Board of Directors
Belinda Joe
Committee Member
Belinda F. Joe (Rencountre) is Dakota Hunkpati and comes from the Rencountre tiospaye(family). She is a mother, grandmother, educator and visionary, who is a strong advocate of education, diversity, Dakota language, dance, song, tradition and culture. In her role as a Bush Foundation Native Scholar and Community Rebuilder, she works to connect youth, families, elders and others through universal language such as music, values, language and stories. Belinda strongly believes that the world is changing through diversity and technology; therefore, it’s time to recalibrate and celebrate life.
Jerauld Gerry
Vice President
Jerry is a long-time resident of Mitchell, having moved here with his wife Laurie in 1976 after graduating from SDSU. He served on the original committee that established the Mitchell Prehistoric Indian Village Preservation Society in 1978, and has participated in all aspects of the historic site’s development. As an avid woodworker, Jerry has enjoyed creating many of the exhibits and retail furnishings at the Boehnen Memorial Museum and Thomsen Center Archeodome. Jerry has been a financial advisor with the Dice Financial Services team since 1987.
Grant Eucker
Committee Member
Grant has spent his entire life in South Dakota, having grown up on a farm, and graduated from high school in Wagner, and college from Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell. Upon graduating from DWU he was employed with the college for ten years. He llater transferred to Mitchell Technical College where he worked until retirement. He and his wife, Pam, are enjoying their retirement years in Mitchell.
John Koons
Treasurer
John Koons is a retired general manager who led several radio stations in the Mitchell Area. An active member of the community, he is a dedicated Rotarian and involved in the First Reformed Church in Mitchell. In his spare time, John enjoys hunting, woodworking, and traveling with his wife. He is married, has two grown sons, and is a proud grandfather.
John Erck
Committee Member
Myron Sonne
Secretary
Myron is a retired agriculture educator and retired farmer. He taught high-school agriculture classes for three years, and taught agriculture classes at Mitchell Technical College for 40 years. In addition to having served on the board of the Mitchell Site for many years, he is the past president of the National Vocational Agriculture Teachers Association. Myron lives in Letcher, South Dakota with his wife Nancy, who is a retired nurse educator. He currently works as a farm and ranch management and estate planning consultant.
Peter Lengkeek
Committee Member
Peter is a member of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe and serves as the chairman of the tribal council. A marine corps veteran, he has held a wide range of positions including serving as a member of the Indian Health Service National Suicide Prevention Strategy Committee, the HHS Secretary’s Tribal Advisory Council, the National Tribal Advisory Council for Behavioral Health and others. Peter also serves as a cultural consultant for several entities including the Minnesota Historical Society and the Diversity Foundation. He lives in Ft. Thompson, South Dakota.
Steve Kinsella
President
Steve Kinsella’s association with the Mitchell Site began in the 1970s when he spent the summer volunteering on an excavation of an earth lodge there with the University of Wisconsin. Kinsella has spent his career working in communications and public policy. He served as a communications director in the United States, as the press secretary to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, and as a writer and magazine editor prior to forming his own consulting company. He lives in St. Paul, Minnesota with his wife Ann.
Tamara St. John
Committee Member
Tamara is an enrolled citizen of the Sisseton Wahpeton Sioux Tribe of the Lake Traverse Reservation. She is a former elected member of the South Dakota House of Representatives. Tamara works as a historian, genealogist and has spent many years working in historic preservation, along with currently serving as the archivist for the Sisseton Wahpeton Tribal Archives and Collections. She has also worked with local, state and federal governments on issues involving historic preservation, cultural projects and government consultations, and served on the South Dakota Humanities Council as a member of the board of directors.