{"id":39640,"date":"2025-12-25T13:15:50","date_gmt":"2025-12-25T18:15:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/mo-brings-plenty-of-yellowstone-revisits-the-lakota-nations-education-conference\/"},"modified":"2025-12-25T13:15:59","modified_gmt":"2025-12-25T18:15:59","slug":"mo-brings-plenty-of-yellowstone-revisits-the-lakota-nations-education-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/mo-brings-plenty-of-yellowstone-revisits-the-lakota-nations-education-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"Mo Brings Plenty of Yellowstone revisits the Lakota Nations Education Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/span><\/div>
\"Moses<\/a><\/p>\n

Moses Brings Plenty (Photo by Kirk Dickerson)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

RAPID CITY \u2013 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.<\/p>\n

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\u201430 of whom are Native American\u2014 along with 130 support staff. It is the district with the highest number of Native American teachers in Minnesota.<\/p>\n

In 2005, the Red Lake School District experienced a devastating active shooter incident. Ten people were killed, beginning at the gunman\u2019s private residence where he murdered his grandfather, his grandfather\u2019s partner, and a police sergeant. At Red Lake High School, he killed seven more people\u2014five students, a teacher, and an unarmed security guard. In the aftermath, 221 students left the district.<\/p>\n

\"(L-R)<\/a><\/p>\n

(L-R) Whitney Rencountre, Terri Jo Gibbons, and Maurice Twiss. (Photo by Kick Dickerson)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cIt was my goal as Interim Superintendent to bring those children back,\u201d Gish said. \u201cWe are laying a better foundation\u2014no blame, no shame, no finger-pointing\u2014 because it needs to be our responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cStrategic planning too often sits on a desk and collects dust,\u201d he said. \u201cWe used to plan for three to five years. Now we plan for five to seven years to ensure implementation and success.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cTribal Council thought I was dumping the problem on them,\u201d he said. \u201cParents get frustrated too\u2014they tell me they can\u2019t get their kids up in the morning or get them to school.\u201d<\/p>\n

The district adopted a culturally grounded approach, but collaboration with Tribal Council was essential.<\/p>\n

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. \u201cSeeing him hold his diploma at graduation was great,\u201d Gish said.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cA bus driver is the first person a student sees,\u201d Gish explained. \u201cThey can make or break that student\u2019s day.\u201d He contrasted negative greetings with positive ones that show genuine care.<\/p>\n

Gish also emphasized discipline rooted in respect. \u201cWe want students to self monitor and reflect. We don\u2019t allow profanity or bullying.\u201d He recalled making eye contact with a student who immediately apologized. \u201cThey realized they were at school. We were inspiring those children and giving them hope.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t believe in segregating our people,\u201d he said. \u201cI believe in unity, and we should stand side by side.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy those three things?\u201d he asked her. \u201cBecause Crazy Horse is dead,\u201d she replied.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was smart,\u201d Brings Plenty said. \u201cAll she did was give me the desire to remind the world that Crazy Horse still lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

He spoke about understanding children as individuals, cultural diversity, and the importance of representation. \u201cI wasn\u2019t the most popular kid\u2014I was the class clown,\u201d he said. \u201cI used to be quiet and shy, and now I stand in front of people giving speeches.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had to cut the umbilical cord of comfort,\u201d he said. \u201cI had to make a change and give our children something to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brings Plenty shared humorous stories about his love of horses\u2014including being bucked off a colt and trying to outrun it home so his wife wouldn\u2019t see what happened.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat children see, they learn,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not what you tell them\u2014it\u2019s what you show them.\u201d<\/p>\n

He spoke of elders who reminded him that he represents not just himself but Indian Country. \u201cHow you treat people is how people will treat all Indian people.\u201d<\/p>\n

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 \u201cthe coolest cowboy I ever saw.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brings Plenty once told his grandfather, Phillip Brings Plenty, that he would change the world. His grandfather asked, \u201cIf you had sixty seconds to address the world, what would you say?\u201d That question shaped his life.<\/p>\n

He spoke of traveling the world, shaking King Charles\u2019 hand, and speaking Lakota to him. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t about me\u2014I wanted him to see the Lakota in me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are the doers,\u201d he said. \u201cWe set examples for many generations. That is what it means to be Lakota\u2014 lovers of life.\u201d<\/p>\n

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. \u201cWe are spiritual beings first,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen we live that way, we honor our ancestors and give our children a future.\u201d<\/p>\n

He spoke of Tatanka as a source of strength, horses as medicine, and the cultural teachings that shaped him. \u201cWhat children witness becomes their understanding of life,\u201d he said. \u201cSo show them something worth becoming.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Contact Kirk Dickerson at salesmanager@nativesunnews.today)<\/span><\/p>\n

The post Mo Brings Plenty of Yellowstone revisits the Lakota Nations Education Conference<\/a> first appeared on Native Sun News Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Moses Brings Plenty (Photo by Kirk Dickerson) RAPID CITY \u2013 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 <\/p>\n

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Shared by Native Sun News Today<\/a> December 25, 2025<\/p>\n

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