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One Flandreau Man’s Mission To Inspire Kids To Pursue STEM

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by
Genna Scott
• Published on • Last modified on
Drone
Garrie Kills-a-hundred talks with SDPB's Genna Scott
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One man is on a mission to inspire young people to pursue careers in science and technology. The historic preservation officer for the Flandreau Santee-Sioux Tribe says he’s working for the future.  

Garrie Kills-A-Hundred does a lot of his work with drones and ground-penetrating radar.  

The technology uses electric pulses to let people detect what’s beneath the surface. 

Kills-a-Hundred has used the radar with First Presbyterian Church in Flandreau to look for unmarked graves at the cemetery. The church can then put up a monument to mark the grave instead of leaving it lost underground. Accurate locations also prevent the church from accidentally digging up a grave in the future.  

Kills-A-Hundred is working with young tribal members to teach some of this technology.  

“Because of the social pathologies that we have on the reservation, I think that the one thing we have to address this is through as many different ways as we can. And science and technology is going to be one of them,” he said. 

Kills-a-Hundred demonstrates his equipment to kids at Marty Indian School.  The pandemic put the brakes on these school demonstrations. But he plans to resume his school trips as a way to share his knowledge with students.  

“Helping other tribes will be a top priority too,” he said. “Just so that they can be exposed to this technology that we have here.” 

Kills-a-Hundred thinks this can open up potential careers to many Native Americans. For example, once they become registered as a licensed drone pilot, they can work independently or for a company.  

“Trying to get companies and tribes and different entities to accept younger people to do these jobs that they do so effortlessly, that’s what I’m hoping comes to not just reservations but everybody. I would like to see that done,” Kills-a-Hundred said.  

He says he is already seeing a spark amongst kids who are interested in science.  

“And I really do think that some of these young people are following their spirit. They’ll go to a class and then they’ll talk about ‘yeah but in a few years, we can do this. They’re already thinking about the future and how they can use this technology.” 

Garrie Kills-a-Hundred is continuing work with the church and community. He hopes to expand his travel to include more schools.