Hours: 9 am - 5 pm
Phone: (605) 455-6065 or (605) 455-6063
Office: Woksape Tipi Archives
Email: vjanis@olc.edu or ecisneros@olc.edu
The tribal repository represents the care of items that the archives provide for the tribe. We house repatriated and donated items, including the Wounded Knee repatriated items. If there are questions pertaining to any of these items, please contact Justin Pourier with the Oglala Sioux Tribe. His contact is (605) 867-2439 or (605) 441-6922, email: j.pourier@oglala.org
The Natural History collection is housed in the Math and Science building at Oglala Lakota College. It is in the process of being cataloged.
Sources on Indigenous peoples' history, mostly Lakota in the Southwestern South Dakota region, held at the OLC Archives include materials that are part of the Oglala Sioux tribal Repository and those that were donated to the Oglala Lakota College Archives. These include photographs, oral histories, videos, and text-based materials. Most of these materials were not created and/or donated by Indigenous people. Some descriptions of the materials reflect language and vernacular that is often considered inaccurate and no longer commonly used in archival cataloging such as “Indian” and “Sioux” instead of Native American, Indigenous, Lakota, or Oglala. Some of the materials donated did not include the names or the tribal affiliation of the people they are about or the location where photographs were taken. When searching historical records and descriptions of photographs, it is helpful to use a variety of terms including "Lakota," “Indian” and “Oglala Sioux” to ensure the greatest chance of finding records. Archives staff is continually learning and updating collection records and welcomes suggestions and feedback about this process.
If you do not see what you are looking for or if you have any questions or suggestions, please contact the OLC Archives at vjanis@olc.edu or ecisneros@olc.edu or (605) 455-6065 or (605) 455 - 6063.
The list below includes links to more information about these collections, but generally not the materials themselves because most are not available online. Please contact the OLC Archives at vjanis@olc.edu or ecisneros@olc.edu or (605) 455-6065 or (605) 455-6063 for information on getting access to these materials.
The collection contains audio cassette recordings, indices for recordings, photographic slides, journal articles and clippings by C. Ronald Corum related to his research on the Pine Ridge and Rosebud Indian Reservations in South Dakota (1973-1975) and about the artist Frederick Weygold. The collection also includes audio cassette recordings of Lakota language and culture instruction from linguist Dr. David Maurer to Corum as well as Maurer’s Lakota language notes given to him by Frederick Weygold. Oglala Lakota College, in partnership with the University of Louisville, maintains the digital versions of the photographic slides and audio recordings. This material is currently restricted to family members who were subjects of photographs and recordings at this time; however, the Lakota language instructional audio files are available for access.
Charmaine White Face Defenders of the Black Hills Collection
Research includes documents, correspondence, and related materials specific to Defenders of the Black Hills documents, Grey Eagle Society/Sioux Nation Treaty Council Meetings documents, and extensive vertical files related to her work with the United Nations.
The manuscript component of the collection contains the written and typed notes of Hazel McGaa Cuney. These include accounts of the Wounded Knee Massacre, the family histories of Cuny Table, and accounts of the effects of the Badlands Bombing Range. There are extensive collections and notes of family histories and genealogies. The ranch business component includes the family ranch business and includes a brand book, ledgers, and related documents. The photograph and slide collection includes copies of photographs from other institutions as well as copies and original prints of family photos spanning several generations. These materials are arranged in series I and IV. Additionally, an extensive artifact collection is currently on loan to us and is available for research use.
Research materials—including manuscripts, publications, interviews on cassettes, and transcriptions—gathered, indexed, and donated by Jeanne Smith under a grant from the South Dakota Humanities Council. Groups 1 and 2 comprise the bulk of the collection, focusing on family and community histories of the Pine Ridge Reservation, especially white men who married Lakota women. All subjects in the Collection are related to the Pine Ridge Reservation and the Lakota people, history, genealogy (white/Indians inter-marrying), and government. Almost all of the materials are copied from other archives located in the region: (1) The American Indian Research Project, University of South Dakota, Vermillion; (2) Ft. Laramie Archives, Ft. Laramie, Wyoming; (3) Museum of the Fur Trade, Chadron, Nebraska; (4) Ft Robinson Collection, Nebraska State Historical Society, Lincoln, Nebraska; (5) Mari Sandoz Collection, University of Nebraska-Lincoln; (6) JR Walker Papers, Colorado Historical Society; (7) Western History/Genealogy Department, Denver Public Library. An Index Guide was created for Groups 1 and 2 by Jeanne Smith, which often includes the subject(s), names mentioned, and source of each file.
Joe Jackson Collection
Research materials donated by author Joe Jackson for Black Elk: The Life of an American Visionary. Collection is currently being processed. Inquire for more information.
This is a digital collection provided to us in partnership with Pacifica Radio Archives. The collection contains civil rights era and American Indian Movement era recordings. We have over two hundred hours of interviews available for access. Users are required to complete a copy user agreement and cite use and credit to Pacifica Radio Archives and Oglala Lakota College.
Paul Robertson Collection
Research materials specific to Power of the Land: Identity, Ethnicity, and Class Among the Oglala Lakota; Records specific to Robertson's work at Oglala Lakota College, specifically Community Action Project and course development work. Collection is currently being processed. Inquire for more information.
Research materials donated by the author specific to Dewey Beard and the publication Song of Dewey Beard. Recently donated additions by Burnham, specific to Indian Country, God's Country: Native Americans and the National Parks, are a part of this collection as well.
Research materials donated by the author specific to his research and notes for the book Moon of Popping Trees.
Research materials donated by Richmond Clow, University of Montana, History Professor. Extensive historical documents include Forced Fee Patents on Pine Ridge Reservation and United States vs. Sioux Indians Court of Claims, and early OIA documents that reflect early versions of the IRA constitutions of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and the Oglala Sioux Tribe.
Research materials donated by author Stew Magnuson for The Death of Raymond Yellow Thunder. The collection includes audio cassette interviews for the book and interviews recorded during the White Clay, NE protest to ban the sale of alcohol in 2005.