My Financial Education Journey

Petra Harmon One Hawk
Lakota Sioux
Standing Rock, North Dakota

There is so much to write in regards to the topic of financial education. Just to begin, I was raised with an emphasis of getting an education. Therefore, I have spent a good portion of my life in the Western educational system. However, I didn’t learn on how to handle money in all those years.

Well, maybe there were one or two occasions. As a freshman in high school, I learned about a checking account, how to balance it, and how to write checks. In medical school, I was required to put together a budget for our family. That’s as much as I can remember. Otherwise, it was the school of hard knox for me, learning through experiences on how to handle finances.

I knew that once I graduated from college, I would join the workforce and earn a paycheck. I wanted my children to have a better grasp on how to handle their money so they wouldn’t have to experience the hardships I did in college.

One goal, I had when I was young was to become a doctor. My life centered around getting into medical school. Oddly, enough I never looked into or was told how expensive it would be to attend. A good percentage of medical students have to borrow money in order to make it through. Needless to say, that was me!

Due to extenuating circumstances, I didn’t finish medical school. I DID leave with the debt of a doctor though, enough to buy a house. This large amount of debt loomed over my head and dictated my life for over 15 years. The positive to come out of it was it fueled my desire to learn even more about money. It was always on my mind on how I could earn more in order to get out of debt.

During this time, I had a life coach help me on how to change my mindset around money. I do believe in the law of attraction. We have a saying in Lakota, it’s part of a song, it is “ Taku yachin kin iyechetu kte”. It translates into, “Whatever you wish will come true, it will be as you say”. It’s a concept of awareness that we should be mindful of our thoughts and choose our words carefully. Because once we speak those words, we breathe life into whatever it is we speak about.

On my journey in learning about money, I’ve had to take the time to translate the information and how it fits in with our Lakol Wichohan (the Lakota Way of Life). I will share what I have gathered so far. It is important as so many people are raised to have a negative mindset around money. For example, “Money is the root of all evil”. Yet, money is just a tool. It depends on how people choose to use the tool.

One indicator of prosperity is generosity. People who have a positive mindset around money are more likely to give and share because they know there is an abundance. For those, who are stingy, they have a negative mindset and often don’t like to share due to fear of there never being enough.

A dichotomy in the definition of wealth exists for the Lakota in comparison to how wealth is defined in capitalism. In Lakota, the people move as a collective, as community. Therefore, to be wealthy means to have family, relatives, and to share in resources. In capitalism, wealth is the accumulation of money and resources by one person.

Our people, at the time of European contact, were prosperous. When they first arrived, there were millions of bison on the continent. The main resource that provided everything for us. In our existence with the buffalo, they WERE our economy. Our creation story tells us we are the “Pte Oyate” (the Buffalo people). Our relationship with the bison dictated that we took only what we needed. In modern times, what does that look like? Our people went out and killed one or two bison? How did that look 150 years ago? In an article on the the last buffalo hunt on Standing Rock, this quote describes a hunt on a scale 1000x larger than we think collectively today. It states, “On 10 June, over 600 Standing Rock Lakota and Yanktonais left the agency. Days later, they located the herd and killed 5,000 bison.”

It is mind-boggling to think of how community moved and worked together in cooperation to process that many bison in order for nothing to go to waste. Every part of the bison’s body was used for something. This could be used as an indicator of the prosperity mindset of the people and the community of that time.

War has been waged on our people from this point of time for the natural resources by Western Civilization. The reservation system is in a state of sustained poverty which creates hardship for most Tribes. United States policies has led to a Lakota diaspora, especially due to the “Relocation Era”. Our people are scattered throughout the country. At some point, our people need to return to the homelands to rebuild our Nation. This will require a mindset that there is enough for everyone.

As Lakota, we are fortunate beyond measure, for we still live on our homelands. We have a connection and access to so much resources; the land, everything about the land, and to one another. We still have access to the cultural beliefs and ties that can help us. Despite the history and the poverty Indian people live in today, many people still maintain the cultural practices of generosity and sharing. For example, even though all the gold has been mined from the Black Hills that doesn’t make them any less sacred to us. They are still the center of our universe, our point of creation.

To me, this is why financial education is so important to learn. Financial education is more than just the management of money, it is the management of ALL RESOURCES. In order to address the serious economic issues in Indian Country, such as the housing shortage, the health problems, and lack of jobs, it will require our people to be excellent resource managers.

I was raised with Lakol wichohan, which requires living and moving as a part of the community, as part of the collective. When I first came upon Dream Catcher Financial Solutions, the mission and goals were in line with my journey and what I have learned so far. I knew immediately I needed to be a part of the team to create change in Indian Country.

Sources:

Petra Harmon One Hawk is an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. She comes from a family that have been strong advocates for the Lakota Tribe. She is a mother and grandmother with a background in medicine, education, and public health. During her journey, she took it upon herself to learn about business and finances. Upon her first introduction to Dream Catchers Financial Solutions, she joined the team. Her goal is to build a team on the Northern Plains with a high priority to help as many families as possible.

My Financial Education Journey..