Trip Duration, Activities, and Season Dates
Here at Re-Member, we provide a service-learning experience, giving our volunteers the chance to not only work across Pine Ridge with our Lakota friends, but the opportunity to be immersed in their culture as well.
All Re-Member volunteer trips begin on Saturday afternoon and end on Friday morning, giving volunteers five full days on the Reservation.
Saturday evenings are for orientation and, if possible, visiting a local powwow. Typically, Sundays are spent visiting the site of the Wounded Knee Massacre and then Badlands National Park for a short hike. Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays are usually work days. Thursdays may be either work days or tour days. Schedules do vary as a result of weather and other considerations.
Whenever possible, volunteers visit a local powwow on Saturday evening.
Each morning after breakfast, we begin the day with Wisdom of the Elders, a collection of quotes and stories from indigenous leaders around the world. At night, volunteers reflect together on the day’s events during Roses and Thorns and participate in cultural activities like Lakota singing and dancing, traditional Lakota games, and hearing guest speakers. Wednesday evenings from approximately Memorial Day through Labor Day, we host a Community Dinner for volunteers and Lakota artisans and their families.
2024 Season Dates
Our 2024 volunteer season spans 31 weeks. Our first Regular Program week begins Saturday, March 2. Our last week begins Saturday, September 28.
Kids’ Week, when children 8 - 11 are welcomed along with older youth and adults, begin July 6.
Healthcare Week, for returning volunteers who are healthcare professionals and/or students, begins July 27.
Senior Week, when we undertake less physically demanding work projects for those 55 and older, begins September 14.
“Because you’ve never really lived until you’ve done something for someone who can never repay you.”
—Matthew King, Lakota
Who Our Volunteers Are
Re-Member welcomes volunteers age 12 and up, except during Kids' Weeks, when children 8 - 11 are welcomed for a special program. We also offer Senior Week, during which we undertake less physically demanding work projects. By its nature, though, volunteering at Re-Member is hard work. You will be doing manual labor for several days in a row, often in challenging environmental conditions, using tools and techniques that are new to many volunteers.
“I have volunteered six times with Re-Member, and every time I learn new lessons. The lessons may be hard to hear, but they are necessary.”
Although volunteers occasionally come to Re-Member alone, they are more often part of groups — family groups, school or college groups, church groups, youth groups, and others. When this is the case, we ask that a Group Leader be designated as the primary point of contact for each group. Group Leaders are responsible for collecting trip fees from their group members, ensuring that group members provide necessary documentation, preparing group members for the experience, and providing leadership for their groups while at Re-Member.
“As we watch our family, whatever their actions and values are, so will be the children’s values and acts.”
—Eunice Baumann-Nelson, Penobscot
What You’ll Be Doing
Most of your days at Re-Member will be spent working on projects to improve the daily lives of the Lakota community. These include building and delivering bunk beds and mattresses for children, building and installing outhouses for families without indoor plumbing, building entry steps and wheelchairs ramps to provide safer access to trailer homes, and installing wooden skirting around raised trailers to keep them cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. During the cooler months, volunteers also cut, split, and deliver firewood for heating.
“As a volunteer, you become immersed in the culture of the reservation during your visit”
Tools, safety equipment, and instruction are provided by Re-Member staff.
On a typical work day, you’ll leave Re-Member at 9 a.m., after breakfast and Wisdom of the Elders, and travel to the day’s jobsite in one of our vans or buses. Work groups are planned by Re-Member staff based on a number of factors, including the nature of the project itself, volunteer experience levels, and more. Chances are you’ll be working alongside volunteers from other parties — an important part of the Re-Member experience. Tools and safety equipment are provided by Re-Member, along with direct, hands-on instruction and guidance by experienced staff members. You do not need prior experience in construction or tool use! You’ll eat lunch at your jobsite and return to Re-Member by 5 p.m.
Volunteers explore Badlands National Park.
On the one or two days at Re-Member that aren’t spent working, you’ll learn about the Oglala Lakota and the Pine Ridge Reservation, and see this uniquely wild and beautiful part of North America. We will visit the site of the Wounded Knee Massacre with Lakota storytellers to understand how and why what happened here more than 130 years ago still reverberates so loudly. We’ll hike into the otherworldly landscape of Badlands National Park and likely visit museums, the tribal college, and area craft outlets and business.
“The ancestors are waiting and willing to help. When we are ready, many beautiful teachers start to come into our lives.”
—Joe Coyhis, Stockbridge-Munsee
Accommodations and Meals
Accommodations at Re-Member are simple and functional. You’ll sleep in one of our two bunkhouses in the same style of twin-size bunk bed we build in our workshop for families across the reservation.
In our large bunkhouse (Shelem), all female volunteers are in one room and all male volunteers are in another. The sleeping quarters are on opposing sides of a great room, where we gather for morning wisdom and evening speakers. There are separate shower and toilet facilities for men and women.
“This is described as a trip to serve others, but frankly, the gifts I received were as countless and as priceless as any effort I gave to someone else.”
Our smaller bunkhouse (Kiksuya) is divided into four bedrooms. There is a common area for seating and separate shower and toilet facilities for men and women.
Meals — including Indian tacos — are prepared on-site.
We provide three meals daily. Breakfast and dinner are prepared by staff in the kitchen in Shelem and served in the adjacent dining room. Lunch is packed in the morning and eaten at jobsites.
Meals are simple and nutritious. Dinners might include buffalo stew, burgers, spaghetti, and a baked potato bar, with salad and toppings available every night. Breakfast options include cereals, boiled eggs, oatmeal, toast, fruit. Lunches are sandwiches, fruit/veggies, chips, and other snack foods.
Volunteers share in meal prep and cleanup, and keeping your bunkrooms and common areas clean.
“This is the strength of the people. Ancient wisdom and knowledge is hidden in our ceremonies and songs. So much can be learned, just by listening.”
—Oren Lyons, Seneca
Mornings and Evenings at Re-Member
We believe that forming relationships with the Lakota and studying their history, culture, and spirituality — as told by the Lakota people themselves — are as important as the projects we undertake. Each night after dinner, volunteers participate in a cultural program. You will hear from Lakota speakers, learn Lakota singing and dancing, practice traditional Lakota games, and more.
“Re-Member allows you to STOP, breathe, take in a different culture, self reflect, and grow as a human being.”
Several times during the week, volunteers gather in the greatroom at Shelem for Roses and Thorns. The days here at Re-Member can be exhausting — both physically and emotionally — and volunteers need a chance to talk through and process what they see and hear. Our Roses and Thorns sessions provide that opportunity, and all volunteers are expected to attend and participate. After Roses and Thorns, volunteers typically chat, play games, read, or shower until 9:30 p.m., when quiet time begins.
In the evenings, volunteers learn from Lakota speakers.
Another important part of the Re-Member experience is drawing strength and knowledge from the insights of others. Each morning after breakfast, volunteers and staff gather again in the great room for Wisdom of the Elders, a daily discussion of quotes and stories from indigenous leaders around the world.
Volunteers at Re-Member do not have access to wi-fi, so we ask that you leave laptops and tablets at home. Cellular service is accessible with most carriers, but we respectfully ask that volunteers consider putting their phones in airplane mode for the week — or even turning them off entirely — in order to be fully present during this extraordinary experience.
“Grandmother and grandfather tell us: you must not hurt anybody or do harm to anyone. Do right always. It will give you satisfaction in life.”
—Wovoka, Paiute
Alternative Volunteer Programs
In addition to our Regular Program, Re-Member offers several alternative volunteer programs. All programs are of the same duration, starting on Saturday afternoon and ending on Friday morning.
Kids’ Week
Because of the work we will be doing and the issues we discuss during the week, the minimum age to participate in our Regular Program is 12 years old. During Kids’ Week, Re-Member offers kids ages 8 - 11 an authentic, accurate, and meaningful week-long experience in Lakota history and culture. This exciting and engaging week includes field trips, guest speakers, Lakota crafting, and Lakota language study. The goal of the week is to create kids who are critical thinkers about the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Lakota history, and Lakota culture in order to be young ambassadors and allies for the Oglala Lakota people across the country and around the world.
Adults and older family members participate concurrently in the Regular Program.
For the 2024 season, Kids’ Week is scheduled to begin on July 6. Our Regular Program will be offered concurrently.
Healthcare Week
Re-Member’s Healthcare Week is open to those returning volunteers who are healthcare professionals and/or students in the fields of nursing, medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, podiatry, psychiatry, psychology, dietary/nutrition, occupational and physical therapy, and medical social work.
During this week, volunteers participate in regular program work projects. Engaging speakers present on various aspects of healthcare for the Oglala Lakota on Pine Ridge, and on tour day, a visit to the local healthcare facility provides volunteers an opportunity to further integrate the nuances of healthcare on the Pine Ridge reservation.
The highlight of the week is a Health and Wellness Fair! During this event, the healthcare professionals use their career skills and talents to educate Pine Ridge community members on the basics of health and wellness, in a compassionate, fact-filled, fun, and culturally-sensitive manner.
Healthcare Week 2024 is scheduled to begin on July 27. Our Regular Program will be offered concurrently.
Senior Week
Our Senior Week program offers the complete cultural immersion found in our regular program; however, the work projects we focus on are less physically demanding, to accommodate those 55 and older.
Volunteers of all ages, though, are welcome to join us during Senior Week.
For the 2024 season, Senior Week is scheduled to begin September 14.