7th Generation Acacemic Excellence Center
Background and Rationale

Sitting Bull College
7th Generation Academic Excellence Center

Sitting Bull College serves the people of Standing Rock Indian Reservation and nearby communities in North Dakota and South Dakota. This reservation of 2.6 million acres is the fourth largest Indian reservation in the United States, comparable in size to the state of Connecticut. Founded in 1973 and chartered by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Sitting Bull College (SBC) was one of the first six tribal colleges to be established in this country and was also one of the first to be awarded ten-year accreditation status, which was renewed in 2004 for another ten years.

SBC’s mission as an academic institution is to improve the levels of education and training, and contribute to the economic and social development of the people it serves while promoting responsible behavior consistent with the Lakota-Dakota culture and language.

SBC began as a community college offering certificates and associate degrees and was accredited at the bachelor’s degree level in 2004. It now offers four-year degree programs in teacher education and business administration. It also offers an elementary/special education program and environmental science baccalaureate program in conjunction with Sinte Gleska University in Rosebud, South Dakota and Oglala Lakota College in Kyle, South Dakota.

Sitting Bull College is the only post-secondary institution to specifically serve the Lakota/Dakota people of the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. It is an open-enrollment college that seeks to give everyone interested the opportunity to earn a college degree or certificate. Due to a myriad of reasons, many of which are based on the traumatic historical experience of the Lakota-Dakota people and poorly conceived assimilation attempts, SBC has been severely challenged in developing the intellectual capital of Standing Rock Indian Reservation, primarily in English writing, reading and speaking.

Anthropologist William Leap writes about the challenges faced by American Indians in the use of standard English. He documents the fundamental influence of native languages and cultures on written and spoken English. Socio-economic conditions also affect English literacy skills. Sociologist Ruby K. Payne reports that poverty has a significant impact on language and speaking skills. These factors exist in Standing Rock Indian Reservation.

To address these challenges, Sitting Bull College proposed to establish the 7th Generation Academic Excellence Center. In 2007, it was able to get a grant for the project from the Lilly Endowment Inc. through the American Indian College Fund under its program called Woksape Oyate, Lakota for “Wisdom of the People.”