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South ��ֱ���� State University's Wokini Initiative has announced the projects and awardees for the 2026 Challenge Grant. Faculty members and administrators from across campus were among the grant recipients.

“These proposals are a powerful reminder that our campus community is committed to understanding and respectfully collaborating with Indigenous and American Indian peoples, communities and organizations," said Keely Eagleshield, interim director of the Wokini Initiative.

The Wokini Challenge Grant — a $10,000 award — is designed to encourage all employees to actively engage in advancing Indigenous student access and success in higher education. That work begins with cultivating a genuine sense of belonging and ensuring that Indigenous students, staff, and faculty feel supported as leaders in any field they pursue.

In addition to supporting student success, this grant seeks to foster authentic relationships and meaningful collaboration across departments, disciplines and communities, both on and off campus.

"Building relationships within Indigenous communities means working together to achieve collaborative goals. Together, we can build a better future for all, and I look forward to seeing what comes from this year's awarded projects,” Eagleshield added.

Project 1 — Strengthening American Indian graduate enrollment and success

Nicole Lounsbery, director of SDSU's Graduate School, will address the need for increased representation of American Indian graduate students through more effective recruiting and retention.

"In order to develop effective strategies to address this need, it is important to recognize that prospective students must see themselves reflected in the graduate student body," Lounsbery said. "Research has shown that mentoring is critical in helping American Indian students navigate an unfamiliar academic system that is dominated by majority culture and practices. By utilizing current American Indian graduate students as recruiters and mentors, prospective American Indian graduate students can envision themselves completing a graduate degree."

As Lounsbery notes, current SDSU graduate students will help prepare new students for their transition to the Graduate School and mentor them as they navigate their educational journey. The project will also continue to build upon existing relationships with tribal colleges and universities.

Project 2 — A collaborative environmental research experience: a "flipped" REU approach

Increasing Native American and Indigenous participation in STEM fields is vital to assessing the environmental challenges facing tribal communities today, said Derek Brandis, assistant professor in SDSU's Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Physics and a Wokini mentor. However, these students may not always be able to travel to university campuses far from their home in order to participate in these research projects for an extended period of time.

In this project, Brandis will bring the research projects closer to home. Participants will investigate different chemical species and ions present in various water sources (i.e. rain, ground and drinking) over the course of a year through a collaboration between SDSU, Sinte Gleska University and Oglala Lakota College. Brandis, the project's director, will travel to each collaboration site four times during the project period to assist participants with sample collection, analysis and data interpretation. Collected data will be used to assess how different chemical species in these water sources change over time, how each water source compares to one another, and how these species impact the environment. Final project results will be distributed as reports and presented in seminars to interested parties and community members.

Project 3 — Next voices in Native news: mentoring South ��ֱ����'s indigenous journalists

Marina Hendricks and Frank Robertson, assistant professors in SDSU's School of Communication and Journalism, will collaborate with Jamie Folsom, assistant professor of American Indian and Indigenous studies in SDSU's School of American and Global Studies, to develop innovative approaches to culturally relevant journalism education.

The project aims to create connections between all stages of Indigenous journalism practice to mentor the next generation of storytellers. A larger aim of the project is to understand the ways SDSU can serve the community's information needs and address ongoing demand for more culturally responsive and accurate local reporting on Native issues.

Project 4 — Connecting with a Native voice: digitizing the Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve Papers

Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve, a Rosebud Sioux Tribe elder, is a nationally recognized author and educator whose work has shaped the representation of Native voices in literature and education. She has donated her professional papers and publications to SDSU's Archives and Special Collections and has expressed encouragement for students to explore her collection. The collection consists of 26 boxes containing manuscripts of her books and articles, research materials and correspondence, materials related to her speaking engagements and awards, biographical material and journals.

Project directors Michele Christian, archivist and special collection librarian for SDSU' s Hilton M. Briggs Library, and Sophie Hogan, archives associate at Briggs Library, will train students in digitization workflows as they engage with the Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve Papers, including scanning, file management and quality control. They will learn to create culturally respectful metadata that enhances discoverability while honoring the context and significance of the materials. Additionally, students will participate in the creation of physical and virtual exhibits, gaining experience in curating and presenting content. 

Overall, the project will increase digital access to the legacy of a leading Indigenous writer, expand public accessibility of university research materials, and provide archival training and mentorship for students — connecting heritage, technology and community through collaborative stewardship.

Project 5 — Phezuta Owozu

Phezuta Owozu, meaning "medicine garden" in the ��ֱ���� and Lakota languages, is a collaborative project between McCrory Gardens and SDSU's American Indian Student Center that seeks to deepen public understanding of Indigenous plant knowledge through both formal and passive educational strategies. Centered on culturally significant plants such as chokecherries, sage and sweetgrass, the initiative will explore and share their ceremonial, medicinal and nutritional importance. ��ֱ���� language will be meaningfully integrated into interpretive signage and printed learning materials, reflecting the guidance of student leaders, tribal collaborators and McCrory’s plant curator.

Lisa Marotz, director of operations at McCrory Gardens, will partner with Paige Cain, program coordinator of the American Indian Student Center, and Amy Knofczynski, curator and horticulturist at McCrory Gardens, to implement this project. The resulting student-led experiences will inform future educational programming that may expand to the wider SDSU and Brookings communities in subsequent years, Marotz noted.

Project 6 — Intentionally planning the Norris Nature-Scape with children and for the community

Led by Joshua Rudnik, assistant professor in SDSU School of American and Global Studies, this initial planning project engages in place-conscious educational inquiry through the planning, design and implementation of the larger Nature-scape project. This project listens to and documents the voices and perspectives of Lakota elementary students, elders and culture bearers in order to develop skills and expertise to lead STEM inquiry and engineering processes through a Lakota lens/worldview. The project will sustainably design and develop a green landscape that enhances food sovereignty, cultivates traditional ecological knowledge and provides a healthy, fun and accessible learning playscape for young learners and their community.

Building upon children’s interests and traditional stories of the land, the project pairs K-5 learners with local cultural bearers, scientific researchers and landscape architects to reimagine the landscape of learning, both metaphorically and concretely. Participants will repurpose place through engineering, gardening, landscape design, mathematical problem-solving and social science research to explore community perspectives for repurposing their elementary school playscape.

Rudnik will partner with Carie Green, the Profilet and DeJong Family Endowed Director of Early Childhood Education in SDSU's School of Education, Counseling and Human Development, and Jennifer Zavaleta Cheek, assistant professor in SDSU's Department of Natural Resource Management, on the project.