Project: Ċokata Wiċoni Teen Center
Organization: Cheyenne River Youth Project^®
Year: 2002-Present
Tribe: Cheyenne River Lakota (Sioux)
Reservation: Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation
Location: Eagle Butte, SD

Teens on the Cheyenne River Reservation face a hard reality in their day-to-day lives:
• Cheyenne River Reservation is one of the 5 poorest counties in the US
• teens are geographically isolated; there are no movie theaters, shopping malls, or bowling alleys for them to enjoy
• the suicide rate for South Dakota youth is almost twice the national average
• alcohol related deaths among American Indian teens is 17 times that of the national average.

In 2002 and 2003, the Cheyenne River Sioux community was shaken by 17 devastating youth suicides. People in the tribe realized the need to reach out to their young people and provide a safe place for teens.

A Place To Call Their Own  With this in mind, Julie Garreau (Cheyenne River Lakota) of the Cheyenne River Youth Project^® (CRYP) went to area high schools and spoke with teens about what they needed. She came away from these meetings with an outline of a new teen center where older kids who had outgrown youth programs at the Billy Mills Youth Center could go.

Plans for the new teen center, named Ċokata Wiċoni (pronounced Cho-kaw-taw Wee-cho-nee) began in 2002. Construction was completed in 2006 and the center opened in early 2007.

The building is 24,362 sq. feet and includes an internet café, library, dance studio, art room, classrooms, counseling center, and basketball courts.

Teens that have outgrown the Billy Mills Youth Center will have a place to go in the new CRYP teen center.