Wayne Ducheneaux

About Wayne

• I grew up on the plains of South Dakota.
• I went to college to pursue political science and government but left and came home to run my family’s ranch when my brother got elected to the Tribe’s Tribal Council.
• I spent eight years running my family’s ranch, stewarding the land and animals.
• After that, I got a job running my Tribe’s, the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, hotel enterprise.
• I worked as my Tribe’s administrative officer, where I was in charge of the Tribe’s 70 programs.
• I was eventually elected to serve on my Tribe’s Tribal Council—I served two years as the vice-chairman and then three years as a Tribal Council representative.
• I decided to run for Tribal Chairman but unfortunately lost. However, my name came up to serve as the executive director for the new Native Governance Center.
• I’ve been working as the executive director for the Native Governance Center for the past seven years now, since the center’s inauguration.