Sage and Sweetgrass is a 501(c)(3) public charitable non-profit association organized exclusively for educational purposes. More specifically, we are working to record and preserve American Indian languages in written and audio format, and distribute these dictionaries via this web site. We also intend to provide rules on the grammar of the languages. We believe that by saving the language, we preserve the culture.

Our mission is “to preserve American Indian cultures by saving their languages”. However, we also want the fruits of our labor to be free to our customers. With the ubiquity of the Internet, presenting the ends of our project via the Internet supports that goal. There are 562 federally recognized American Indian tribes. Of these, it is estimated that only 20% of these tribes (112) have retained their language. Our long range goal is to record a dictionary for each of these tribes. The audio recording is the key element of our project.

This web site is dedicated to the spirit and memory of our founder's ancestors and the times spent near He Dog and Parmalee, South Dakota.

Great-Grandma Lulu Bordeaux.


Grandma Rose Waln.


Mother Beverly (Waln) and granddaughter Rosebud.

Bordeaux Trading Post near Chadron, Nebraska.

The trading post was founded by James Bordeaux, our President's great, great, great grandfather. His first trading post was near Fort Laramie in Wyoming, where he traded with both covered wagon travelers as well as Indians, especially the Sioux. He and his sons, William and Louis were acquaintances of Crazy Horse.

The President's great, great grandfather Louis Bordeaux was an interpreter for Crazy Horse upon his arrival at Fort Robinson, Nebraska. Crazy Horse was fatally wounded shortly thereafter. Before Crazy Horse died, he spoke to Louis saying, "After all it is all fair in this world for life here is just a gamble, you either lose or win and I happen to be one of the unfortunates. I waged war to preserve our rights but lost. We are a conquered race".

Louis Bordeaux later established a ranch in Todd County, South Dakota (Rosebud Reservation) where he lived until his death in 1917.