Maka Akan Najin Black Elk

Maka Akan Najin Black Elk (Oglala Lakȟóta) is the former Executive Director for Truth and Healing at Maȟpíya Lúta (formerly Red Cloud Indian School), a nonprofit organization located on the Pine Ridge Reservation, home to the Oglala Lakȟóta (Sioux) Tribe. He graduated from the University of San Francisco and then earned his Master’s degrees in Peace & Human Rights Education at Columbia University’s Teachers College and in Educational Leadership from the University of Notre Dame. He served as the chairperson of the American Indian Catholic Schools Network for four years and has advocated for truth and healing in Catholic ministries and schools serving Indigenous peoples.