Native Sun Media Foundation advances truthful reporting, cultural knowledge, language visibility, and civic access so Indigenous communities can tell their own stories and shape their own futures.
South Dakota has authorized $650 million for a new men’s prison. A Native Sun Media Foundation review found no single comparable public figure for adult reentry spending, which is scattered across parole, housing, treatment, release planning and other programs.
Read the investigation →When reliable local reporting disappears, communities lose more than headlines. They lose public accountability, cultural memory, emergency information, and a shared record of what matters.
Native Sun Media Foundation strengthens that infrastructure through nonprofit journalism, community listening, cultural documentation, public education, and training for emerging storytellers.
Read our mission“Native people should not have to depend on outsiders to define our realities, document our histories, or decide which stories matter.”
Photographic coverage documenting relatives, dancers, singers, veterans, youth, families, and the living continuity of Lakota culture.
View the Wacipi feature →
Families, veterans, youth, riders, organizations, and visitors came together along the parade route in Pine Ridge.
View the Parade feature →
Honoring the pioneering Lakota journalist whose work strengthened Native press freedom, public accountability, and community voice.
Read the Tim Giago legacy story →
A culturally grounded prevention program showed promising associations while also raising important questions about measurement and research design.
Read the Talking Circle story →The community photo is representative and is not from the research project.
Accountability reporting, public-service information, and explanatory journalism focused on issues affecting Indigenous communities.
Ethical documentation, language visibility, oral histories, and community-controlled cultural archives.
Training, mentorship, paid learning experiences, and portfolio development for emerging Native journalists and creators.
Listening sessions, information-needs assessments, voter and civic education, and accessible emergency information.
Native Sun Media Foundation attended the 2026 Oglala Lakota Nation Wacipi in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, documenting a powerful gathering of relatives, dancers, singers, veterans, youth, families, and visitors.
Through song, dance, honoring, competition, and time shared among relatives, the Wacipi reflected the strength and continuity of Lakota culture. These gatherings are living expressions of identity, kinship, remembrance, and responsibility carried forward from one generation to the next.
Native Sun Media Foundation documents community gatherings because Indigenous people must remain visible within their own historical record. Community-centered photography helps preserve the people, relationships, and cultural moments too often overlooked or inaccurately represented by outside media.
Photography: Native Sun Media Foundation Staff Photographer.
The parade brought families, veterans, youth, riders, community organizations, and visitors together as part of the 2026 Oglala Lakota Nation Fair celebration in Pine Ridge, South Dakota.
The procession reflected the pride, creativity, and strong community relationships surrounding the annual gathering. From decorated vehicles and horseback riders to families lining the route, the parade created another place for relatives to gather, celebrate, and be seen.
Native Sun Media Foundation attended and documented the parade as part of its coverage of the fair and Wacipi.
Photography: Native Sun Media Foundation Staff Photographer.
