Meet Rosebud’s ‘shining star of hope’ — a teen earning national accolades

By Steve Young, for Pigeon605

The deed was done. The light had faded quickly from the dog’s eyes as the euthanizing drug streamed through its body. There in that sacred place, only sobs and broken hearts remained.

But Tashina Red Hawk had not flinched. Though only a teenager, the young Sicangu Lakota woman knew that a good veterinarian must keep it together in front of a grieving family.

So Tashina, who in fact aspires to be a great veterinarian someday, stayed strong in that moment of breathless sorrow at the Wamakanskan Wawokiye Oti – Lakota for Helping Animal Center – where she works as a 4-H volunteer.

Strong, that is, until she could slip away by herself and cry.

Such acts as a volunteer at the vet clinic in Mission have helped to propel Tashina to one of the highest recognitions within the nationwide 4-H program. This fall, she became the first South Dakotan to win a National 4-H Youth in Action award – an honor that includes a $5,000 scholarship and the responsibilities of advocating and speaking for 4-H agriculture programming in 2022.

Her ascension to such lofty recognition among the 6 million young people who comprise the nation’s largest youth development organization is both incredible and inspirational. Having mentored countless of her reservation peers, and having brought change to her community through her service, Shane and Noella’s daughter has succeeded like few others in South Dakota who have ever practiced the pledge of 4-H with its focus on head, heart, hands and health.

This young woman has already:

• Been named South Dakota High School Rodeo Queen – twice – and finished sixth in the most recent National High School Rodeo Queen competition, winning the personality category, Queen showcase and art show in the event that drew competitors from 42 states and five Canadian provinces.
• Finished her high school requirements at Todd County High School, enabling her now to pursue prerequisite classes for a Bachelor of Arts in the Animal Science Pre-Veterinarian syllabus from South Dakota State University.
• Earned a nomination to the Youth Engagement Advisory Council of America250, the nationwide commemoration of America’s 250th anniversary in 2026 led by the U.S. Semi-quincentennial Commission.
• Received a President’s Volunteer Service Award, signed by President Trump, for seven years of passing out Christmas gifts on the Rosebud Reservation, as well as additional time spent recruiting others from 4-H, Student Council and National Honor Society to participate as well in the Marine Corps’ Christmastime Toys for Tots venture.
• Worked since age 15 with the spay and neuter clinics at the Helping Animal Center managed by Kathleen Wooden Knife, having done everything from running IVs to putting in catheters to actually neutering five animals herself and assisting with the sad work of euthanizing pets.
• Embarked on her own business, Tashina’s Coffee, a drive-thru venture between the NAPA and Tribune buildings in Mission that sells everything from Americanos to mochas, specialty latte drinks to bobas – all with the end goal of helping her to raise money for college.

So accomplished is young Tashina – whose Lakota name is Anpetu Ya Onyiha Wi, or Honors the Day Woman – that South Dakota’s lone congressman, Dusty Johnson, lauded her on the House floor this past Oct. 11, Native American Day.

“She works so hard, Madam Speaker,” Johnson told House members. “Tashina is passionate about instilling a sense of independence and hard work among other young people on her reservation. This woman is going places. If there were more Tashina Red Hawks, we would have a better nation.”

She is in fact a tremendous role model for youth all across the reservation, and for youth in general, said Ron Frederick, the 4-H youth program adviser for Rosebud.

“For us here on the Rosebud,” Frederick said, “she is the shining star of hope.”

A ranch child raised among the cottonwoods and river bottoms near Rosebud’s Ring Thunder community, Tashina grew up around horses. She likes to say she was in her mother’s womb the first time she rode and was barrel racing by the time she was 8 years old.

The 4-H fire engulfed her early, after a friend and Todd County Junior 4-H member, Kassandra Chauncey, began mentoring her. There was an occasion when Kassandra’s horse was unavailable for a 4-H rodeo, and she asked young Tashina if she could borrow her horse. Tashina said “yes,” Kassandra won a blue ribbon and immediately gave the award to her young friend.

“I was absolutely blown away” when Kassandra gave her the ribbon, Tashina said. “When you’re a little kid, you always look for, like, that superhero. You want to find who you can look up to … just as a role model. And that’s who she was for me.”

Over time, Tashina excelled at the 4-H rodeos, winning so many ribbons for barrel racing, pole bending and showmanship that pillows sewn with all those awards began to populate the family home. She also established a long record of rodeo royalty, earning the titles of Little Miss Rosebud Rodeo Queen, Teen Rosebud Rodeo Queen and Miss Rosebud Rodeo before winning her two South Dakota High School Rodeo Queen crowns.

The girl who years earlier had found a superhero in her friend Kassandra had become one herself.

“I’ll be honest, 4-H helped me develop a well-rounded set of skills,” she said. “Being able to manage my livestock, my horses safely and knowing my way around them for one. But also things like leadership, community service. Even helping my peers in high school, introducing them to 4-H and other community activities.”

Tashina served as vice president and president in her 4-H groups. She brought others into the organization and led them into programs like the Toys for Tots initiative. But her greatest gift to the community is the work she has done with the local spay and neuter clinic at the animal shelter.

She has vaccinated animals, helped them to empty their bladders before surgery, run the oxygen and gas machines and even assisted with the surgeries. For a young woman steeped in the cultures and traditions of her Sicangu people, it is sacred work.

“They always say … if a sickness is coming to your family, your dog or your horse will take the hit for you,” Tashina said. “We believe that. As Lakota people, our animals are really sacred to us.”

Such beliefs are testimony to the way she was taught to embrace her history and tribal culture by her parents and extended family. In a place where broken families, poverty, drugs, food insecurity and poor housing have shattered countless dreams, they have not taken down Tashina Red Hawk.

“Her father once said, ‘You know, she could have taken the path of choosing to be a victim of her circumstances, as many youth of this nation do because of all the problems and all the broken families that we have here,’ ” Frederick, the 4-H adviser, recalled. “ ’A lot of people feel like they’re just hopeless, and they just fall into the victimhood. But instead, Tashina chose to be an advocate for what can be accomplished.’ ”

To rise above the pitfalls of reservation life has brought its challenges, Tashina said. Friends call her a braggart for all the attention she gets and mock her by suggesting she thinks she is better than them.

Her parents instilled in her a greater understanding about where that hate comes from. They taught her to respond by being humble and compassionate.

“I don’t respond negatively,” Tashina said. “I just say: ‘Can I take you with me on the journey? Let me show you what you can accomplish too.’ ”

Where many see hopelessness, she searches out the countless opportunities on the reservation that exist if one is willing to look for and work at them. Through 4-H, volunteering at the spay and neuter clinics and meeting veterinarians like Dr. Eric Jayne and Dr. Lori Gossard with the Sovereign Nations Veterinary Mission, Tashina insists she has found her calling in life. She wants to spend her life caring for animals, both on the Rosebud Reservation and perhaps as an itinerant veterinarian traveling the country.

The scholarships she has won will help. The coffee shop she began operating in Mission this past summer will pay for books and classes too.

Whatever she accomplishes, Tashina has left an indelible mark on her homeland, Frederick said. Not so long ago, the COVID pandemic and the closing of schools had decimated the 4-H program at Rosebud. But 4-H is coming back, he added, and Tashina, through all her incredible accomplishments, has led the way.

“I just look at her as being that person who will get more kids involved and will see her as a role model for what they can do,” he said. “She’s just a great example of, if you value education and have a positive, can-do spirit, you can accomplish anything. You only need to see what she’s done to know that’s true.”