It is a jump from doing office paperwork to building solar power systems, but that is the leap Lorraine Nez is taking to bring renewable energy to her Native American reservation.
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Lorraine Nez (R) walks with fellow student Rachael La Friniere and Henry Red Cloud's wife, Gloria Red Cloud (C) on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota, June 13, 2021.
Nez was one of a dozen Native trainees who took a monthlong course this summer on South Dakota's Pine Ridge Reservation to become certified solar power installers and trainers.
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Darren Cross and Henry Red Cloud install solar panels on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota, Sept. 24, 2018.
The students from six tribes are among Native Americans tapping into vast renewable energy potential on tribal lands and fighting economic inequalities holding back access to clean power.
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The entrance to the Red Cloud Renewable Energy Center is seen on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota, Sept. 28, 2018.
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"This is still a new industry, there are not many people out here in this world with any type of knowledge," said Nez, 44, a former nurse with a degree in business management, who is from the Rosebud Sioux reservation in South Dakota and lives in Rapid City, South Dakota, where she works in medical billing.
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Ivan Looking Horse helps to install solar panels on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota, Sept. 25, 2018.
Native Americans are 10 times more likely to not have electricity than the national average and, as people of color, far less likely to have solar power, after 20th century rural electrification bypassed some of their communities, studies have shown.
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Student Gwe Gasco looks at a course handout on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota, June 13, 2021.
To help build tribal energy independence, training group Solar Energy International has partnered with nonprofit Red Cloud Renewable to teach students to assemble off-grid systems for isolated homes or grid-connected arrays to cut bills.
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Ribbons and other tributes are tied to the Wounded Knee Massacre Memorial on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota, June 18, 2021.
These "solar warriors" hope to supply power to areas like the Navajo Nation, where around 25% of homes lack electricity, and cut energy bills in reservations such as Pine Ridge, which has the poorest county in the United States.
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Tribal members participate in Victory Day events on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota, June 24, 2019.
"I want to create community awareness, show by example how solar and renewable energies coincide with the Chippewa Cree belief system, the overall Native American belief system," said trainee Clyde Brown, 45, who plans to install solar power at the community college on his Rocky Boy's reservation in Montana.
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Clyde Brown (C) looks on during a class on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota, June 13, 2021.
Another goal is to create a Native American solar workforce to build big arrays in places like the Navajo Nation and Pine Ridge and teach solar skills to the next generation.
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Students from the Pine Ridge Girls' School after participating in a sweat lodge on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota, Sept. 27, 2018.
"The people there have realized that energy sovereignty is more important to them and the only way they'll achieve that is focusing on the more renewable resources," workshop instructor Chris Brooks, 48, from nonprofit Remote Energy said of moves by reservations to diversify away from oil and gas and coal-based power.
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A teepee is reflected onto a solar panel on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota, June 16, 2021.
Nez hopes to start an installation business in a sector dominated by white men, driven by a way of life focused on the earth and elements.
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Henry Red Cloud's granddaughters play in a teepee on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota, June 24, 2018.
"It's there, why are we not using it?" she said of solar power.