
- Details
- By Native News Online Staff
CHESTERTOWN, Md. — Longtime Lakota Sioux businessman Henry Red Cloud will be presented this Friday with an honorary Doctor of Public Service from Washington College, located in Chestertown, Md.
For almost two decades, Henry Red Cloud has worked to develop and share renewable energy technologies for Great Plains tribes to become energy independent, create jobs, and improve living standards for American Indians.
Born and raised on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Henry Red Cloud is a direct, fifth-generation descendant of Chief Red Cloud (Mahpiya Luta), one of the last Lakota war chiefs and one of the most well-known American Indians in history.
Henry Red Cloud founded Lakota Solar Enterprises in 2004. The company employs tribal members who manufacture and install efficient solar air heating systems for Native American families living on reservations across the Great Plains.
Lakota Solar Enterprises has built and installed more than 1,200 solar heating systems that save low-income homeowners up to 30 percent on utility bills. In 2008, with support from the nonprofit Trees, Water & People, he opened the Red Cloud Renewable Energy Center. American Indians from around the country visit the renewable energy center to receive hands-on training in renewable energy technology and sustainable building practices from fellow Native trainers.
Among his many honors are the Interstate Renewable Energy Council’s Annual Innovation Award, the World Energy Globe Award, the White House’s Champion of Change for Solar Deployment, and MIT’s Solve Fellowship.
Washington College’s annual spring semester Convocation begins at 3:30 p.m. at the Decker Theatre of the Gibson Center for the Arts and is open to the public.
More Stories Like This
MMIP Red Dress Installation Vandalized in AlaskaNCAI Mid Year Underway on Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Homelands
Native News Weekly (June 3, 2023): D.C. Briefs
House Passes Bipartisan Debt Ceiling Deal; How Native American Members of Congress Voted
History Made as First Navajo Appointed U.S. Federal Judge in California
Native News is free to read.
We hope you enjoyed the story you've just read. For the past dozen years, we’ve covered the most important news stories that are usually overlooked by other media. From the protests at Standing Rock and the rise of the American Indian Movement (AIM), to the ongoing epidemic of Murdered and Missing Indigenous People (MMIP) and the past-due reckoning related to assimilation, cultural genocide and Indian Boarding Schools.
Our news is free for everyone to read, but it is not free to produce. That’s why we’re asking you to make a donation to help support our efforts. Any contribution — big or small — helps. Most readers donate between $10 and $25 to help us cover the costs of salaries, travel and maintaining our digital platforms. If you’re in a position to do so, we ask you to consider making a recurring donation of $12 per month to join the Founder's Circle. All donations help us remain a force for change in Indian Country and tell the stories that are so often ignored, erased or overlooked.
Donate to Native News Online today and support independent Indigenous journalism. Thank you.