A longtime Mitchell teacher's story illustrates why one of South Dakota's longest-running honors has stood for four decades.
The winner's name had not been announced yet.
One by one, signs echoed through the banquet hall as someone described the woman selected for the 2025 Spirit of Dakota Award. She had spent decades teaching. She had devoted countless hours to volunteering. Then came one final detail: "She wore high heels until the day she retired."
"When she said that," Deanell Backlund recalled, "I knew I had won."
The room erupted in applause. Backlund, a retired middle school English teacher and longtime volunteer, had become last year's recipient of one of South Dakota's longest-running honors for women.
But what stayed with her wasn't hearing her own name.
"This is not Mother of the Year or Teacher of the Year. It recognizes women who demonstrate leadership, help others and contribute to their communities."
– Marilyn Hohm Hoyt, chairwoman of the Spirit of Dakota Award Society
"What meant the most was knowing someone took the time to nominate me," Backlund said. "It's a very involved process."
As the Spirit of Dakota Award celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, organizers said that idea, the desire of someone to tell another person's story, is exactly what has kept the award alive for four decades.
Inspired by a statue
The award traces its roots to a 9-foot bronze sculpture overlooking the Crossroads Hotel in Huron.
Created by South Dakota artist laureate Dale Lamphere in 1987, the Spirit of Dakota statue represents a prairie woman standing firmly against the wind, symbolizing resilience, courage and determination.
"The Spirit of Dakota statue illustrates the toughness, courage and strength of character of South Dakota women," said Marilyn Hohm Hoyt, chairwoman of the Spirit of Dakota Award Society.
Inspired by the sculpture, community leaders created an annual award recognizing women whose lives reflect those same qualities.
Today, the award honors South Dakota women whose leadership extends beyond careers or titles.
"This is not Mother of the Year or Teacher of the Year," Hoyt said. "It recognizes women who demonstrate leadership, help others and contribute to their communities."
40 years of recognizing quiet leadership
A review of Spirit of Dakota recipients since 1987 shows women honored from communities across South Dakota, including Brookings, Rapid City, Sioux Falls, Eagle Butte, Mitchell, Yankton, Watertown and many smaller towns.
Some were educators. Others worked in health care, agriculture, business, tribal leadership, nonprofit organizations or public service. Four years – 1992, 2005, 2020 and 2022 – did not include an award presentation.
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Hoyt said one notable change has been the age of nominees.
"When the award first started, many nominees were older," she said. "Now we're seeing younger women making extraordinary contributions while raising families and building careers."
Despite those changes, the mission has remained persistent, Hoyt said.
"It speaks volumes that people continue to nominate women from their communities," she said. "If they didn't believe it mattered, they wouldn't take the time to tell those stories."
The work behind the recognition
For Backlund, the recognition represented decades spent both inside and outside the classroom.
She taught middle school English for 33 years before retiring, while also writing grants, organizing fundraisers and volunteering with her church, the Mitchell Concert Series and community organizations.
"I would turn around and do it all over again," she said.
One memory from her nomination still stands out.
A former student teacher wrote that years later, people still stopped Backlund to thank her for being their teacher.
"Middle school kids can be notoriously difficult," Backlund said. "To know that I was appreciated by children that age meant a great deal to me."
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Although she values the award, the nomination itself meant even more, she said.
Her friend Joan Anderson spent more than a year gathering information, documenting Backlund's community service and preparing the nomination.
"Joan is a very gifted writer. She knows what to say and how to say it," Backlund said. "She believed that people deserve recognition while they're still living rather than posthumously."
Looking ahead
Nominations for this year's Spirit of Dakota Award remain open through Aug. 1.
Hoyt hopes the anniversary encourages South Dakotans to recognize women whose work often happens quietly: in schools, churches, civic organizations and neighborhoods.
Backlund agrees.
"I think recognition motivates other people to become involved," she said. "It lets people know what's happening in their communities."
Molly Wetsch
If more people volunteer because they saw someone else honored, she said, the award has accomplished something much larger than recognizing one person.
After 40 years, that is why the Spirit of Dakota Award continues to endure, Hoyt said.
"The Spirit of Dakota Award recognizes your friend, your neighbor or your mother," she said. "Someone who has lived a life of helping others, demonstrating leadership and making their community a better place."
Previous Spirit of Dakota honorees
Below is the list of Spirit of Dakota Award recipients (*deceased):
- 1987 – *Winifred Lorentson, Miller
- 1988 – *Rev. Jeanie K. Sherman, Madison
- 1989 – *Florence Bruhn, Watertown
- 1990 – *Jeanette Lusk, Huron
- 1991 – *Dorothy (D.J.) Cline, Brookings
- 1992 – No award presentation
- 1993 – *Ruth Ziolkowski, Custer
- 1994 – *Sylvia Henkin, Sioux Falls
- 1995 – Irene Fisher Coon, Sioux Falls
- 1996 – Hildreth Twostars Venegas, Sisseton
- 1997 – *Lorraine Huntimer, Oldham
- 1998 – *Mary Lou Tripp, Belle Fourche
- 1999 – Marsha Sumpter, Philip
- 2000 – *Donna Schipke, Newell
- 2001 – Phyllis White Eyes DeCory, Rapid City
- 2002 – *Virginia Keil Lardinois, Huron
- 2003 – Patricia Fawcett, Ree Heights
- 2004 – *Alice Kundert, Mound City
- 2005 – No award presentation
- 2006 – Janice Manolis, Huron
- 2007 – June James, Hazel
- 2008 – Elaine Doll-Dunn, Spearfish
- 2009 – Julie Garreau, Eagle Butte
- 2010 – *Dorothy Kellogg, Watertown
- 2011 – *Millie Humphrey, Whitewood
- 2012 – Mary J. Milroy, MD, Yankton
- 2013 – Patricia Baird, Custer
- 2014 – Theresa Stehly, Sioux Falls
- 2015 – Mary Alice Woster Haug, Brookings
- 2016 – *Susan DeLaney-Kary, Parmelee
- 2017 – *Jean Wilkinson, De Smet
- 2018 – *Beverly Stabber Warne, Rapid City
- 2019 – Jo Vitek, Watertown
- 2020 – No award presentation
- 2021 – Angela Ehlers, Presho
- 2022 – No Award presentation
- 2023 – Julie Bell, Brookings
- 2024 – LaVonne Gaspar, Sioux Falls
- 2025 – Deanell Backlund, Mitchell
South Dakota News Watch is an independent nonprofit. Read, subscribe for free and donate at sdnewswatch.org. Amina Aidarkhanova received the 2026 Jeffrey B. Nelson Investigative Journalism Endowed Internship and the Chuck Raasch and Sandy Johnson Scholarship from the SDSU Foundation. Contact: amina.aidarkhanova@sdnewswatch.org.
