Tatanka Means closes first day of Tribal Leaders Summit on a high note

Crowd loved Means’ witty, sometimes raunchy stand-up set

Award-winning standup comedian Tatanka Means closed the first day of the 27th United Tribes Technical College Annual Tribal Leaders Summit with plenty of laughs. His hour-long set was filled with witty and sometimes raunchy observations on marriage, growing up with braids and the infamy of UTTC’s International Powwow.

Late Wednesday evening, Means, who represents the Navajo, Oglala Lakota, Yankton Sioux and Omaha Nations, performed for the first time at the Bismarck Event Center.

Means, who frequently performs sets throughout the Dakotas, told the crowd he is still waiting for his invite to Prairie Knights Casino on Standing Rock Reservation. “Those casinos always bring in this person who was famous in 1952,” he paused for laughter, “and it’s not even them, it’s their grandson.”

“A Native casino should bring in Native performers, you know,” Means added, to an outbreak of applause.

Means’ stand-up set deftly switched from teasing his in-laws to sharing his recent experience starring alongside Leonardo DiCaprio. In their Oscar-nominated film “Killers of The Flower Moon,” Means played FBI agent John Wren.

Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Representative-at-Large Alice Bird Horse found the various panels and discussions throughout the first day of the Summit to be “renewing.” She remarked on the turnout, which appeared to be returning to pre-COVID attendance numbers.

Bird Horse looked forward to seeing Means’ performance. She recalled enjoying his stand-up set in New Mexico and wondered what new material he had developed over the past five years.

Addressing students, Means encouraged them to “keep going, keep striving: You never know what is around the corner.”

“If you love what you do,” he said, “never give up. It can happen.”

Means told the crowd in closing, “I’m thankful for the invite. I hope you had a good laugh.” Dozens gathered in line after the show to greet him and collect stickers and merchandise.

Indigenized Energy, a nonprofit capacity-building organization focused on energy sovereignty, co-produced the show. The group took part in the summit to accept the organizers’ recognition of its achievements. One such milestone is a $136-million grant from the Environmental Protection Agency for regional solar energy projects in tribal communities.

Preceding Means’ performance, Indigenized Energy Executive Director Cody Two Bears remarked on the summit: “It’s historic,” Two Bears said, “when you see tribes come together for a better way of life.”

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Throughout the week, Buffalo’s Fire staff are covering the United Tribes Technical College Annual Tribal Leaders Summit and International Powwow. You can read about the opening ceremony here.