The Cultural Resources Department creates cultural education programming for tribal members and offers community outreach programming and educational opportunities for the public. With an in-house team of curators and archivists, it also manages the storage, care, exhibition, and research of items that represent many cultures over the span of thousands of years. Also within the department is the Dak̇ota Iapi Ṫípi, a team of specialists dedicated to growing the Dakota language within the SMSC and beyond. The department’s cultural interpreters connect visitors to the tribe’s cultural center—Hoċokata Ṫi—to Dakota history and lifeways through tours of the Mdewakanton: Dwellers of the Spirit Lake public exhibit. Cultural Resources also oversees Tribal Historic Preservation Officer functions and assists in preservation efforts of cultural traditions and historic sites (including advising federal, state, and local agencies) that are significant to the Mdewakanton Dakota people.