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Lakota Man Not Letting Youth Get in Way

By Kevin Abourezk

Kevin Killer planned to follow in his father's footsteps.

He wanted to become an accountant and had begun taking college classes to that end.

Then fate intervened.

On his way home to Denver from a conference, Francis Killer died suddenly of a heart attack at a Washington, D.C., airport.

Suddenly, the world of business didn't shine so bright for Kevin.

"When he passed away, I lost that motivation to go into business," the 29-year-old Oglala Lakota said.

He decided to return to the South Dakota reservation his father once called home, a decision that set him on an altogether new course.

It is a course that finds Kevin today a rising star in his state's Democratic Party and an energetic and charismatic community organizer.

More and more this election season, Indian Country has begun to see its future leaders emerge and grasp the reins of leadership.

Leaders like Wizipan Garriott, a 28-year-old Rosebud Lakota man who is serving on Barack Obama's presidential campaign, and Samuel Kohn, a 21-year-old Crow man who is serving as Obama's Native outreach coordinator in Montana.

In South Dakota, Kevin Killer is not letting his youth stand in the way of trying to make a difference in the lives of his people, the Oglala Lakota.

In 2004, he served as a field organizer for both Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin and former Sen. Tom Daschle, who narrowly lost his senate seat to John Thune that year.

He has served as student senate president of Oglala Lakota College, which he now attends.

Now, he's taking the next step.

He is seeking a seat in the South Dakota Legislature for District 27, which encompasses four counties, including much of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

"We need jobs and we need more professionals in education," Killer said. "I think people want change on the reservation."

He knows his age is likely to cost him voters, but he's hoping his experience will gain his some as well.

Besides the work he's done for Democratic candidates, he's also served as project coordinator for the Great Plains Christmas Drive, a national effort sponsored by the National Indian Gaming Association that delivers toys and other gifts to children in reservations across the country.

Killer also has worked to increase voter registration at Oglala Lakota College and has begun training his peers to register others to vote.

This year, he's doing field organizing on his reservation for Obama's campaign and, of course, running his own campaign.

If elected to serve in the South Dakota Legislature, he plans to seek opportunities to develop wind energy projects on his reservation and to develop partnerships between public and private organizations and Oglala Lakota College.

If he doesn't win election, he plans to either seek a law degree or a master's in business administration.

One thing he doesn't plan to do: return home to Denver, where he grew up.

"The needs are so great in Pine Ridge it would be hard to leave," he said.

Kevin Abourezk's "Red Clout" columns are available for syndication. Please contact reznet to purchase republishing rights.

Kevin Abourezk, Rosebud Lakota, is a reporter and editor at the Lincoln (Neb.) Journal Star. He writes reznet's "Red Clout" political blog and teaches reporting at the Freedom Forum's American Indian Journalism Institute. Abourezk was awarded a Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism in 2006.

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