Help Support the Maka Foundation & the Black-Footed Ferret
"Our Lakota word for the earth, its land, water and animals, is "maka". We as a people retain a special relationship with the maka, and believe it is our responsibility to protect and care for her."
- Lower Brule Sioux Tribal Chairman Michael B. Jandreau [1]
Created in April 2005, the Maka Foundation is dedicated to the restoration of the health of the Lower Brule Sioux Reservation's natural ecosystem and the reintroduction of plants and animals, such as the endangered black-footed ferret. Before the western expansion of the 1800s, the Lower Brule Sioux tribe, one of the seven bands of the Lakota, existed in harmony with the land and the animals in it. However, over the last two centuries, populations of black-footed ferrets and other animals have been decimated. The prairie lands were separated, the land fenced in and farmed or used for ranchland. The construction of the Missouri River hydroelectric dams flooded much of the reservation land in the 1950s and 60s.
Today, the Lakota people are trying to repair the damage that was done and return their ecosystem to health, and they need our help. The Maka foundation works to bring vitality back to their tribe and to raise funds for The Lower Brule Sioux Tribe Department of Wildlife, Fish & Recreation, the leader in the fight to restore the reservation's ecology.
The Lower Brule Sioux Tribe department has become a leader in habitat management and ecological restoration, but they are limited in furthering the ecosystem restoration, habitat development and native species recovery by a lack of funding. To date, their successes include:
- Reintroduction of plant and animal species, including buffalo, elk, wild turkey and sweet grass
- Restoring 4,621 acres of native prairielands
- Creation and restoration of 176 wetlands
With the help of the Maka foundation, they hope to advance even further in the restoration of their tribal lands. With the donations they receive, the Maka foundation will help the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe Department of Wildlife, Fish & Recreation to meet a variety of goals, including:
- Consolidation of suitable land for the reintroduction of many animals, including the endangered Black-Footed Ferret
- Creation of new wetlands
- Restoration of degraded habitats
- Biological assessment and monitoring of habitat and key species
Beginning in the fall of 2006, the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe Department of Wildlife, Fish & Recreation, led by Shaun Grassel, will oversee and coordinate the reintroduction of the black-footed ferret to their tribal lands. Their short term goal is to breed the first wild-born generation of black-footed ferrets, called Itopa Sapa in their native language, on the reservation. Their long term goal is much more difficult - to create a self-sustaining black-footed ferret population that has survival rates similar to other wild self-sustaining populations.
Funding is needed for this enormous undertaking, and money is needed to purchase vaccines and microchips, and to support field crews and monitoring expenses. Your donations can help to bring back the black-footed ferret, the most endangered mammal species in North America. To read more about the reintroduction of the black footed ferret, click here. If you would like your donation to go toward the black-footed ferret project, simply mark it as "For the Ferrets". [2]
To read more about the nationwide black-footed ferret recovery program, go to www.blackfootedferret.org.
For more information, you can visit the Maka foundation at www.makafoundation.org, email them at info@makafoundation.org, or call at 605-473-8016. The mailing address is:
Maka Foundation
PO Box 807
Lower Brule, SD 57548-0807
[1] All quotes and information about the history of the Lower Sioux Brule tribe and the Maka Foundation gathered from the Maka Foundation informational pamphlet and booklet.
[2] All information about the reintroduction of the black-footed ferret into tribal lands gathered from the website - Black-footed ferret & Swift Fox Reintroduction
