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
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 small community of Nazlini, where she is not only creating versions of […]
Exploring Year 4 Dreamstarter Tara Rouillard’s Indigenous Science Lab
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. There were benefits of starting the indigenous lab at the Pine Ridge […]
Increasing Access to Clean Water on Pine Ridge
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 family have all the running water they need for drinking, cooking, bathing […]
Blokétu Mni: Summer Water 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 includes herself, two elders, and four children under the age of 9, the youngest […]
Ekowah Coffee: An Update from Year 5 Dreamstarter Joshua Smith
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, this dream has seemed to have a life […]
Diné Naabeehó Tó: A Glimpse at Running Strong’s Water Projects on the Navajo Nation
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 all the family’s needs – drinking, cooking, bathing and washing – […]
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
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 the water her family would need for the day. Then, it would […]
As Summer Begins, our Mni Wiconi program is well underway!
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. As she told us, “it’s just over the hill by another […]
Exploring Oyate Teca’s Medicine Root Garden Program
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 the reservation, and expensive when available. Since January, about 50 participants in […]
Investing in Native Entrepreneurs: An Update from Year 5 Dreamstarter Parrish Pipestem
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 young, native entrepreneurs. First, I will be investing in the business that […]
