Native Sun News Today: Indian-owned business continues to grow

Monday, March 11, 2019  

By Richie Richards
Native Sun News Today Correspondent
nativesunnews.today

RAPID CITY – Since opening in 2015, HeSapa Enterprises in north Rapid City has steadily grown in size and services provided to customers.

CEO Walt Swan, 51, along with wife Lena and sons, Stephen and Zane, opened the doors to this screen printing and embroidery company in 2015 with help from family members.

Located in the heart of North Rapid, this company has been challenging itself to build a successful business by developing personal relationships with their clients, both on and off the reservation. Swan feels it is important to have the rapport with his business clients and others in the trade, as it promotes community and understanding of the needs of customers.

The former Superintendent of Red Cloud Indian School on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation had decided to go into business with his wife and sons following his career in education and a bout with cancer.

“We really had nowhere else to go. This had to be it because I couldn’t work a full days at that time,” said Swan of his decision to start a business. “That’s where we started, was when I was still superintendent. We started pumping money into the business.”

It was through personal expenses and the Lena’s father who purchased their first large piece of equipment, which was a laser printer. This machine sits in the corner of their shop and is in continued use today. It stands as symbol of their humble roots. Much of their early days of purchasing more and more equipment for their shop was spent learning how the machines worked. Trial and error can be seen around the shop as pieces of materials lay around and not suitable for sale.

The Swans had help from artists and other community members, such as artist, Wade Patton, who came in and spent two days helping the family learn to work one of their many machines. This gesture of sharing and asking for help in times of need is reciprocated by the Swans, as they are always quick to lend a hand to other business leaders in the area.

Walt and his wife are honored to have worked with artists in the community who are established and have led a successful career with their work. They have worked with Jim Yellow Hawk and Don Montileaux most recently.

“Don Montileaux did the warrior socks. They were really, really cool. They went over fast and did really well. They saturated the market and I believe Prairie Edge sold a bunch of socks, too,” said Swan. Don Montileaux is known for drawing horses. For local art fans, his style of work is easily noticeable. “He never wanted money from us. He just took credit. He always wanted his payment in more socks.”

This relationship building and working with artists is important for HeSapa Enterprises. This collaboration gets the artists’ work out there on new mediums and helps to sell the products produced by this North Rapid company.

“We look to see if they are established. Don and Jim can sell. They are very well known. We were hesitant to going to them, but we have two boys who are just fearless when it comes to going up and talking to people,” said Swan. “Next thing you know, they came back and had a Don Montileaux original. He wanted us to use his ledger art. That kind of helps us, because I personally can’t draw and they draw very well.”

Swan is quick to admit that building relationships with artisans can take time. Artists are hesitant to share their work on new mediums and for mass production products. For some, this effort to establish relationships can take more than one meeting before an artist will agree. But the benefit for the artist, is the commission for the products sold. The family is quick to pay their artists once the product sells. This honesty and transparency with artists is recognized and appreciated.

“The warriors socks and Jim Yellow Hawk plates have been really successful. Those have done exceptionally well. And now it’s the screen printing. If we can take an artist’s work and put it into a school logo or design, those go over well too. The hats and beanies and doing excellent,” Swan said. In late December, the sons had ventured to downtown Rapid City to place many hats on the presidential statues as a donation to the homeless who may need them. This generosity is at the heart of their mission as a business.

“We have worked with the Oglala Sioux Tribe and a lot of the schools on that reservation. We do our own tribe, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, and Lower Brule Sioux Tribe. We’ve done a lot with the women’s health program in Eagle Butte. Sioux San has been doing good business with us. We’ve pretty much worked with all the tribes, Crow Creek, Yankton Sioux Tribe and Marty Indian School,” said Swan of the different tribes he’s worked with.

Although they haven’t succeeded in working with groups in Rosebud, the family hopes to tap into the market in the near future.

Walt Swan feels it is important for business, schools, tribes and other groups to support Native American-owned businesses. He looks to help tribal and non-tribal entities in getting a quality product, produced by a family who works to understand their customer’s needs.

“Give us a shot and see what we can do; recognize the culture that is in your building and let’s roll from there,” he said. “I think it has to do with authentic culture. We go down on the rez. Some of these businesses in Rapid City that do business on the rez, you don’t see them on the rez. We actually deliver and go down for consultations.”

Contact Native Sun News Today Correspondent Richie Richards at richie4175@gmail.com

Copyright permission Native Sun News Today