Our Leadership: Counting Coup

The COUP Council is a Lakota woman & two spirit led organization whose Board members are actively engaged in all aspects of the organization while guiding staff and consultants to fulfill our mission, vision and goals. Traditionally, counting coup was one of the most prestigious deeds achieved by a warrior, that is striking their enemy without violence and living to tell the tale. Today, we continue to count coup on oppressive systems, fighting for the people and our homelands in the beautiful and sacred He Sapa.

Candi Brings Plenty, M.A., President

(Oglala Lakota) Wakinyan Tunwanpi Iyoyanpa Win (Bright Lightening Woman), is an Oglala Lakota, Queer Indigenous, Non-binary Two Spirit. They continue to educate and advocate throughout Turtle Island sharing their experience as a frontline Two Spirit Water Protector and Land Defender, and fiercely advocating for Murdered & Murdered Indigenous People. Candi is a direct descendent of Crazy Horse’s band and is an ancestral survivor of the Wounded Knee Massacre. They were the first ACLU Indigenous Justice Organizer for the South Dakota, North Dakota & Wyoming region from 2019-2023 and founded the Two Spirit Nation in 2016 after leading the Two Spirit Camp at Standing Rock. She has served on the board since April 2023.

Jean Roach, Treasurer

Mnicoujou Lakota from the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, Jean attended AIM Survival School and graduated from the University of New Mexico in 1995. She resides in Mni Luzahan, is a grandmother, and a silversmith. Her community organizing work centers on support for the circle of relatives including incarcerated relatives and political prisoners. In addition to Jean’s work with COUP, she has served on the Board of the Black Hills Clean Water Alliance defending our community from mining interests and the International Leonard Peltier Defense Committee. Jean also co-founded the HeSapa Voter Initiative in 2019 and coordinated meals, cooks and delivery drivers for the grassroots COVID-19 rapid response known as Meals for Relatives, serving thousands of people in Rapid City. She has served on the COUP Council board of directors since 2020, helping to lead its growth and a successful capital campaign to purchase real estate and house relatives in Rapid City.

Marlene Poor Bear, Secretary

Marlene Poor Bear is Oglala Lakota and received her Bachelor of Art degree in Lakota Leadership from Oglala Lakota College in May 2024. She is a grandmother who has lived in Rapid City for over 20 years and is originally from the Martin community of the Pine Ridge reservation. During the pandemic, Marlene and her grandchildren delivered meals to the relatives in quarantine and isolation during the COVID pandemic, and practices direct aid every day for the community on and off the reservations. She is a devoted relative, an AIM warrior woman and an active part of the Mni Luzahan community. She keeps the legacy of her beloved brothers alive through her community activism and leadership.

Chantelle Blue Arm, CSW-PIP, ADC-T, QMHP

Chantelle is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe (Hunkpapa/Mnicoujou Lakota).  She is a mother to 5 adorable children, who she raises with her husband, Owen Wiese. Chantelle and Owen recently returned to the He Sapa to raise their family after spending 9 years in Flandreau, SD.  Chantelle worked at the Flandreau Indian School and then at the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribal Health Center.  Chantelle and Owen wanted to move to the He Sapa to provide more opportunities for their children while being able to keep them connected to their Lakota roots.  Chantelle received a bachelor's degree in psychology from Yale University and a Masters of Social Work degree from the University of South Dakota.  She currently serves as the mental health provider on 3 of the 4 Pennington County Specialty Courts through West River Mental Health. Chantelle is passionate about advocating for our relatives and finds being a part of the COUP Council is the best way to be able to do so.

Santanah Brave-Seda, Youth Representative

Oglala Lakota and Mexican, Santanah volunteered for the COUP Council for the past 5 years. She has helped cook and deliver meals, supported vigils and memorials for MMIW, marched for justice and regularly takes direct action to help the unhoused relatives living in the Mni Luzahan. In 2023, she also helped build the floats the COUP Council entered in the Native American Day and the Festival of Lights parades, raised funds to feed the unhoused relatives on a weekly basis and then volunteered regularly from December 2023 through April 2024. Currently a high school student in the Rapid City Area Schools, she is an advocate for young people and especially girls who want to thrive and prosper in life. She would like to help inspire young people to organize in their community, mobilize, organize, study and vote when they turn 18.

Natalie Stites Means, JD, Executive Director

Woawacin Suta Win (Strong Fortitude Woman) is enrolled with the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. Shortly after joining the Board of Directors, Natalie was unanimously appointed as the first executive director of the COUP Council in May 2023. In 2019, she founded the HeSapa Voter Initiative (HSVI), a civic engagement effort focused on the Native voters of South Dakota. When the pandemic hit, she and other women launched the grassroots community response in Rapid City, Meals for Relatives, serving over three thousand people in quarantine and distributing over 40,000 masks and PPE into the community. Recently, she completed a four year appointment to the South Dakota Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights. Right now, Natalie also serves on the board of directors for the Native POP Art Market and the Justice Empowerment Network in South Dakota. Ms. Stites Means is a UCLA graduate with a B.A. in History & American Indian Studies and earned a Juris Doctor with a specialization in Public Interest Law & Policy from the UCLA School of Law. Mrs. Means is married to Miskooquewezance Means (Oglala Lakota/Anishinaabe) and has one daughter.

Gloria Eastman, M.A., Special projects coordinator

Enrolled Sicangu (Rosebud Sioux) and a Mni Luzahan resident since 1994, Gloria joined the COUP Council Board of Directors in 2018 and has been a key member of the staff since 2023. She has been active in community organizing around justice and police violence, tenants rights, eviction, and homelessness, as well as providing home health care for her relatives. Gloria provides significant support to the COUP Council, COUP Housing LLC, COUP Holdings LLC and works extensively with the West River Tenants United and other fiscally sponsored projects. Gloria directs the Native Food Vendors Market with her partner, served as Treasurer to the COUP Council and is currently the Special Projects Coordinator for the COUP Council. Gloria earned her Masters of Arts degree in Lakota Leadership from Oglala Lakota College.

Sharon No Heart, Immediate past president

A Standing Rock Sioux elder currently focused on raising Indigenous foster children. Sharon served as manager of Little Earth of United Tribes, a public housing project in Minnesota built specifically for the Indigenous Community for five years and has recently sat on the Board of Rural America.  She is married to the artist Daryl No Heart and served on the COUP Council from 2018-2024. We are grateful for her service, wisdom and guidance during her time with the COUP Council.

Ramona Herrington (Oglala Lakota) & karissa Loewen, Co-Founders

Ramona and Karissa founded our organization in 2017 as One Rapid City to specifically respond to racial discrimination and systemic oppression being levied upon Indigenous Peoples by institutions in Rapid City. Organizing for decolonization and housing justice in the Mni Luzahan community, these two women developed their concerns into the small but mighty organization we are today. We honor their commitment to community organizing for unified power.