Standing Rock Sustainable Park
Donation protected
The Standing Rock Medicine Wheel Living Park began in 2009. It began as a vision of Robert and Beth White Mountain, who saw the need to have a beautiful park in our reservation neighborhood. With the harsh winds on the Dakota plains and the lack of trees and shade, it makes for a difficult place to enjoy the outdoors, take walks and get excersice. There is a lack of parks to enjoy family picnics or playgrounds for the children. We also noticed the lack of fresh local foods and the need for a community garden space. Living in the 3rd poorest county in the nation, these things are just not here and are desperately needed.
After some researching and hard work, Robert secured 65 acres from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe on the West side of the Bear Soldier South community in McLaughlin, SD to be designated for the park. We recieved donations of trees from The Fruit Tree Planting Foundation and from the State of South Dakota and gathered a group of local volunteers to plant an orchard of apples, cherries, pears, apricots, and plums - totalling 350 trees- in the shape of a Medicine Wheel.
In the following years we worked with local extention offices and volunteers to plant a 5,000 tree shelter belt of native berries to surround the park, to serve as a windbreak as well as a food source. Also added was a 200x200 ft fenced in community garden and a site for a farmer's market. A small grant from SDSU donated a swingset, tree pruning tools and held a free tree pruning workshop for the community.
The Park's goals are to showcase sustainablility and promote these practices in our community. We are providing a healthy food source and have future visions of having facilites to dry, can and process the fruits and berries we grow in order to provide an income to sustain the park. The Standing Rock community will benefit greatly from this project as there will be access to organic healthy foods for everyone as well as a place to learn sustainibility practices for future generations.
Over the years Robert and Beth and other volunteers cared for the park and used their own lawn mowers to mow the orchard (went through 4 of them!) and at times paid out of pocket to hire people to plow and till the garden beds. We rallied up volunteers to help in the gardens and prune the fruit trees. We have worked with our local schools, Boys and Girls Club, 4-H club, Youth Works of America, AmeriCorp, and other organizations.
Working on a $0.00 budget we realized that to make this really grow into a beautiful park we need to create a Standing Rock Medicine Wheel Park Board and start fundraising. The Board is now formed and official and is working to raise funds for the equipment to maintain the orchard, shelter belt and gardens as well as to get more trees and put in walking trails, picnic tables and playground equipment.
Of the 65 acres designated for the park, at this time only about 5% of it is developed. We have a lot a space to create with and with your help we will create an enjoyable park filled with shady picinic areas, food growing everywhere, a playground, walking paths and more.
The goal we have set is an amount that will go towards the items listed below and any more we recieve will enhance the park even more. Your help is greatly appreciated!
Funds will go to buying:
a used tractor with plow, tiller and other accessories
gravel for trails
500 more trees
raised herbal and other garden beds
picnic tables
hoses/garden tools
additional playground equipment
Operational costs (gas, oil etc)
We will be sharing updates of our progress along the way here and on our FB page - Standing Rock Medicine Wheel Living Park.
After some researching and hard work, Robert secured 65 acres from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe on the West side of the Bear Soldier South community in McLaughlin, SD to be designated for the park. We recieved donations of trees from The Fruit Tree Planting Foundation and from the State of South Dakota and gathered a group of local volunteers to plant an orchard of apples, cherries, pears, apricots, and plums - totalling 350 trees- in the shape of a Medicine Wheel.
In the following years we worked with local extention offices and volunteers to plant a 5,000 tree shelter belt of native berries to surround the park, to serve as a windbreak as well as a food source. Also added was a 200x200 ft fenced in community garden and a site for a farmer's market. A small grant from SDSU donated a swingset, tree pruning tools and held a free tree pruning workshop for the community.
The Park's goals are to showcase sustainablility and promote these practices in our community. We are providing a healthy food source and have future visions of having facilites to dry, can and process the fruits and berries we grow in order to provide an income to sustain the park. The Standing Rock community will benefit greatly from this project as there will be access to organic healthy foods for everyone as well as a place to learn sustainibility practices for future generations.
Over the years Robert and Beth and other volunteers cared for the park and used their own lawn mowers to mow the orchard (went through 4 of them!) and at times paid out of pocket to hire people to plow and till the garden beds. We rallied up volunteers to help in the gardens and prune the fruit trees. We have worked with our local schools, Boys and Girls Club, 4-H club, Youth Works of America, AmeriCorp, and other organizations.
Working on a $0.00 budget we realized that to make this really grow into a beautiful park we need to create a Standing Rock Medicine Wheel Park Board and start fundraising. The Board is now formed and official and is working to raise funds for the equipment to maintain the orchard, shelter belt and gardens as well as to get more trees and put in walking trails, picnic tables and playground equipment.
Of the 65 acres designated for the park, at this time only about 5% of it is developed. We have a lot a space to create with and with your help we will create an enjoyable park filled with shady picinic areas, food growing everywhere, a playground, walking paths and more.
The goal we have set is an amount that will go towards the items listed below and any more we recieve will enhance the park even more. Your help is greatly appreciated!
Funds will go to buying:
a used tractor with plow, tiller and other accessories
gravel for trails
500 more trees
raised herbal and other garden beds
picnic tables
hoses/garden tools
additional playground equipment
Operational costs (gas, oil etc)
We will be sharing updates of our progress along the way here and on our FB page - Standing Rock Medicine Wheel Living Park.
Organizer
Beth White Mountain
Organizer
McLaughlin, SD
