The Oh, um, oh, oh,

oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,

ooh, oh, oh, oh, oh, So let's just start off. Before we get into the Native Reed's program, I was wondering, Mabel, Picard, I was wondering if you could maybe introduce yourself and talk a little bit about Oak Lake and your role in the Writers Society?

Okay. Hello, my name is Maiboue-Qat.

I'm from the Oak Lake Writers Society, the Society organizes literary effects for purposes of preserving and defending

Ochetti Shakoween cultures, oral traditions, and histories, to reaffirm our people's

political statuses and to regulate and transform representations of such that are inaccurate and damaging.

The Oak Lake Writers Society, what originated in 1993 and was started by South Dakota State University professors Charles

Woodard and Lowell Amia and was kind of members of SDSU and the Brookings community

started hosting these tribal riders and mentors

at the Oak Lake Field Station which is located near Astoria, South Dakota.

Myself, I've been a member of the organization since I think around 2008.

Does anyone else want to add about their experience?

Because I know we're all from the,

from Oak Lake Writers Societyight, Writers Society.

Maybe Lenico can fill in about the history of the organization

and how it got started.

Okay.

Well, in 1993 1993 Lowell Amiat and Chuck Woodard, as Nable was just mentioning, decided that they

wanted to provide a voice for the native students, not just on the campus, but a way for

members who were writing or had aspirations to write, who had published, that they would be able to come together on an annual basis and exchange ideas to also have workshops that took place during the retreat that were held initially in October.

And our first mentor,

...