For 14 years, Chris managed the Wild Idea Buffalo Company plant, sharpening his skills and deepening his connection to sustainable butchery practices. His time there laid the foundation for his current mission of training young Native men, including his sons, in the art of butchery through Sacred Storm Buffalo.
Photograph: Stewart Huntington
For 14 years, Chris managed the Wild Idea Buffalo Company plant, sharpening his skills and deepening his connection to sustainable butchery practices. His time there laid the foundation for his current mission of training young Native Warriors, including his sons, in the art of butchery through Sacred Storm Buffalo.
Butchery is not the only practice that has been passed on from father to son. Twenty years ago, Daron White Eagle, father of Chris White Eagle, grandfather of Chance White Eagle, began working tirelessly to bring traditional song and dance to youth and their families to revitalize culture and set forth the path of a good road.
Following Daron’s passing, Chris and his family continued the burgeoning work of changing lives through the Native-led non-profit Wambli Ska Okolakiciye. They opened the Daron White Eagle Memorial Center in the summer of 2021, becoming Rapid City’s first Native American community teen and family center.
Since then Wambli Ska Okolakiciye has made great strides at expanding services and programs, including K-12 homeschooling, gang diversion initiatives, and collaborations with the White House Community Violence Intervention Collaborative. Chris’s leadership has expanded these services to meet the evolving needs of the urban Native community while staying grounded in traditional values. During the development of Wambli Ska, Chris continued his “day” job of running the former Wild Idea Buffalo Plant. Many of the young warriors who have become mentors at Wambli Ska started under the direction of Chris while working at the plant.
It was a natural progression for Wambli Ska to work in collaboration with other Indigenous organizations in the area to purchase Wild Idea Buffalo Processing Plant. Since the planning began in January of 2024, there has been great anticipation of “going back to work at the plant.”
“Last fall, we had 46 kids and 18 adults out at the ranch. We skinned the bull in the field, and I taught the kids how to break down the animal,” he recalls. Every part of the buffalo was used, from the meat to the hide, which the youth transformed into drums for a fundraiser. “It was very spiritual—we left nothing but a bloodstain on the prairie.”
This blend of cultural preservation and community leadership has marked Chris as a true changemaker. His deep commitment to Lakota traditions drives his belief that building connections and relationships is the foundation of success, whether he’s running Sacred Storm Buffalo or guiding the next generation of Native leaders.
Today, Chris’s son, Chance White Eagle, plays a pivotal role as the second in command at Sacred Storm Buffalo. Like his father, Chance began his journey in meat processing alongside Chris, learning the trade and embracing the mission of the enterprise.
The White Eagle family, like many on the northside of Rapid City and throughout the reservations in the region, faced an unimaginable tragedy with the sudden passing of Chance’s daughter, Aiko Storm White Eagle. As a tribute to her memory, the enterprise was named Sacred Storm Buffalo, symbolizing the family’s resilience and dedication. This name honors the tradition of fortitude and perseverance, with a continued focus on ensuring the well-being and opportunities for both current and future generations.
For Chris White Eagle, leadership is about taking care of the people, bringing people together, preserving traditions, and creating opportunities that empower future generations.
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