Thurman Conversation Series

About Isaiah “Shaneequa” Brokenleg

Isaiah “Shaneequa” Brokenleg is an enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe (Sicangu Nation).  She is the Staff Officer for Racial Reconciliation for the Episcopal Church.  She is a priest in the Diocese of South Dakota, where she grew up, and the place she calls home.  From an academic perspective, Shaneequa has a Masters of Divinity from the Church Divinity School of the Pacific and a Masters of Public Health from the University of Minnesota.  Prior to priesthood, she worked as an Epidemiologist and served Indian Country in the Great Lakes region for over a decade.

From a cultural/spiritual perspective Shaneequa believes that we are all related (“mitakuye oyasin”), and that the Gospel calls us to be “good relatives” to one another.  Having grown up on the Rosebud reservation she has experienced and witnessed the devastating effects of historical/generational trauma, colonization, and racism.  As a winktè (Lakota two-spirit), she is called to be a healer and move our communities in the direction of positive change, in the direction of reconciliation, toward living in right-relationship with one another.  She strives to live out her calling through her work, our church, her art, and in her life.