Expanded Food Pantry at Tipi Waste To Open This Spring
This spring, Running Strong for American Indian Youth® announced our new partnership with Feeding South Dakota to greatly expand our food pantry services at our field office, Tipi Waste Un Zanipi (Wellness Through a Good Home), available for residents of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. For decades, Running Strong has helped Pine Ridge families and elders […]
70-year-old California Man Plans to Run Across the U.S. to Benefit Running Strong for American Indian Youth®
Robert Eilek of Temecula, California, was a middle school math teacher for more than 40 years before his retirement in 2019. During all those years, Robert, now 70, also stayed true to his passion for long-distance running, “cranking out at least 80 miles a week,” reported Carl Love, a contributing columnist to The Press-Enterprise of […]
Oyate Ta Kola Ku Community Center Construction Continues Full Steam Ahead
Work has been steadily progressing on the Oyate Teca Project’s Oyate Ta Kola Ku (Friend of All Nations) Community Center on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation for several months and we are pleased to report that even during the challenges posed by the frigid winter weather on the Great Plains of South Dakota our contractors […]
Afraid of Bear – American Horse Tiospaye Conducts Rites of Passage Ceremonies
With grant funding made possible by the supporters of Running Strong for American Indian Youth®, the Afraid of Bear – American Horse Tiospaye (extended tribal family) was able to hold Rites of Passage activities and ceremonies for Afraid of Bear granddaughters and create film records of the ceremony and its preparation. “We feel urgency around […]
Sydney Mills Farhang Named New Executive Director of Running Strong for American Indian Youth®
Alexandria, VA — Running Strong for American Indian Youth® is pleased to announce that Sydney Mills Farhang (Oglala Lakota) has been named as Executive Director. Sydney is a member of the Oglala Lakota Tribe grew up in Sacramento, California. She received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of California, Santa Cruz and has […]
Partnerships help connect families to water.
We are thrilled to have formed a partnership with Holland Rotary Club and After Hours Rotary Club, both of Holland, MI, Cedar Springs Rotary, District 6290, Boulder Rotary, and WEHOP (Water, Environmental, and Humanitarian Outreach Projects). These incredibly generous Rotary clubs have committed $15,000 to our Mni Wiconi (Water is Life) Connection program. For generations, […]
Growing season starts for one of the oldest Native gardening projects in the country
The Slim Buttes Agricultural Development Project (SBAG) has been assisting gardeners on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation continuously for more than 35 years thanks to the supporters of Running Strong for American Indian Youth®. In the spring and early summer of 2021, SBAG was able to till a total of 73 gardens for families throughout […]
March 18th, 2022, | News You Can Use From Indian Country For This Week
Today, catch up on some of the stories we’re following from Indian Country. This week, we learn that 5.6% of American Indians and Alaska Natives living on reservations were undercounted in the most recent Census. As the Ukranian war rages on, many Native Americans continue to show support from their sovereign nations to another sovereign […]
March 11th, 2022, | News You Can Use From Indian Country For This Week
Today, catch up on some of the stories we’re following from Indian Country. This week, learn why Indigenous people have been showing their support of Ukraine by wearing what is known in many communities as “kokum scarves,” read about Minnie Hollow Wood, a Lakhota woman, who resisted the U.S. Calvary and fought courageously amongst her […]
March 4th, 2022, | News You Can Use From Indian Country For This Week
Today, catch up on some of the stories we’re following from Indian Country. This week, learn how the pandemic created a ‘perfect storm’ that worsened food access on reservations. Also, discover why Native leaders in the U.S. are speaking out to condemn the actions of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and more in this week’s News […]
2022 Running Strong for American Indian Youth® Dreamstarter Laura O’Leary
Dreamstarter Laura O’Leary https://vimeo.com/744293561 2022 Running Strong for American Indian Youth® Dreamstarter Laura O’Leary, 25, (Cheyenne River Sioux), of Eagle Butte, South Dakota, dream is “to provide young families with infants with diaper bags filled with baby essentials including diapers, wipes, clothing, wash, bottles as well as educational literature on nutrition, safe sleep practices, and […]
Running Strong for American Indian Youth® 2022 Dreamstarter Alfredo Quintana
Dreamstarter Alfredo Quintana https://vimeo.com/744303848 2022 Running Strong for American Indian Youth® Dreamstarter Alfredo Quntana, 20, (Navajo), of Spanish Fork, Utah, Dreamstarter idea is “to bring awareness to the invisibility and erasure of Indigenous people and their contributions, while also highlighting the importance of continuing our culture through our youth. “I want to add to and […]
2022 Running Strong for American Indian Youth® Dreamstarter Cameron Troxel
Dreamstarter Cameron Troxel 2022 Running Strong for American Indian Youth® Dreamstarter Cameron Troxel, 18, (Catawba), of Rock Hill, South Carolina, dream project is “For the River,” which aims to address plastic pollution in the Catawba River and accompanying waterways. “The project will involve educating the community on why recycling is important and the many different […]
2022 Running Strong for American Indian Youth® Dreamstarter Jasmyne Jack
Dreamstarter Jasmyne Jack https://vimeo.com/744297773 2022 Running Strong for American Indian Youth® Dreamstarter Jasmyne Jack, 25, (Muscogee (Creek) Nation), of Okmulgee, Oklahoma, has a dream to provide homeless or struggling Native American youth and young adults with free hygiene kits and period packs. “My dream idea is called “Street Outreach” which would allow homeless or struggling […]
2022 Running Strong for American Indian Youth® Dreamstarter Ku Stevens
Dreamstarter Ku Stevens https://vimeo.com/744308273 2022 Running Strong for American Indian Youth® Dreamstarter Ku Stevens, 18, (Yerington Paiute), of Yerington, Nevada, dream is to host a second “Remembrance Run.” The first run he held was in 2021 from the Stewart Indian Boarding School in Carson City, Nevada, through the desert and mountains to the Yerington Paiute […]
2022 Running Strong for American Indian Youth® Dreamstarter Kyle Swann
Dreamstarter Kyle Swann https://vimeo.com/744306631 2022 Running Strong for American Indian Youth® Dreamstarter Kyle Swann, 22, (Piscataway Conoy), of White Plains, Maryland, Dreamstarter idea is to create a detailed survey of the 3,500 enrolled Piscataway Conoy tribal members, exploring not just their demographic information but also their priorities, strengths and needs. “I will use this feedback […]
Running Strong for American Indian Youth® 2022 Dreamstarter Mariah Gladstone
Dreamstarter Mariah Gladstone https://vimeo.com/744299066 2022 Running Strong for American Indian Youth® Dreamstarter Mariah Gladstone, 28, (Blackfeet, Cherokee), of Babb, Montana, dream is to create an “indigikitchen” recipe box using traditional indigenous ingredients from her community with easy to follow along video instructions. “By combining this with in-person classes and food harvested from local vegetable gardens, […]
2022 Running Strong for American Indian Youth® Dreamstarter Shayla Manitowabi-Huebner
Dreamstarter Shayla Manitowabi-Huebner https://vimeo.com/744291794 2022 Running Strong for American Indian Youth® Dreamstarter Shayla Manitowabi-Huebner, 25, (Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory), of Marquette, Michigan dream is “Running into Culture,” a culturally tailored Native youth running program that incorporates a holistic and community approach to promote healthy behaviors. With her $10,000 Dreamstarter grant, Shayla will be hosting workshops and […]
2022 Running Strong for American Indian Youth® Dreamstarter Zoe Landin
Dreamstarter Zoe Landin https://vimeo.com/744305630 2022 Running Strong for American Indian Youth® Dreamstarter Zoe Landin, 19, (Standing Rock Sioux), of Bismarck, North Dakota has a dream”to help Native American youth break down the ideological and technical barriers to running for local city, statewide and national offices.” Zoe encourages youth to consider running for office by educating […]
Running Strong for American Indian Youth® 2022 Dreamstarter Mariah Plummer
Dreamstarter Mariah Plummer https://vimeo.com/744300933 Running Strong for American Indian Youth® 2022 Dreamstarter Mariah Plummer, 24, (Navajo), of South Jordan, Utah, Dreamstarter idea is the Utah K’é (Navajo Kinship and Relations) Project. This project is an indigenous woman led initiative that strengthens the unity of inter-tribal communities in the state of Utah, specifically the Salt Lake […]
Mni Wiconi Goal this spring – 50 more families with running water
For more than three decades, Running Strong for American Indian Youth® has been working to provide running water to families throughout the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, first by the truckload and later by drilling deep water wells. In 2015, we began a pilot program – our Mni Wiconi (Water is Life) program connecting households to […]
A Green Dream
Green seedlings…Harvests of Greens…All made possible from a new Greenhouse. That’s Running Strong’s Green Dream. Running Strong for American Indian Youth® has been working for decades to enable residents of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation on the Great Plains of South Dakota to grow fresh vegetables and fruits right in their own gardens. For far […]
February 11, 2022, | News You Can Use From Indian Country For This Week
Today, catch up on some of the stories we’re following from Indian Country. This week, learn what many Native Americans think about the new name of Washington’s football team, read how one of Indian Country’s leading female rocket scientists will be honored soon, and more in this week’s News You Can Use from all over […]
Children’s Book on Olympic Gold Medalist Billy Mills’ Story to be published Summer of 2024
For Immediate Release February 4, 2022 Contact: Sydney Mills Farhang (Oglala Lakota), Deputy Director(703) 317-9881 ext. 2149sydney@indianyouth.org Co-founder and National Spokesperson of Running Strong for American Indian Youth®, Olympic gold medalist Billy Mills, is teaming up with renowned children’s book creators, author Donna Janell Bowman and Lakota artist S.D. Nelson, to publish an autobiographical picture […]
Dreamstarter® David Fraser follows in the footsteps of his great-grandfather
Running Strong for American Indian Youth® 2019 Dreamstarter® David Fraser (Oglala Lakota), 28, is realizing his dream of opening a tire repair shop in the community of Kyle where he lives on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. In his Dreamstarter® application, he told us he wanted to be able to follow in […]
Dreamstarter helps her tribal members deal with stress and trauma
Bailey Chalfant, 22, (Northern Cheyenne), of Busby, Montana on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation had a dream — “Nehtonetomohtahe, How Are You Feeling?” – when she applied to become a 2020 Running Strong for American Indian Youth® Dreamstarter to help her tribal members deal with stress and trauma whether on reservation or off. Earlier this year, […]
Running Strong Dreamstarter Jeremy Dennis Featured in Penn State’s ‘Movers, Shakers’
2016 Running Strong for American Indian Youth® Dreamstarter Jeremy Dennis (Shinnecock) is a fine arts photographer who explores indigenous identity, culture, and assimilation in his work. Jeremy, who received his Master of Fine Arts degree in photography from Penn State in 2016, is featured in the latest edition of “Movers, Shakers, Designers, Makers,” the university’s […]
February 4, 2022, | News You Can Use From Indian Country For This Week
Today, catch up on some of the stories we’re following from Indian Country. This week, learn why the initiative to ship half a billion free COVID-19 tests to Americans will struggle to reach Native Americans living on rural reservations, read about how Indigenous citizens continue to suffer in 2022 despite the country’s racial reckoning, and […]
2021-2022 Dreamstarter Teacher Kelda Britton takes her students on a Nome Cult Walk in the shadow of their tribal descendants
Kelda Britton of Covelo, California, teaches Native American history, natural resource management, and college and career readiness at Round Valley High School to members of the Round Valley Indian Tribes, a confederation of smaller tribes which includes the Yuki, Wailacki, Concow, Little Lake Pomo, Nomlaki, and Pit River. Kelda, an enrolled member of the RVIT, […]
2021-2022 Dreamstarter Teacher Robert Hall, 960 Plants, and 127 tub gardens in his school
Running Strong for American Indian Youth® Dreamstarter Teacher Robert Hall ofEthete, Wyoming, is an elementary special education and gardening teacher at Wyoming Indian Elementary School serving children of the Northern Arapaho, Shoshone, Lakota tribes, including those with special needs. Robert is using his grant to enhance the school greenhouse while also supporting students seeking additional […]