2019 Dreamstarter Video
The 2019 Dreamstarter video is now available! Learn more about our 10 Native Youth Entrepreneurs and their dreams for businesses in Native communities.
Wisdom of the Elders Produce Multimedia Curriculum for Native Students
The Native American nonprofit organization, Wisdom of the Elders in Portland, Oregon, a longtime partner of Running Strong for American Indian Youth®, records, preserves and shares oral history, cultural arts and traditional ecological knowledge of Native elders and scientists in collaboration with diverse tribal and environmental organizations, government agencies and educational institutions. “With our vision […]
The Powwow Project: Update from Year 2 Dreamstarter Rosalia Badhorse
My dream was to inspire youth to connect to their culture through powwows. During my Dreamstarter year, I taught beading, dancing and stories through the Powwow Project. Over the past three years, I’ve have continued to work to remind our Native youth of their culture; where they come from as Cheyenne people; and to teach […]
Running Strong 30th Annual Tour
On September 11, 2019, 50 Running Strong Tour participants joined us for the 30th (and final) annual tour of Running Strong’s programs on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. During the four-day tour, participants had the opportunity to learn about Running Strong programs and the way we support families. Tour participants were also able to visit […]
Prepping for Winter
Delivering 14,000 Winter Items: Preparing Native Communities for Winter Winter is well on its way, particularly in Indian County where temperatures on the Great Plains will soon be dropping below freezing, and windchills in the negative double digits for days on end is not unusual. In fact, in Lame Deer, Montana, where Running Strong for […]
Celebrate 22 Years of Tipi Waste Un Zanipi!
Spreading Warmth and Joy: A Heartfelt Thank You from Pine Ridge To the supporters of Running Strong for American Indian Youth®, My name is Dave Lone Elk and I grew up in the Running Strong family beginning as a toddler watching my father, Ken, do so much for so many of our fellow Oglala Lakota residents here […]
Second Annual Powwow+: An Update from Year 5 Dreamstarter Freddy Gipp
It came and went. Dancers and singers from over 11 different states including the Canadian province of Saskatchewan traveled to Lawrence, Kansas to compete for a one day, week day powwow competition. In fact, we actually doubled our total number of participants, with over 65 registered contestants, we have displayed growth through two years of […]
Study Strong: 5,000 backpacks for 5,000 students
Across Indian Country and on the Pine Ridge and Cheyenne River Sioux Indian reservations in South Dakota, there are tens of thousands of Native children getting ready for another school year. Thanks to the supporters of Running Strong for American Indian Youth® 3,000 elementary and 2,000 junior high school students will be getting backpacks filled with school […]
Road to Tokyo: A Memory
As Patricia and I look forward to returning to Tokyo, Japan on July 28 through August 10, 2020 to watch the 32nd Olympic games of the Modern Era, we cannot help but reflect on the Olympic games in general and on our first experiences visiting Japan. The site of the first Olympic games was Olympia, Greece; […]
From Language Revitalization to Community Dance Lessons: Catch up with our Dreamstarters
From Comic Books to Coffee Roasters: Updates on 4 Native Youth Dreamstarters 2019 Dreamstarter Hope Gamble 2019 Dreamstarter Hope Gamble may just be 14-years-old, but already she is realizing her dream H.O.P.E. (Heroes Of Positive Endurance) by developing new Navajo creation stories in the form of comic srtips. Hope, Diné, lives on the Navajo Nation in the […]
Exploring Year 4 Dreamstarter Tara Rouillard’s Indigenous Science Lab
Launching the First Indigenous Science Lab at Pine Ridge Girls School My dream is to start the first ever Indigenous Science lab at the Pine Ridge Girls School. This school has taught me so many traditional/cultural teachings and if it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t have got the opportunity to make my dream a reality. […]
Increasing Access to Clean Water on Pine Ridge
Shovel Ready on Pine Ridge: Helping Families Like Grady’s Before Winter Hits Grady’s household includes another adult and five children, the eldest 15, the youngest 4, all living together in a mobile home on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation – until recently without running water. Thanks to the supporters of Running Strong, Grady and his […]
Blokétu Mni: Summer Water on Pine Ridge
After 8 Years Without Water: A New Beginning for Holly’s Family on Pine Ridge Holly has not had running water for eight years, even though her mobile home is just 150 feet from the Oglala Sioux Rural Water Supply System (OSRWSS) water line which runs through the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Holly’s household of seven […]
Ekowah Coffee: An Update from Year 5 Dreamstarter Joshua Smith
Ekowah Means Friend: Brewing Coffee with Osage Values My name is Joshua Smith and through the generosity of the Running Strong Dreamstarter Grant, I am pursuing my dream of opening a native owned, socially conscious coffee roasting company: Ekowah Coffee. From the moment of initial inspiration for Ekowah Coffee to now, just days before our website launch, […]
Diné Naabeehó Tó: A Glimpse at Running Strong’s Water Projects on the Navajo Nation
A Lifetime Wait Ends: Connecting Isabel’s Navajo Hogan to Running Water Isabel and Kenneth’s household consists of four adults and a teenager, all who have been living on the Navajo Nation Reservation without running water literally for their entire lives – and the two eldest are now in their 50s. To get water to serve […]
SmileStrong this Spring: Distributing 3,000 Dental Kits to Native Communities Across the Country
In June, Spirit Lake Tribal Health, which serves the people of the Spirit Lake Nation in North Dakota, distributed Running Strong for American Indian Youth® SmileStrong dental kits to 200 children. A mother and her two young children were among those grateful to receive the dental kits containing several toothbrushes, a six-month supply of toothpaste, […]
Exploring the Impact of Mni Wiconi on Pine Ridge
Ending a 2-Year Wait: Connecting Dianna’s Family to Water on Pine Ridge Dianna, her husband, and their four young children had been living without running water at their home on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation for two years, forcing her to drive a mile to a public hydrant at a powwow grounds to get all […]
As Summer Begins, our Mni Wiconi program is well underway!
No More 6-Mile Water Runs: Penny’s New Start on Pine Ridge Penny’s mobile home on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, where she lives with her three children, the youngest just 5-years-old, is only a few hundred feet from the Oglala Sioux Rural Water Supply System (OSRWSS) main service water line, which runs through the reservation. […]
Exploring Oyate Teca’s Medicine Root Garden Program
Fighting the Food Desert: Growing Fresh Produce on the Pine Ridge Reservation Thanks to the supporters of Running Strong for American Indian Youth® and the hard work of Oyate Teca staff, thousands of residents of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota will have access to fresh vegetables and fruits, a scarce commodity on […]
Investing in Native Entrepreneurs: An Update from Year 5 Dreamstarter Parrish Pipestem
From Reselling to Investing: How One Dreamstarter is Funding Future Professionals My business would be that bridge, making it so the professionals of the future have a way to start businesses now. Tribal nations are sovereign and must have businesses to continue flourishing. -Parrish Pipestem My name is Parrish Pipestem and my dream is to invest in […]