Each water connection transforms health and dignity for families who previously hauled water miles from neighbors or rivers, bringing “hope” and the ability to grow gardens, stay healthy, and thrive. This direct work secures the basic human right to clean water, which federal neglect has long denied to Native households, and promotes tribal self-determination.
Running Strong’s Dreamstarter® Program has become a powerful engine for environmental justice leadership among Native youth. Over the last 10 years, Running Strong has supported and mentored dozens of young Indigenous changemakers in their water rights, food sovereignty, climate resilience, and land restoration programs.
Cruz Collin (Oglala Lakota) – Developing a sustainable solar energy system merging Lakota science and Western technology to advance tribal energy sovereignty
Autumn Harry (Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe) – leading The Great Basin Nation Building Initiative, connecting water rights, women’s safety, and land defense under the principle that “violence against the land leads to violence against women”.
Sheniah Reed (Oneida Nation) – organizing the Water Is Life Native Nations Conference to mobilize youth around clean water and community healing
McKalee Steen (Cherokee Nation) – founding the Indigenous Youth Landback Conference, advancing the Landback movement to restore tribal stewardship of lands and ecosystems.
Kelsey Leonard (Shinnecock Nation) – addressing ocean pollution and leading global Indigenous youth advocacy for marine justice through her “Ocean Guardians” tribunal project, culminating in a Rights of the Ocean Declaration for the United Nations.
Aaron Baumgardner (Catawba Nation) – restoring rivercane ecosystems and traditional Catawba basketry, uniting cultural revitalization with ecological conservation.
Easton Chong (Native Hawaiian) – revitalizing Hawaiian coastline through traditional stewardship and science-based restoration.
Together, these projects represent a nationwide Indigenous environmental movement rooted in self-determination, traditional ecological knowledge, and intergenerational healing. These Native youth leaders, with Running Strong’s support and guidance, are advancing environemtal restoration, clean water, and climate justice. We are empowering tribes to assert sovereignty through renewable energy and land reclamation and management.
