Tashna Erin LaVaux was born in Sioux City and raised in Native American communities on and off the reservation her entire life. Her tiwahe (family) raised her  to be bilingual in English and Lakhota from the beginning.

She attended Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, KS where she studied Art Communication & Computers.  She was President of the Freshmen Dorm and Honor Dorm.  And held roles with several committees across campus from Student Activities to Student Senate.  She loved being active and making positive changes in her Native Community!  

In her last year of college, she helped her tiwahe build a website called, "Lakhota.Com" and 3 years after the website's birth, she began running it by herself.  In 1997, she wrote her first book, "Lakhota Name Translations."  In 1999, she published her first Lakhota dictionary. Her writing continued on from there! 

Now today, Tashna has 9 finished books under her belt!  A new children's book is set to be released in early 2010.  She says, "I love to write and I love my culture and language. It's first nature to encompass all the things I love!" 

She currently lives off the reservation in South Texas with her two children and husband.