The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe’s flag, the reservation I grew up on, was something I always admired growing up. To me, it really solidified that we are a sovereign nation through the ways it represents the unique aspects of our reservation. It is due to my admiration that I wanted to produce my own take based off of those elements while incorporating other ways I can see our values reflected.
I wanted to pay homage to our traditional dwellings with the tipi. The fire from which represents a council fire that the Thithunwan “Plains People” have as a part of the larger Ocethi Sakowin “Seven Council Fires.” The rainbow encapsulates different aspects from nature like thunders and the four winds, in addition to representing the people of Cheyenne River. The fused pipes signify allyship between the Lakota nation and other tribal nations. Making the emblem generally more circular aligns with many Lakota cycles and values, and similarly the medicine wheel does as well, and here specifically stands in for the four bands on CRST.
“Wakpa Waste” is the Lakota word for the Missouri River, to which we border, and is the actual name of our reservation in our language. “Oyanke” means community or reservation, among a few other things. Thus, “Good River Reservation.”
