In the Rosebud Indian Reservation in central South Dakota, education is needed to help build an economy worthy of a sovereign Sicangu Lakota Oyate (Rosebud Sioux Tribe). Currently, the Tribe has an 85% unemployment rate, and there is little non-government infrastructure. As a result, it is difficult for Tribal citizens to get ahead, build a savings, and think forward towards something like an education. Compounding this is the historical trauma that still permeates after centuries of brutal, intentional assimilation policies implemented by the US government. But Sicangu people are resilient and fiercely maintain their historically oppressed identity and culture. Education is needed so that doctors can properly heal, architects can design infrastructure, lawyers can interpret the law, and economists can build an economy, among other unmet needs. Native Americans have the lowest educational attainment rates of all ethnic and racial groups in the United States; only 14% have earned degrees. Also, only 1 in 5 Native Americans in South Dakota that begin college will actually finish with a degree, primarily due to a lack of financial resources (compared to 2 in 3 for their non-Native peers). Western and culturally educated Sicangu Lakota citizens of all professions are needed to construct a thriving, sovereign economy to improve quality of life for all Tribal citizens.