Darell
Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate
Sisseton Wahpeton College

Traditional teachings, sacrifice, and commitment led Citigroup scholar Darell down the path of law enforcement and to continue his education. Darell was raised by his traditional Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate grandparents in South Dakota, where they instilled in him a deep appreciation of traditional teachings to guide him through life. He remembers his grandmother once told him, “Your commitment to an idea means that you will be making sacrifices, but if done with a good heart, you do not know that a sacrifice was made.”

As a tribal police officer, Darell worked with children as a DARE instructor and bike and safety officer. After seven years, he transferred to tribal casino operations, and eventually became a corporate compliance officer. But his love of children and desire to serve as a positive role model for the young people in his tribe led Darell back to college, where he is now a sophomore at Sisseton Wahpeton College in the elementary education program. Darell looks forward to teaching at one of two tribal schools where he can cultivate educational concepts into young Oyate children, along with the traditional life lessons he learned from his grandparents. “I am going to achieve my goal of graduating and being a positive role model,” he says.

Students and community members look to Darell for leadership. He is involved in student government and is a mentor in the federal TRIO program, an educational opportunity outreach program designed to motivate and support students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Outside of school, Decoteau is a board member for the tribal housing authority, where he teaches tribal members about financial management, understanding credit ratings, and how good credit ratings impact better interest rates for home loans and credit card rates.

Darell cites his grandparents' teachings as the firm foundation behind his leadership. He says they once told him, “If you help others and share what you have, it will be returned sometime in the future.”

In accepting his scholarship from American Indian College Fund and Citigroup, he says, “I have tried to live by this: Be kind, be helpful, and share with others. It is nice to see that hard work and faith in cultural beliefs pay off.”