SweetGrass is excited to announce Sharon Bassette as the 2021 Ho-Chunk Trading Group scholarship recipient. Bassette is a member of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska and is a resident of Winnebago. She is a 2018 graduate of Todd County High School in Mission, SD.
She is currently a senior at Morningside University in Sioux City, where she studies political science with minors in psychology and legal studies. She is currently an intern for Big Fire Law & Policy Group, owned by Ho-Chunk, Inc.
Bassette is part of the summer political science book club and cheerleading program at Morningside University. She said she has a deep interest in law and hopes to one day become an attorney and give back to her community.
“I want to be able to represent my people in legal cases,” she said. “My short term goal is to get accepted into law school. My long term goal is to work for my tribe.”
Bassette hopes to receive her juris doctorate degree by May 2025.
“Although I am getting my education for me, I am getting it for all of my ancestors that could not as well,” she said. “I am showing the younger generations that they can do anything they set their mind to, even if statistics say otherwise…I am grateful to receive this scholarship because it allows me to devote more of my time to my law school applications.”
Ho-Chunk Trading Group awards up to $1,250 to one student each year to a successful applicant to help them finance their education in a 4-year college, 2-year community or technical college. SweetGrass Trading Company is a member of Ho-Chunk Trading Group. Our mission is to help provide economic opportunity for the Winnebago Tribe. But we are also dedicated to helping other Native people get a hand up to build a better future.