The wind is a constant force on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. So much wind blows through these Lakota lands that it could power this reservation four times over. KILI Radio, the largest radio station in Indian country and one of the largest consumers of electricity on Pine Ridge, is now harnessing that power. Honor the Earth, Intertribal Council On Utility Policy (Intertribal COUP) and a host of grassroots groups and trainees erected a 65 kW wind turbine at KILI on June 25, Lakota Victory Day (the day the Battle of the Little Big Horn was won in 1876). The turbine stands as a model of possibilities in an area that has been besieged with poverty and unsound energy development, including the prospect of new uranium mining. The KILI installation was part of an intensive windsmithing training that ran the week of June 23rd. Forty-nine tribal members participated in the training to learn hands-on how wind power works, and its potential for tribal lands in the Plains. A community feast, with speakers and music, was held July 31, and over two hundred people turned out to join in the celebration! The KILI project took five years to realize, but the goals that Honor the Earth had set – for this installation to act as a flagship project for the reservation and catalyze movement toward a renewable future on Pine Ridge - were clearly realized. The community came together in a unified way to learn, help and then celebrate this great achievement. Extensive press coverage referred to the turbine as a “signpost” and “beacon” of a positive future. Over the remainder of 2008 and into 2009, Honor the Earth and Intertribal COUP have worked diligently with KILI staff and board, our turbine vendor and engineers, and local trainees to ensure proper functioning of the refurbished turbine and to develop the local capacity to provide ongoing maintenance for the machine. We have conducted several hands-on maintenance trainings and developed a maintenance plan that includes providing tuition to two tribal members to obtain certificates as wind technicians. In addition, we will be able to establish a long-term maintenance fund through the sale of renewable energy credits to NativeEnergy, a tribally-owned carbon offset company.