OUR STORY
For nearly four decades, Kunsi Keya Tamakoce (KKT) has served as a place of ceremony, community, and cultural continuity.
Founded by Beverly Little Thunder, KKT emerged from a vision of creating ceremonial spaces where women and Two-Spirit people could fully participate in and carry forward Lakota teachings.
What began as a commitment to preserving sacred traditions has grown into a living community dedicated to cultural revitalization, Indigenous leadership, land stewardship, and intergenerational learning.
Today, KKT continues this legacy through the leadership of Beverly's daughter, Lushanya Echeverria, and a growing community committed to carrying these teachings forward with integrity and care.
WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT
Kunsi Keya Tamakoce is one of the few continuously operating matriarchal Lakota ceremonial communities in North America.
For nearly forty years, we have carried forward a Two-Spirit-inclusive ceremonial tradition rooted in prayer, land stewardship, intergenerational teaching, and relational accountability.
We are not simply preserving culture—we are actively living, practicing, and passing these teachings to future generations.
We preserve what is sacred and share what is meant to be shared. This balance of protection and accessibility has been at the heart of KKT since its founding and continues to guide our work today.
OUR MISSION
Kunsi Keya Tamakoce exists to support the continuation of Lakota ceremonial traditions through community, education, stewardship, and cultural practice.
We are committed to preserving what is sacred while creating pathways for respectful learning, participation, and relationship across communities. Through ceremony, leadership development, land stewardship, and intergenerational teaching, we work to ensure these teachings remain living traditions for future generations.
Respect • Reciprocity • Responsibility • Relationship • Remembrance
At Kunsi Keya Tamakoce, we are guided by the teachings of Respect, Reciprocity, Responsibility, Relationship, and Remembrance. These values inform how we care for one another, honor our ancestors, protect the land, and carry forward the sacred responsibilities entrusted to us.
Guided by relational accountability, sacred reciprocity, humility, community care, and respect for all our relations, we work to ensure that Lakota teachings remain living traditions for future generations.