Alicia Mousseau is the Vice President of the Ogallala Sioux Tribe, whose lands include the

Pine Ridge Indian Reservation The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation ( lkt, Wazí Aháŋhaŋ Oyáŋke), also called Pine Ridge Agency, is an Oglala Lakota Indian reservation located entirely within the U.S. state of South Dakota. Originally included within the territory of the Gr ...

. This is her second term in this position. She is reportedly the first lesbian to hold a position on her tribe's executive council.

Early life and education

Mousseau is from

Porcupine, South Dakota Porcupine (Lakota: ''pȟahíŋ siŋté''; "porcupine tail") is a census-designated place (CDP) in Oglala Lakota County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 925 at the 2020 census. The community most likely was named after Porcupine ...

, and her parents are Howard Brown and Karen Spoonhunter-Brown from

Arapahoe, Wyoming Arapahoe ( arp, Hinono'ei') is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fremont County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 1,656 at the 2010 census. A Catholic mission was founded here in 1884. St Stephen's Mission Church, located near Arapahoe ...

. Mousseau earned a PhD in 2012 from the

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a public land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, and opened in September 1887. The University of Wyoming ...

in Clinical Psychology. Mousseau went to

Creighton University Creighton University is a private Jesuit research university in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1878, the university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. In 2015 the university enrolled 8,393 graduate and undergra ...

in Omaha, Nebraska, graduating with a BA in psychology and political science. She has worked with the

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. UM reported 10,962 undergraduate and graduate students in the fal ...

's College of Education at their National Native Children's Trauma Center. She has also worked for the University of Colorado in their research programs.

Political career

In 2020, Mousseau ran for the position of Vice President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. She ran against former Oglala Sioux Tribe President Bryan Brewer and won. Her campaign slogan was "Together We Can," to bring members of her community closer to each other. In 2022, Mousseau was the incumbent and ran against three other candidates: Javan Tony Ten Fingers, Jackson Ten Fingers, and Mary Felicia. She won 1,431 votes, or 63% of the votes. She won 16 out of 17 precincts. Mousseau seeks to help her community heal from past traumas and to help children in her tribe obtain the best education. She signed a resolution of support from a non-profit called Friends of the Children from Portland, Oregon. She is passionate about prevention and health equity within her tribe. Her efforts also include making sure that the

LGBTQ+ ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is ...

community is safe. She is part of the

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in South Dakota.

Awards and honors

In 2021, Mousseau was chosen to be an

Aspen Institute The Aspen Institute is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1949 as the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies. The institute's stated aim is the realization of "a free, just, and equitable society" through seminars, policy programs ...

Ascend Fellow for the work she is doing for her tribe. The work includes implementing prevention and intervention programs for Native American youth and families as well as expanding science programs to talk about trauma and healing informed care.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mousseau, Alicia Wikipedia Student Program Living people 21st-century Native Americans 21st-century Native American women Sioux people LGBT Native Americans LGBT people from South Dakota Year of birth missing (living people)