Richard Twiss
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Richard Twiss (June 11, 1954 – February 9, 2013) was a Native American educator and author. He was a member of the Sicangu Lakota Oyate. He was the Co-Founder and President of Wiconi International ( lkt, Wee-choe'-nee, lit=life). His vision was, "Serve as a bridge builder and consultant, nationally and internationally, to develop understanding, respect and mutual appreciation for one another, especially among Native American/First Nations people."


Biography

Richard's father, Franklin "Buster" Twiss (May 7, 1927– August 17, 1999) was an enrolled member of the Pine Ridge
Oglala Lakota 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 people, Dakota, make up the Sioux, Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Seven Council Fires). A majority ...
tribe in South Dakota and was a SFC Army veteran. His mother, Winona LaPointe is from the Sicangu Lakota from the Rosebud Indian Reservation in
Norris, South Dakota Norris is an unincorporated community in Mellette County, South Dakota, United States, which is not specifically tracked by the Census Bureau, but rather is only included in the census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a con ...
, and she attended the St. Francis Indian Mission School as a young girl through high school graduation. In 1972, Richard Twiss was a participant in the forced occupation of the
Bureau of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States federal agency within the Department of the Interior. It is responsible for implementing federal laws and policies related to American Indians and A ...
Building in Washington, D.C., with the radical political group, the American Indian Movement. Twiss later became a Christian minister, author, and public speaker. He married his wife Katherine in 1976 and had four grown sons, residing in Vancouver, Washington since 1981. Richard Twiss was a founding board member of NAIITS, an Indigenous Learning Community. www.naiits.com Twiss was a Board Member of the Christian Community Development Association, founded by
John M. Perkins John M. Perkins (born June 16, 1930) is an American Christian minister, civil rights activist, and author. He is the founder and president emeritus of the John & Vera Mae Perkins Foundation with his wife, Vera Mae Perkins. He is co-founder of the ...
in 1989. In 2011, he earned a doctorate in Inter-Cultural Studies (cultural anthropology, primal and folk religions and the history of Christian mission) from Asbury Theological Seminary. On February 6, 2013, Twiss suffered a major heart attack in Washington, D.C. He died on February 9, with his wife and sons at his side. His interment was next to his father at Black Hills National Cemetery.


Works

* * * ''Dancing Our Prayers'' * ''Culture, Christ, & Kingdom Study Guide''


References


External links


Wiconi International

NAIITS An Indigenous Learning Community (formerly the North American Institute for Indigenous Theological Studies)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Twiss, Richard 1954 births 2013 deaths Sicangu people Native American writers People from Rosebud Indian Reservation, South Dakota Religious figures of the indigenous peoples of North America Writers from Vancouver, Washington People from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota