Food Boxes Bring Nutrition & Assistance to Families this Summer!
For hundreds of families living in dire poverty on the Cheyenne River Sioux and Pine Ridge Indian reservations, the food boxes provided by Running Strong for American Indian Youth® are a lifeline, helping to ensure that children, parents and elders don’t go hungry when money is tight. The summers are especially hard on children when […]
Women of Running Strong for American Indian Youth®: Cheryl Tuttle
“I think that the language is the mind of the people. Inside of the language, even in the way things are spoken about, you know how people thought. How the ancestors thought about things, what was important to them. Their world view is wrapped up in language” -Dreamstarter mentor and Wailaki Language teacher Cheryl Tuttle […]
Rose Fraser, Field Coordinator & Oyate Teca Director, Receives a 2018 MIT Solve Fellowship!
Congratulations Rose! A hearty congratulations goes out to Running Strong for American Indian Youth® field staffer Rose Fraser, executive director the Oyate Teca Project, who is one of the six inaugural Oceti Sakowin Solve Fellows who will each receive a $10,000 grant. The Oyate Teca Project, located on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, operates the Medicine Root Garden Program which increases the availability of fresh, […]
April E-News
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4 Years, 40 Native Youth, 40 Amazing Dreams
Since Running Strong for American Indian Youth® announced the creation of our Dreamstarter® program in 2014 in recognition of the 50th anniversary of Running Strong spokesman Billy Mills’ historic Olympic gold medal win, 40 promising Native American teens and young adults have been selected for $10,000 grants to jumpstart their dreams. “Believe. Believe. Believe.” That’s […]
Slim Buttes Agricultural Project continues to “ground” Pine Ridge families to sources of life
According to The Old Farmer’s Almanac, the growing season in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, lasts just 129 days. Other parts of the country have a growing season of 229 days – more than three months longer than that of Pine Ridge. Within that short growing season on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, residents are given […]
Running Strong with OSTPH: 15 Years of Providing Safe, Healthy Housing on Pine Ridge
At Running Strong for American Indian Youth® we have long placed a great importance on working to ensure that the residents of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation have a safe place to call home. For years, we have partnered with the Oglala Sioux Tribe Partnership for Housing (OSTPH) and supported its mission to provide basic […]
March E-News
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Billy Mills at TED x Yale
Our National Spokesperson, Billy Mills, recently presented at the TEDxYale Uncharted Conference! He shared his story of overcoming the odds at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo and his passion for unlocking opportunities for Native men, women, and children through his work with Running Strong.
Tsalagi Gawonihisdi (Cherokee Language) in the Garden and the Grocery
I knew from the get go that this project would not be easy. Walmart is a big company and I am but one young man on a mission. I began the project by identifying who my partners would be. I already knew that Running Strong and the Cherokee Nation Foundation would be my two strongest […]
Middle School in Lawrence, KS named Billy Mills Middle School
Over the three decades of our partnership with Olympic gold medalist Billy Mills, he has given us many, many reasons to be proud and honored by our association with him! Among them includes being named as a recipient of the Presidential Citizens Medal (the second-highest civilian award in the United States) in 2013 by President […]
South Dakota Legislature Declares March 6 as Billy Mills Day
We are so proud, and extremely honored to celebrate Billy Mills as the South Dakota legislature declared March 6th as “Billy Mills Day.” On Tuesday, March 6, Billy Mills was honored for his lifetime achievements with a proclamation by South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard designating March 6th as Billy Mills Day, and with resolutions passed […]
We are Proud to Announce the Year 4 Dreamstarters
10 Native Youth. 10 Big Dreams for Change. $10K Each. Olympic Legend Billy Mills Names 10 Native Youth to Fourth Cohort of Dreamstarters Running Strong for American Indian Youth Gives Fourth Round of Awards for Dream Projects in Native Communities Washington, DC: Today, Olympic gold medalist Billy Mills named the fourth annual class of American […]
February E-News
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Running Strong Field Office, Oyate Teca, receives $100,000 from Newman’s Own Foundation
Running Strong for American Indian Youth® is pleased to announce that it was recently awarded a grant in the amount of $100,000 from Newman’s Own Foundation, the independent foundation created by the late actor and philanthropist, Paul Newman. This two-year grant will support the operation of the Medicine Root Gardening Program on the Pine Ridge […]
Brave Heart Society: Reviving Traditional Society for Women & Girls
Since 1994, Running Strong has partnered with the Brave Heart Society on the Yankton Reservation in South Dakota. Brave Heart is a revived traditional society, free of federal funds with a focus on grassroots cultural foundations. The Society, overseen by Kunsi or grandmothers, took the forefront in defending water by standing early against the KXL […]
Volunteers on Pine Ridge: Thank you for all your help!
In January, temperatures on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation can get unbearably low. Recently, the temperature dropped to -18 degrees (not including the wind chill factor.) But when families have to eat, Pine Ridge field coordinator Dave Lone Elk and his dad, Ken, work tirelessly to ensure the distribution of food boxes to their fellow Ogala Sioux Tribe members – regardless of […]
Heat Match: Keeping Families Warm this Winter
With the holidays over, families on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation are hunkering down in their homes trying to stay warm on the cold winter days. For hundreds of families, keeping warm can be a challenge when bills must be paid – including the minimum $175 necessary to have a propane truck come to their […]
Video: 2017 Highlights
We have had quite an amazing year! Check out our year-end highlight video! In 2017, Running Strong connected 34 households on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation with the main water service line that runs through the reservation. Each of these families now has access to safe, clean water and no longer needs to travel long distances to haul […]
Yuchi Language Project Strives to Protect Language from Extinction
For several years the Yuchi Language Project, a partner of Running Strong for American Indian Youth®, has been working to preserve the Yuchi language. Described by The Washington Post in 2007 as being “on the brink of extinction,” there were only four fluent Yuchi speakers by 2013 – today that number is down to three. […]
November E-News
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November E-News
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Connecting Veterans to Water: an update on our water connections
For more than two years, we have been connecting households to the main water service line to provide access to safe, clean water. As of this month, about three dozen families, consisting of roughly 200 children, adults, and elders, no longer need to walk to a neighbor’s house or drive miles to fetch water. Just […]
7 Things You May Not Know About Native Americans in the Military
1. Native Americans have the highest per-capita involvement in the U.S. military of any population. 2. November 1986 – The first National Memorial Service honoring Native Veterans took place at Arlington Cemetary 3. Native veterans are routinely acknowledged and honored during pow wows, and are often called upon to be flag bearers, retrieve dropped eagle feathers, and are acknowledged […]
Cities & States Celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day
There has been a movement shifting away from the annual celebration of Columbus Day in October. More and more cities are recognizing a new holiday on that same date – Indigenous Peoples Day – to recognize and respect the indigenous people who lived in the Americas before Columbus’s “discovery.” Below are some of the over 50 […]
Hokani Maria launches Nahiku, his Dreamstarter canoe
On Saturday, September 23rd, 14-year-old Hokani Maria, together with mentor Amoo Ching Kainoa, community members, elders, master navigators and cultural practitioners gathered at Pelekane Bay near Pu’ukohola Heiau to bless a new canoe in honor of its first voyage. It was built by children in the Kohala community over the summer. The project was inspired […]
Smart Sacks: Because no child should have to go hungry over the weekend
Nearly 100% of children living on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation qualify for the free federal meals program. This means that while in school students have access to breakfast and lunch regardless of cost. But what about the weekends? With an annual median income of just over $18,000, Cheyenne River families are often forced to […]
Gardens Galore
Gardening is a place of pride at Oyate Teca. Running Strong gave a garden grant in May and it has been put to good use. Because of the expansive gardening programs at Oyate Teca the grant was used to hire two full time gardeners! On top of that, in early June gardening lessons began and […]
Big News from Noah Hotchkiss
Noah Hotchkiss is making huge strides for Native people with disabilities. After a car accident in 2009, Noah was left paralyzed from the waist down. After trying a handful of sports post-accident, in 2014 Noah was introduced to wheelchair basketball. Basketball opened so many doors for Noah, he decided to use it as an avenue […]
Virginia Begins an American Indian Tribute
In less than two weeks, American Indians in Virginia will be receiving the respect and honor that is long past due. The Groundbreaking Ceremony for the Virginia Indian Tribute is on June 24th. The event will be hosted by the Virginia Indian Commemorative Commission and the Virginia Capitol Foundation at 1000 Bank Street in Richmond, […]
