Join us for the final Fall 2023 STEP Seminar with Shelley Buck, President of Owámniyomni Okhódayapi (formerly Friends of the Falls) for a presentation on the organization’s work to create “a place of healing, restoration, education, and connection at the Upper Lock on Minneapolis’s Central Riverfront.”
STEP Seminars are free and open to the public. A light lunch will be provided for registrants. To RSVP, click here.
About the Speaker
Shelley Buck became President of Owámniyomni Okhódayapi in January 2023. Buck is an enrolled member of the Prairie Island Indian Community and served 12 years on the Prairie Island Tribal Council, including six years as president. Prior to being elected to Tribal Council, Buck held other positions serving the Tribe, including enrollment clerk and government relations specialist.
Buck has a Bachelor of Science in business accounting from Indiana University and a Masters of Art in sports management from Concordia University. She recently finished a second Masters of Jurisprudence in tribal Indian law from the University of Tulsa.
Buck currently serves on the boards of the Minnesota Wild Foundation, Great River Passage Conservancy, and Wakan Tipi Awanyankapi in St. Paul. She also held the position of Alternate Regional VP for the National Congress of American Indians.
About Owámniyomni Okhódayapi
Owámniyomni Okhódayapi is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that was founded in 2016 after the Upper Lock closed to commercial navigation. The organization was originally called the St. Anthony Falls Lock & Dam Conservancy and soon renamed to Friends of the Lock & Dam. Its focus was to prevent hydropower interests from further industrializing the site.
The recent transition to Owámniyomni Okhódayapi is not just another name change. It marks an important, intentional, and fundamental shift in how the organization operates. The name Owámniyomni Okhódayapi uplifts Dakota language and makes visible the fact that this is Dakota homeland. Owámniyomni Okhódayapi is Dakota-led and the organization has a Native American majority board of directors.
Learn more about Owámniyomni Okhódayapi at their website, https://owamniyomni.org/.