Supports Violence and Assault Prevention

Shakopee, MN - The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community announces a $250,000 grant to Cangleska, Inc., a tribal organization which provides domestic violence and sexual assault prevention and intervention programming on the Oglala Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. Of that amount, $125,000 will be used for construction for a 5,400 square foot daycare and administration building. The remaining $125,000 will be used for construction of a 1,280 square foot modular storage building to house clothing and other donations which come into their facility. Construction began on the buildings in the fall of 2008 with completion scheduled for early 2009. With the larger space, Cangleska will assume responsibilities for a local, self-sustaining daycare program. The daycare will serve community members, women in treatment, staff members, and women utilizing the shelter.

The two new buildings will utilize green building systems: Insulated Concrete Forms and Structural Insulated Panels to reduce energy costs significantly.

"Cangleska, Inc. appreciates the grant we received from the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community. Because of their generous support, Cangleska, Inc. will have increased capacity to provide safety for victims of domestic violence. We admire and respect the citizens and government of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community for exhibiting our cultural value of generosity," said Executive Director Karen Artichoker.

Since 1989 Cangleska has served the members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, operating two shelters, one on the Pine Ridge Reservation and one in Rapid City, South Dakota. In addition to providing safe space for women who have been battered and their children, Cangleska provides outreach advocacy services, probation services, civil legal services, a men's re-education program, an integrated criminal justice system, and coordinated response and training. Outpatient treatment services will be available soon in space vacated by program administration which will relocate to the new daycare/administration building.

Cangleska also operates Sacred Circle, a national resource center providing technical assistance, consultation, and training to Indian Tribes and organizations in developing strategies and remedies to end violence against Native women. "Domestic violence and sexual assault are devastating crimes and is a problem in Native American communities including on the Pine Ridge. As a matter of fact, Native American women are the most victimized group in the United States according to the United States Department of Justice," wroteformer Oglala President Cecelia Fire Thunder in a letter to the SMSC. Fire Thunder is the coordinator of the Native Women's Society of the Great Plains, a Cangleska project. In fiscal year 2007 the SMSC awarded a $500,000 grant to the Oglala Sioux Tribe for Cangleska, Inc. That grant helped fund a new women's shelter to replace the one on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

The Oglala Sioux Tribe has approximately 41,000 tribal members of whom about one-half reside on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, a territory that covers over 4,700 square miles in western South Dakota.

For more information about Cangleska, Inc. call 605-455-2290 or go to their website at www.cangleska.org.