In the spring of 2021, the Oglala Sioux Tribe, Rosebud Sioux Tribe, and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe jointly approved a permit for NDN Collective to operate a temporary homeless camp on 10 acres of their land west of Rapid City, South Dakota. The camp’s focus is helping those in need by understanding and acknowledging deeply rooted traumas that have existed in the region for decades, as well as creating a sense of belonging for those who have been ignored. 

 

Today, Camp Gliun is in transition from a temporary winter camp for unhoused relatives to a sustainable solution of healing and self-determination. In early 2021, the NDN Racial Equity team decided that a more permanent and sustainable solution was needed to meet the needs of relatives and to expand the capacity of the team working on the site. As plans have taken form, the holistic vision for this site has expanded to include self-determination services such as counseling, job training, and the opportunity to find meaning and purpose in the community.

 

This vision plan details the physical strategies that support the goals of the project. Each place on site is connected to protection and stewardship of nature, as well as the protection, healing, and personal growth of the people. Creating opportunities to share existing skills and knowledge with others as well as learn new skills is an essential part of Gliun’s vision. The NDN Racial Equity team learned from relatives during their first winter together and are applying those learnings to the programs in healthy food, land stewardship and workforce development, as well as the selection of local staff and program partners that will be on site to provide care.

 

The vision for Camp Gliun includes an outreach center, gathering hall, tiny homes, and connection to the land through outdoor amenities and conservation and agriculture programs.  Gliun will have several different types of housing available to relatives including overnight beds, accessible secure sleeping areas for those with mobility needs, and transitional rapid rehousing in the form of tiny homes for families and individuals. Gliun will also have a connection to NDN’s other development projects in Rapid City where there will be access to subsidized apartments and townhomes as relatives at Gliun transition to their next stepping stones of self-determination.

 

Once established, Gliun will be a model for other locations and Tribes to embrace their unhoused relatives and create intentional environments focused on community, connection, and healing. As a part of the site development, NDN will be creating their own prototypical tiny houses. These homes will be manufactured in their warehouse with support from relatives who have gone through job training at Gliun. Once all the homes are built for Gliun, NDN will have the capacity to continue to develop the tiny houses for similar projects in the future, thus expanding the reach of this model and expanding the roles and responsibilities of those relatives who were trained to build the tiny homes.