Barbara Dull Knife | Oglala Lakota Pine Ridge Reservation

Shield

From a young age, Barbara Dull Knife was taught the importance of caring for children as wakanyeja—sacred beings. Barbara was born and raised on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Her parents, Daniel Dull Knife and Bessie White Woman, and grandparents, George Dull Knife and Mary Red Rabbit-Dull Knife, and Antonia and Rex Long Visitor, raised her with the fundamental belief that children are the future of their Lakota Oyate (people). The well-being of the children helps determine the health of the Lakota world. Keeping these ancestral teachings close to her heart, Barbara extends love, care, and protection to all children in her role as Unci (grandmother) in her community. In this way, she practices spiritual lifeways that honor sacredness.

Her grandparents’ teachings served as a shield against the impacts of colonization. They inspired her years of work in child welfare and as a Victim Witness Advocate for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Rapid City, catalyzing her promise to protect children from harm. Led by a vision of safe housing for abused and neglected children, Barbara founded Wakanyeja Gluwitayan Otipi—Gathering Our Children Home in 2017. The home is the only child-in-need-of-care facility serving children in crisis ages 0-12 on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Both English and Lakota are spoken there, providing a culturally encouraging learning and living environment. “There is much more to this work than being a physical shelter,” she reflects. “For a home to be truly safe, our Lakota ceremonies and teachings must be the foundation at all times.”

In the community, Barbara advises and teaches cultural protocols that Lakota medicine people require for ceremonies. Among her tiospaye—extended family—Barbara is considered wawoptetusni. This Lakota expression indicates a human being who exhibits the strengths of the Buffalo Nation. She is always steadfast and tenacious in protecting children by creating loving, nurturing environments in which they can heal, grow, and develop, shielded from harm and hardship with compassion.

In alignment with her cultural roles and responsibilities, Barbara dedicates her prayer and life’s work to the next seven generations of Lakota Peoples and to a healthy future for all life.