News Release
Little Wound High School – Heart of All Oral History Project
For the past two years, students at Little Wound High School on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation have been leading the creation of a 7-part audio series focused on Lakota oral history. The nearly 10-hour project spans from origin stories to words of encouragement for future generations, and journeys through many significant stories and events in between. Working in consultation with local elders, audio/video professionals, and school staff members, these students learned about interviewing techniques, editing, and production considerations. The result of their work is the limited series Heart Of All Oral History Project, which premieres starting next week.
Over the course of nine weeks, the episodes of Heart Of All will first air on KILI Radio, beginning on Wednesday, March 16, 2022, at 5:00 p.m. MST. Listeners can tune in locally on 90.1 FM, 88.7 in Rapid City, or online at www.kiliradio.org. The subsequent episodes will then air every Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. MST until May 11. The Friday after each episode airs locally, it will be made available on leading podcast platforms including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Each episode is structured to explore a particular time period and pairs elders’ stories with music and discussion. The first episode, “The Beginning : Origin Stories,” starts with the telling of creation stories, noting that these can vary depending on where a family or community resides. Later episodes explore the Buffalo Nation era, first contact with Europeans, the processes of colonization and assimilation, the Wounded Knee Occupation of 1973, and policy changes that have led to more autonomy for the Lakota oyate. The project culminates with the 7th episode entitled “Walking Together : Past, Present, and Future.”
In addition to the audio series, Heart Of All includes several short-length films that highlight the elders who came together to support this oral history project. These films, along with the episodes and numerous additional resources, will be made available at www.heartofallohp.com
In order to produce this project, nearly 50 students helped to distill the important essence of more than 100 hours of interviews with 44 local elders and community members of the Pine Ridge Reservation. The project also included more than 50 hours of filming as well as hundreds of hours editing interviews into more concise segments for use throughout the 7 audio episodes. The Heart Of All Oral History Project reflects the commitment of all the project team and their desire to preserve timeless truths and invaluable experiences for future generations of Lakota youth.
