Kevin Killer (

Oglala Sioux The Oglala (pronounced , meaning "to scatter one's own" in Lakota language) are one of the seven subtribes of the Lakota people who, along with the Dakota, make up the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Seven Council Fires). A majority of the Oglala live o ...

) (born May 4, 1979) is an activist, Native American politician, and former president of the

Oglala Sioux Tribe The Oglala (pronounced , meaning "to scatter one's own" in Lakota language) are one of the seven subtribes of the Lakota people who, along with the Dakota, make up the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Seven Council Fires). A majority of the Oglala live o ...

. He previously served as a Democratic member of the

South Dakota House of Representatives The South Dakota House of Representatives is the lower house of the South Dakota Legislature. It consists of 70 members, two from each legislative district. Two of the state's 35 legislative districts, Districts 26 and 28, are each subdivided int ...

from 2009 to 2017 and the

South Dakota Senate The Senate is the upper house of the South Dakota Legislature. It consists of 35 members, one representing each legislative district; it meets at the South Dakota State Capitol in Pierre. Composition :''92nd Legislature (2019)'' Officers Li ...

from 2017 to 2019, representing the 27th district. He lives in

Pine Ridge, South Dakota Pine Ridge (Lakota: ''wazíbló'') is a census-designated place (CDP) and the most populous community in Oglala Lakota County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 3,138 at the 2020 census. It is the tribal headquarters of the Oglala S ...

. In November 2020, he was elected tribal president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. He was defeated during his 2022 re-election bid by Frank Star Comes Out.

Early life and education

Killer grew up in

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, where his father, Francis, was a CPA and a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. His mother, Janice, is from the

Kiowa tribe Kiowa () people are a Native American tribe and an indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colorado in the 17th and 18th centuries,Pritzker 326 and ev ...

of Oklahoma. When young, Killer returned to his father's people on 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 ...

every summer, in order to know them and the land. His father died when Killer was 20, but he was helped by mentors. Killer graduated from

Oglala Lakota College Oglala Lakota College (OLC) is a public tribal land-grant community college in Kyle, South Dakota. It enrolls 1,456 students enrolled part- and full-time. OLC serves the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, which has a population of about 26,000 and ...

. His first experience in politics came in 2004, working for former

United States Senator The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...

Tom Daschle Thomas Andrew Daschle ( ; born December 9, 1947) is an American politician and lobbyist who served as a United States senator from South Dakota from 1987 to 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, he became U.S. Senate Minority Leader in 1995 an ...

. He was the first Tribal College Fellow for Young People For, a youth leadership development organization, and worked to expanded the group's tribal college network into a Native-American-led group called the Native Youth Leadership Alliance in 2009.

Career

Killer was first elected to the state legislature in 2008 where he served on the House State Affairs Committee, which has an important role in moving legislation forward, and its Judicial Affairs Committee. In 2016 he was elected to the State Senate from District 27 and in the year prior, 2015, was a Bush Fellow. He is also director of the Native American Youth Leadership Alliance, a role he began in 2010 and which sees to his working to build youth leaders among the people of the reservations. Killer has noted that a high percentage of residents on the reservations are under age 18. In 2019, Killer became a senior fellow at Prism. He is noted as being the co-founder of Advance Native Political Leadership, a non-profit that aims to expand indigenous representation in elected and appointed offices across the United States. Concurrent to his political work, Killer has been involved as an actor and executive producer on two short films, ''Running Shadow'' and ''Istinma''.

References

External links

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Twitter account
1979 births 21st-century American politicians Living people Democratic Party members of the South Dakota House of Representatives Native American state legislators in South Dakota Oglala Sioux Tribe politicians Sioux people Kiowa people People from Pine Ridge, South Dakota {{SouthDakota-politician-stub