Fall 2023 Speakers

Maryann and Sonny Bishop

Sonny was born in South Dakota on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota. He attended Fresno State University where he studied veterinary medicine with the intent of making that his profession before getting drafted into professional football. He played for eight years total, his rookie year with the Dallas Texans (now Kansas City Chiefs), the next year with the Oakland Raiders (now located in Las Vegas), and his last six with the Houston Oilers (now Tennessee Titans). Following his football career, Sonny settled in Houston where he began a career in construction. Sonny is an enrolled member of the Rosebud Sicangu Lakota tribe from South Dakota, which is the namesake for Rosebud Continuum.

Maryann was born in Houston, Texas and graduated from the University of Houston with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. Upon graduation, Maryann opened an office supply in Houston, which she ran until selling it prior to moving to Florida, in 1987. Currently, Sonny and Maryann own and operate Ervin Bishop Construction, located in Land O’ Lakes. They have two adult children and four grandchildren.

Sonny & Maryann share a passion for wildlife and nature, along with the Lakota’s belief of “Mitakuye Oyasin,” meaning "We are all related." This led them to begin Rosebud Continuum as a way to bring indigenous knowledge to new technology, and to help restore the lost connections of the world in which we exist. "We are all related" not only means that all people are related, but that all that lives on this planet are related … all the two-legged and the four-legged, all the winged along with all that crawl and swim and travel in the winds, all that grows in the ground and all that lives below the ground… We are none more important than the other. What affects any one of these, affects us all.