August E-News
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Road to Tokyo: The World Military Track & Field Championships
“All You Need Is Speed”: Meeting My Rival Mohamed Gammoudi in 1963 As we prepare for next year’s Olympic Games and Billy Mills’ return to Tokyo, where it all began, we are excited to introduce a new series, Road to Tokyo. Each month until the Games begin, Billy will share never-before-heard stories from his time […]
The Pursuit of Powwow+: An Update from Year 5 Dreamstarter Freddy Gipp
Since arriving back in Lawrence from the Dreamstarter Academy earlier this month, I have had a lot of time to reflect on our journey to this very point. I told myself that I would be back in Washington, D.C. on my own accord and shortly after, I mapped out a 5-year plan during my internship […]
From Promising Dental Student to Practicing DMD: An Update on Year 1 Dreamstarter Cristin Haase
Running Strong for American Indian Youth® Dreamstarter Cristin Haase, DMD, MPH (Cheyenne River Sioux) has realized two of her dreams since she was awarded a $10,000 grant in 2015 as a promising dental student with a desire to help other Native youth become dentists: creating the Pre-Dental Admission Workshop (PAW) to help them navigate the complex […]
54 Dreamstarter Teachers in 3 Years
As the 2018-2019 school year ends, we at Running Strong are beginning to think ahead to September and how we can best support teachers and students in the Native communities that we serve, as the next school year approaches. To that end, we launched Dreamstarter Teacher, a grant program designed to support Native students and meet […]
As Summer Begins, So Does Camp at IYA!
Indian Youth of America (IYA) summer camps provide Native children ages 10 to 14 with cultural, educational and recreational opportunities as well as positive guidance and mentoring from an all-indigenous staff. Since its founding in 1978 in Sioux City, Iowa by Patricia Gordon, who today serves as IYA’s executive director, the camps have served Native […]
Today We Follow-Tomorrow We Lead To Host Youth Summer Camp in Pinon
The summer youth and education camp organized by Today We Follow-Tomorrow We Lead (TWF-TWL) features traditional Navajo teachings for both boys and girls, and is located in Pinon, Arizona, where the children can attend with their families. This year’s camp runs from June 14- 16 and is projected to serve 400 children and adults in […]
Freddy Gipp Creates Opportunities for Native Communities to Engage in Cultural Programming
Freddy’s Dream Freddy’s dream “Powwow+” is a program of his business, Lead Horse LLC, and an opportunity for communities to engage in new and innovative cultural programing by encouraging communities to host powwow celebrations. This, Freddy says, will help develop consistent revenue streams through cultural tourism. He used the Native American Tourism and Improving Visitors Experience […]
Hope Gamble Designs Navajo Creation Comic Strips to Educate Peers
Hope’s Dream Hope’s dream is to create comic strips about Navajo creation stories and develop versions of these stories that address struggles currently facing children in her community. These comic books would be sold at local gas stations or grocery stores, and the money attained would be used to sustain the printing of comics and to […]
David Fraser Establishes Tire Repair Shop for His Community of Kyle
David’s Dream Dave’s dream is to open his own tire repair shop for the people of his community. As the nearest tire repair shop is 50 miles from where he lives, a tire repair shop is very much needed. He feels his services would be more beneficial for his people if he had the resources to […]
Aukea Ka’aekuahiwi Expands his Swine Business and Utilizes Traditional Methods of Food Preservation
Aukea‘s dream is to expand his business, The Swine Project, through infrastructure development and create opportunities for youth to learn traditional methods of food preservation. He will maximize profits through food efficiency and meat conservation saying, “I would like to bring local value-added products to our community like our ancestors did, such as Kalua Pork […]
Jacob Crane Empowers and Inspires Native Youth Through Video Storytelling
Jacob’s Dream Jacob’s dream is to empower young Indigenous people through video storytelling. His media production company, Arrow’s Journey Indigenous Initiative, will create a series of videos that inspire Native youth by telling the stories of other young, successful Native people. The online series will use digital and social media to share young and successful indigenous people’s […]
Taylor Eddie Introduces Agriculture as a Business to Youth in Her Community of Spanish Fork
Taylor’s Dream Taylor’s dream is to introduce agriculture as a business career to the Nebo School District Title VI Indian Education program in order to teach her peers and younger students hands-on practices in agriculture. And she has already planned out her course of action by first building a chicken coop and buying chickens for students […]
Kevin Belin Cultivates the Next Generation of Diné Language Learners
Kevin’s dream, Hashké – Hozhó Design & Collaborative (HHD&C), is to develop a language and cultural materials and resource initiative in order to create and provide differentiated approaches to learning the Navajo language and culture. His plan is to expand and create resources for the modern classroom and bring the classroom closer to individuals far from […]
Carl Petersen Develops a Lakota Video Game to Revitalize Language
Carl’s Dream “My dream is to operate a video game design studio based on my reservation; a studio that would create and maintain games made about, for and by Native American people.” The first game will be called Kaga Tipi (Tipi Builder), and will allow children and youth to build a traditional Lakota tipi in […]
Fostering Intergenerational Relationships & Language Revitalization Through Children’s Books
The Keya Foundation is in the process of producing a series of eight children’s books with stories told by Lakota elders on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation for its Intergenerational History project, funded with a grant by Running Strong for American Indian Youth®. Each story will include pages with Lakota translations to aid in the language […]
SmileStrong This Spring: Promoting Healthy, Happy Smiles Throughout Indian Country
The American Dental Association (ADA) is taking steps to help those who have among the highest levels of tooth decay in the United States: American Indian and Alaska Native children. And so is Running Strong for American Indian Youth®. In 2015, we were made acutely aware of this serious, and growing, challenge among Native children […]
Water on Pine Ridge: Digging Season is Coming Soon
After a brutal winter, the frozen ground on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation will soon thaw and for us at Running Strong, our contractors – and most importantly the families who have been waiting for running water in their homes – it will soon be time to resume our water line installation project on the reservation. Running […]
From Montana to New Mexico: Updates from Spring 2018 Dreamstarter Teachers
Ronan Middle School, Montana Dreamstarter Teacher Amy Miller used her $1,000 grant to help the school’s library become more culturally representative of its student body by purchasing books by and about indigenous peoples, including a classroom set of the novel “In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse” by Native American author Joseph Marshall to be taught in the […]
Running Strong Field Staff Distribute Food Boxes Following Flooding on Pine Ridge
“We took this action because… we know the families out in the districts need this help now!” – Ken Lone Elk “From my family and the Lakota Nation – we thank all of you!” – Ken Lone Elk First came the frigid, sub-zero temperatures and blizzards bearing foot-deep snow and bone-chilling winds – not unusual […]
Spotlight on Programs: The Brave Heart Society
For nearly a quarter of a century, thanks to our supporters, Running Strong for American Indian Youth® has been able to provide grant funding to the Brave Heart Society (BHS) to support its mission to advocate for and promote better lives among Native youth in the Oceti Sakowin. The continuing mission of the Brave Heart […]
Dozens of Diné families now have access to clean running water!
On Reservations throughout Indian Country, there are thousands of families and elders who do not have clean running water. No water to drink. No water to wash, cook or bathe with. Obtaining water means driving miles to fill up containers, buckets, barrels and water tanks that will last them a week or two if they ration the […]
On Cheyenne River, elders and youth revitalize the Lakota language through children’s books
Running Strong for American Indian Youth® began our partnership with The Keya Foundation in 2016 with the selection of Annie Chasing Hawk as a Year 2 Dreamstarter and The Keya Foundation has her mentor organization. Since that time, we have built a strong relationship, due in large part to Annie, a volunteer staff assistant for The Keya […]
February E-News
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Spotlight on Programs: Discovering Yidong Xinag at Wisdom of the Elders
Wisdom of the Elders (WotE) in Portland, Oregon, a long-time partner of Running Strong for American Indian Youth®, “records and preserves traditional cultural values, oral history, prophesy and other messages of guidance from indigenous elders in order to regenerate the greatness of culture among today’s and future generations of Native peoples.” “As First Peoples, we are humbled by […]
Dreamstarter Teacher Engages Students Through Art
On the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, $1,000 (or $998.54 to be exact) goes a long way in the development of a child’s education. Thanks to the supporters of Running Strong for American Indian Youth®, we were able to provide a grant to the Lakota Waldorf School to purchase art supplies for students. “The Lakota children of the […]
January E-News
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Gardening Programs Begin Early at Oyate Teca
Although it’s January and on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation the low temperatures will remain in the teens for the next several weeks and the ground will remain frozen, gardening on the reservation has begun at the Oyate Teca Project in anticipation of the warm spring and summer weather. On January 9, Oyate Teca, the newest field […]
A Joint Effort: Running Strong, OSTDEM, and Others Fix Hail Damaged Homes on Pine Ridge
Thanks to the supporters of Running Strong for American Indian Youth®, and our partners including the Director of the Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Emergency Management (OSTDEM) Steve Wilson and Outreach Coordinator Maretta Champagne, Tipi Raisers, and others, numerous homes damaged by a devastating hail storm on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in July have […]
Exploring the Impact of the Government Shutdown on Native Communities
Tuesday, January 15 marks day 25 of the federal government shutdown, now the longest in U.S. history, and it’s no surprise that Native Americans both on reservations, such as the Pine Ridge Indian and Cheyenne River Sioux Reservations in South Dakota, and off reservations are bearing the brunt. “Native American tribes have missed out on […]