What began a year ago with a podcast, has now blossomed into the beginnings of a movement. When Recovery Warriors first launched their podcast on Facebook last year, never did they expect that only a year later they would be holding a conference in Pierre that included participants and speakers traveling from Utah, Arizona, North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Montana, Kansas, Wisconsin and Canada. This ground breaking event will have representation from every tribe in South Dakota in attendance as well as several tribes in North Dakota and even a group of high school students will attend the conference. The conference requires no registration and is open to anyone and everyone whose life has been touched or affected by addiction. Even though the event will focus on meth addiction, all addictions and those affected by them are welcome.

The Gathering of Nations began as an idea in November of 2024 when the Recovery Warriors and Rez Recovery met in Wagner to have a mini-conference and build connections. Rez Recovery is an organization located in Ft. Yates, ND on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. Both groups have a similar goal which is to help both tribal and non-tribal members who are addicts, in addiction recovery or are wanting to start the process and are looking for support. During the meeting of the two groups there were many testimonies and stories shared between those present, which laid the groundwork to build a good connection and network.

The theme of the 1st Annual Rez Recovery Warrior Gathering of Nations event is “Unity and Upliftment.” The conference creators are hoping to make this an annual event. This year’s two-day event will be held in Pierre at the Ramkota Hotel Convention Center on February 7th and 8th. The event will include special guest, Brothers Brandon Tha Ragin Cajun, who hosts the online talk show, Sober Talk. There will also be panels, testimonials, a fashion show and vendors at the conference. The fashion show will be hosted by Taira Little (who was also instrumental in creating the Fort Randall Casino’s Indigenous Fashion Show) with Jamie Saunsoci of Santee, NE as the featured designer for the event. All of the models will be individuals that have overcome their addiction and are in the stages of recovery. While each model walks the runway, their recovery story will be told.

What started out with Leon Flying Hawk and Rosezena Zephier doing podcasts and holding Narcotics Anonymous (NA) weekly meetings at the Lighthouse Church in Wagner, has grown into a dedicated team of five with Kim Archambeau, Gregory Zephier and Rhianna Zephier taking leadership roles in addition to Leon and Rosezena to further the mission of Recovery Warriors. When asked why the new members wanted to become involved in the group, they each said that they are in recovery and wanted to be able to show others what life looks like after addiction in addition to giving back to their communities. It is their hope that by sharing their own stories of addiction and recovery that they will inspire others to want to make a change and learn of the resources available to them to make recovery their reality.

The Yankton Sioux Tribe and Lighthouse Church have been instrumental to the Recovery Warriors by providing resources, funding, and a location to hold the podcast and NA meetings. There are now three local NA meetings throughout the week. Monday Rosezena holds a meeting in Lake Andes; Wednesday Rhianna holds one in Marty; and on Thursdays there is a meeting in Wagner held by Leon and Kim.

Recovery Warriors has also been active outside of their podcasts and organizing conferences. The group has held prayer walks throughout local reservation housings, are cleaning up the housing communities, being invited to speak at different engagements, holding NA and AA support groups, attending pow wows, home visits, praying over people and their homes as well as taking part in the quarterly Recovery Warrior Banquets.

Rosezena feels that one of the most important parts of starting recovery and the healing process are overcoming and placing the shame from addiction at the forefront of a person’s mindset. She wants others to know that “it’s okay to heal” and there are people in the community who are willing to support, encourage and empower anyone that is ready to begin their recovery journey. Even though they each have busy lives themselves, they are still out in the communities trying to help people as much as possible.

It is the Recovery Warriors’ hope that together as a community, state and nation that this movement will help end the generational trauma and devastation that meth and other addictions have caused for future generations, ending the cycle of addiction.