for a photo. Big Eagle is running for the Ward 4 representative seat in Rapid City, South Dakota. Credit: Courtesy of Valeriah Big Eagle<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

RAPID CITY, South Dakota \u2013 Valeriah Big Eagle knows what it\u2019s like to face systemic racism living in an urban area as a Native person. This lived experience, coupled with a drive to make a difference in her community, is what\u2019s led the Iha\u019ekto\u019ewa\u019e Dakota and Nakota woman from the Yankton Sioux Tribe to run for city council in Rapid City.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need more women running for public office, especially in our community,\u201d Big Eagle said.<\/p>\n

During the 2024 election season, the United States saw record numbers of Indigenous people running for elected offices on all levels. In 2025, that push for change isn\u2019t over.<\/p>\n

Big Eagle is running to serve as one of two Ward 4 representatives on the city council.<\/p>\n

If elected, Big Eagle would be the only Native woman currently on the city council and the second Native person on the council, joining<\/p>\n

Rosebud Sioux Tribe citizen Lance Lehmann. There are ten total seats on the Rapid City City Council. Only one other Native person holds an elected position in the city, Walt Swan, a Cheyenne River Lakota man serving on the Rapid City Area Schools School Board.<\/p>\n

Nearly six years ago, a record number of Native people announced local runs in the Black Hills city. It triggered an ongoing movement pushing for Native representation in a city where roughly a quarter of the population identifies as Native.<\/p>\n

Big Eagle lives on the north side of Rapid City, where Ward 4 is located, alongside a majority of the city\u2019s Indigenous community. She lives in a home built by Habitat for Humanity which she said is a testament to her lived experience overcoming struggles in the urban community.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s an active member of the local community \u2013 Big Eagle is a basketball coach, a board member for the upcoming Native American community center, He Sapa Otipi, and a board member for Oaye Luta Okolakiciye which is a non-profit organization focused on healing and recovery for Native people.<\/p>\n

Big Eagle said if elected she would aim to address issues affecting the community such as high grocery prices, food insecurity, housing insecurity and barriers to accessing mental health resources.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf regular people can\u2019t afford a package of bread, then that\u2019s a problem,\u201d Big Eagle said.<\/p>\n

Big Eagle and her family live in Ward 4, a predominately Native area and one that\u2019s a food desert. The only grocery stores on the city\u2019s north side are Walmart and Target. The recent edition of a Native-owned buffalo butcher has improved food access for the community, but the issue remains: people can\u2019t easily get healthy food.<\/p>\n

Aside from barriers to food access, the homeless community in Rapid City is disproportionately American Indian and Alaska Native.<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s population has exploded in the past few years, partially from expansion to the nearby Ellsworth Airforce Base. The city has grown from a population of 60,000 in the last census to an estimated 85,000 residents in 2025. The development of affordable housing hasn\u2019t caught up to this rapid growth.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe see people from our community that are from here that no longer can live here or afford to live here,\u201d Big Eagle said. \u201cSo that\u2019s a problem. We need to see more affordable housing, we need to see more housing.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2023 Rapid City lost the Hope Center, a day-time homeless shelter which served 200 to 300 individuals per day. That service gap remains two years later, something Big Eagle said she\u2019d aim to address.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t call them homeless because a lot of them are Lakota and this is their home, these are their homelands,\u201d Big Eagle said. \u201c(The solution) is helping them with what they\u2019re actually dealing with and not saying well we need to get them off the streets. There\u2019s reasons why they have their addictions and what they\u2019re going through \u2026 We need to have someone in there that\u2019s really moving that, moving that. The people that are in (city council) now, I see them trying; however, I really want to drive that home and we can really be helping our houseless population at this time. We could be doing so much more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Big Eagle\u2019s election isn\u2019t until June 2026, so right now she\u2019s focusing on getting the word out about her campaign.<\/p>\n

The post Dakota, Nakota woman announces city council run in South Dakota<\/a> first appeared on Native Sun News Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Valeriah Big Eagle poses for a photo. Big Eagle is running for the Ward 4 representative seat in Rapid City, South Dakota. Credit: Courtesy of Valeriah Big Eagle RAPID CITY, South Dakota \u2013 Valeriah Big Eagle knows what it\u2019s like to face systemic racism living in an urban area as <\/p>\n

Read More<\/a>
Shared by Native Sun News Today<\/a> October 10, 2025<\/p>\n

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