Carrying the voices of our people to the masses

When I was growing up in Pine Ridge we were shown only a few pathways to success. We were told to go out and get an education and then return home to help our people.

For those of us who were lucky enough to be able to go out and earn degrees, we returned home to a place where jobs were limited and the top employers on the reservation were the tribe, BIA, IHS and the casino. The notion of taking on entrepreneurial ventures was somewhat foreign as we only had a few successful businesses operating on the reservation.

Small business development in Pine Ridge has always been stifled by the absence of necessary laws and infrastructure within our tribal constitution. Individuals like Bat and Patty Pourier have found success through their gas stations that have provided stability to our community. Entrepreneurs like Sam O'Rourke and Bob Ecoffey have provided an example of what it takes to create and sustain a small-business in a society where many of the legal protections afforded to companies operating outside the reservation are simply not there.

Outside of the reservation borders, people like Walt Lamar and Steve Juneau of Lamar Associates have created a standard for professionalism, while others like Walt Pourier, of the Stronghold Society have shown us how to build a business based on love and compassion for our people.

The courage that these people have shown in their attempt to create economic across Indian Country has paved a path for a new endeavor that myself and several other tribal citizens have now embarked on by launching Bad Face Indigenous Media Consulting. This company will help our people show the world that we are still here and that we are more than the end results of colonization.

This new company is based on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and includes the likes of recent Duke University graduate, Lyle Jacobs, South Dakota State University Graduate and journalist, David Michaud, Johnnie Morris, the founder of the viral radio shows "A Tribe Called Geek" and "Native Style Radio", and Jason Wolters, who has spent more than twenty years in the field of Native American newspaper production. This team was handpicked for their experience in the field of native media and for their unique understanding of Indian Country that can only come from having been through the joys and struggles of growing up in our communities.

For so long we have allowed for non-Native interpreters posing as journalists to come in to our communities and tell our stories in a way that we never would. Bad Face will put an end to these harmful misinterpretations as we carry the voices of our people to the masses.

Brandon Ecoffey is the editor of Lakota Country Times and an award-winning journalist who was born and raised on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

© 2016 Lakota Country Times