Autobiography

My name is Art Fisher and I am a member of the Lakota Nation, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation located in western South Dakota.  I was born at Rapid City South Dakota, have attended schools mainly off the reservation, yet have spent a great deal of my life on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation where I spent much time with my tiyospaye (Pourier, extended family). Currently I live in the Pejuta Haka (Medicine Root) District, or just 5 miles from the village of Kyle, SD located on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.  My Tiwahe (immediate family) includes my wife Cindy and children Kadem, Kylea, Katie and Kolten, also referred as the special K’s.  Just this year we were blessed with our first granddaughter, Teagen  Marie, and more recently a grandson, Kellin Wayne.

I graduated high school at Huron South Dakota and after a few years, our first child was born, I enrolled at Black Hills State University, struggled financially due to a growing family, and found myself moving to the Pine Ridge Reservation.  I became employed by Red Cloud Indian School, was selected by the Shannon County Bilingual Teacher Training Program to work as a paraprofessional within the Shannon County School system while working towards a teacher degree. I enrolled at Oglala Lakota College, a tribal college located on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, where I completed a Bachelor of Science Degree in K-8 Elementary Education. Soon after completing my teacher training I became employed by Red Cloud Indian School and taught 7^th grade for 3 years at Our Lady of Lourdes School, the sister school to Red Cloud Indian School.

As a 7^th grade teacher I applied for a scholarship from the American Indian Institute, located at Norman Oklahoma, was awarded the scholarship, moved to Oklahoma City with my family of five, and where I attended Oklahoma City University.  I received my Masters in Education with Emphasis in Gifted and Talented Education.  Upon completing my MA, I returned to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, became the Director of Gifted and Talented Education at Red Cloud Indian School.  For three years I worked at Red Cloud and Our Lady of Lourdes.  I then relocated to my family’s allotment/ranch in the Medicine Root District and became hired off the reservation at the Wall School District, Wall South Dakota, and worked at The rural school located at Scenic S.D. as the upper elementary teacher.  I claim to be one of the few Native American teachers living on the reservation and traveling to work off the reservation at a school with little or few Native American children. 
 
Upon 3 years as a rural teacher I received a call from the chair of Oglala Lakota College’s Education Department.  I was asked if I would be interested in applying for the Dean of Education.  I was hired, although once hired the college president Thomas Shortbull felt I needed to serve as faculty before I fill the vacant Dean of Education position.  I served as faculty for the magical number 3 again! I then was hired as Dean of Education and served in that capacity for 8 years. As Dean of Education, I have traveled extensively, working with local, state, national and Bureau of Indian Education systems.  I have also been the program director of many state and federally funded grant programs which required much travel; in all I am thankful for this experience.  

After serving 8 years  as Oglala Lakota College's Dean of Education, I resigned from this position and once again became faculty in the Education Department.  After 2 years, I transferred to the Graduate Studies Department and currently pursue a doctoral degree in Curriculum and Instruction from University of South Dakota.  For the Fall 2014 semester I served as the Acting Director of Graduate Studies Department. Currently I am faculty of the Graduate Studies Department.