2023 Dreamstarter Loren Waters – Raising Awareness of the Tar Creek Superfund Site cleanup

Running Strong for American Indian Youth® 2023 Dreamstarter Loren Waters, 27, (Cherokee Nation/Kiowa Tribe) of Tulsa, Oklahoma, dream is ᏗᏂᏠᎯ ᎤᏪᏯ Project (Meet Me At The Creek Project) which aims to bring awareness to the Tar Creek Superfund Site cleanup. “The Dreamstarter grant will support a two-part project that will bring together Indigenous environmental activists […]

Billy Mills Named a 2022 Team USA Community Champion in partnership with Comcast

On April 10, the United States Olympic and Paralympic Foundation (USOPF) announced four athletes as the 2022 award recipients for Team USA Community Champions – which includes Running Strong for American Indian Youth® co-founder and Olympic gold medalist Billy Mills. Billy and the three others (Mary Cain, Atalanta NYC; Kelsey Dickinson, Women Ski Coaches Association; […]

For the First Time in 400 Years, the Piscataway Conoy Tribe Owns Land in Maryland

All of us at Running Strong for American Indian Youth® offer our sincere congratulations to our 2022 Dreamstarter Kyle Swann, his father and Dreamstarter mentor Piscataway Conoy Chief Jesse J. Swann, Jr., founder of Kyle’s mentor organization, Through Piscataway Eyes (TPE) and all the tribe’s 3,500 enrolled members on the recent purchase of a piece […]

Lasting Change for Native American Youth

Our many garden project aid to help native american youth enjoy proper nutrition.

Since its inception in 1986, Running Strong has made it its mission to empower and create a positive impact on our Native American youth. Through our programs and initiatives, we have created an environment that values tribal pride and indigenous knowledge – an environment where these young people can realize their full potential as highly […]

An innovative group of disrupters in business

This past week, Michele Meza , CEO of Luksi Coaching & Consulting, posted on her Facebook page, “I had the honor of spending the day on the beautiful Osage Nation reservation with these amazing, inspiring, and talented entrepreneurs!” She was referring to 2019 Running Strong for American Indian Youth® Dreamstarter Josh Smith (Osage Nation), who […]

Cultivating Gardens on Pine Ridge

Running Strong for American Indian Youth® has been assisting the efforts of the Slim Buttes Agricultural Development (SBAG) program to help residents on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation establish gardens in their own backyards since 1985, thanks to our supporters from across the country. Last year alone, SBAG helped 50 first-time families and organizations started […]

Running Strong grant help to empower urban American Indians

For 70 years, the Division of Indian Work (DIW) in Minneapolis, Minnesota, has been furthering its mission of “Empowering Urban American Indians” and for the past decade with help from Running Strong for American Indian Youth®. Specifically, thanks to the supporters of Running Strong, we provide grant funding to support its Youth Leadership Development Program […]

Because of Kyle’s Dream, data will connect his tribe to the resources they need.

Kyle Swann,

2022 Running Strong for American Indian Youth® Dreamstarter Kyle Swann, 23, (Piscataway Conoy), of White Plains, Maryland had a unique dream.   His Dreamstarter idea was 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 […]

6000 Smile Strong Dental Kits for Native Children

February is National Children’s Dental Health Month sponsored by the American Dental Association. The month-long national health observance brings together thousands of dedicated professionals, healthcare provides and educators to promote the benefits of good oral health to children and many others.While at Running Strong for American Indian Youth® we are especially concerned about the dental […]

Smart Sacks full of Food feed hundreds of children each weekend

This school year Running Strong for American Indian Youth® is working to ensure that hundreds of students at the Keshena Primary School on the Menominee Indian Reservation in Keshena, Wisconsin, and at the Wakpala School on the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Reservation in South Dakota and their family members do not go hungry over the […]

Dreamstarter Incubator Microenterprise Development Program – Native Unlimited

The 𐒻𐓥𐓣𐓥𐓘𐓷𐓣͘ (Ihkihkawi) Microenterprise Development program, a Dreamstarter Incubator project, has provided micro-loans to four Native American business-owners and entrepreneurs in Oklahoma.   One was recently awarded to Jordan Garza, of Native Unlimited in Tulsa Oklahoma. Native Unlimited in Tulsa, Oklahoma was founded in May 2022 focused on providing authentic Native American crafts and art to the general […]

Dreamstarter Incubator Microenterprise Development Program — Dirty Laundry Saloon

The 𐒻𐓥𐓣𐓥𐓘𐓷𐓣͘ (Ihkihkawi) Microenterprise Development program, a Dreamstarter Incubator project, has provided micro-loans to four Native American business-owners and entrepreneurs in Oklahoma.   One was recently awarded to Eric Wick, of The Dirty Laundry Saloon in Pawhuska, Oklahoma. The Dirty Laundry Saloon in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, is aiming to transform small boutique café into a full-fledged restaurant, and through […]

Dreamstarter Incubator Microenterprise Development Program – Roots + Blooms

The 𐒻𐓥𐓣𐓥𐓘𐓷𐓣͘ (Ihkihkawi) Microenterprise Development program, a Dreamstarter Incubator project, has provided micro-loans to four Native American business-owners and entrepreneurs in Oklahoma.   One was recently awarded to Whitney Virden, of Roots + Blooms in Bartletsville, Oklahoma. Roots + Blooms in Bartletsville, Oklahoma is a full-service flower shop that specializes in events, weddings and workshops. “Our mission is […]

Dreamstarter Incubator Microenterprise Development Program – The Summer House

The 𐒻𐓥𐓣𐓥𐓘𐓷𐓣͘ (Ihkihkawi) Microenterprise Development program, a Dreamstarter Incubator project, has provided micro-loans to four Native American business-owners and entrepreneurs in Oklahoma.   One was recently awarded to Shannon Duty, of The Summer House in Pawhuska, Oklahoma. The Summer House in Pawhuska, Oklahoma creates customized items that include cedar boxes, cook paddles, cutting boards and signs. Co-Owner Shannon […]

Emergency Heat Funds on Pine Ridge

Heat Match Program Update 1/27/23 Our Heat Match program on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation kicked off with a bang on Monday, January 9, when on day 1, 127 families came to our field office, Tipi Waste Un Zanipi (Wellness Through a Good Home), to submit their funding applications.  In two weeks alone, we have […]

Brooke Waldron: Helping to Preserve the Future with Native Pottery

Running Strong for American Indian Youth® Dreamstarter Creative Brooke Waldron Waldron (Seaconke Wampanoag Tribe) of Hopkinton, Rhode Island, dream project was titled “Traditional Creation, the Preservation of the Future: A Historical design of Contemporary Woodland Native Pottery.” “My project was to research, develop and create a body of work that reproduces both traditional and contemporary […]

Dreamstarter Teacher Jonna Weidaw: Connect native youth with cultural leaders

Jonna Weidaw Culture

Jonna Weidaw of Lakeport, California is a teacher of “all subjects” in a single room schoolhouse at the Lakeport Community Day School in the Lakeport Unified School District teaching members of the Pomo, Cherokee, Elem and Miwok tribes. “As an educator I believe that every student deserves a school program in which their culture and […]

Dreamstarter Teacher John Twichel: Bringing ROV’s to the native classroom

John Twitchel Teams

John Twichel of Sault St. Marie, Michigan, is a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) teacher at Sault Area Middle School serving students of the Tribe of the Chippewa Indians. John, a previous Dreamstarter teacher grant recipient, used his $1,000 Dreamstarter Teacher grant to purchase technology hardware to enable 150 students to build, maintain and […]

Shayleena Britton – Using Art to show the importance of Food

Shayleena Britton

Running Strong for American Indian Youth® Dreamstarter Creative Shayleena Britton (Round Valley Indian Tribes) of Covelo, California, may have a bachelor’s degree in 3D animation, “but my favorite medium is acrylic paints.” “Painting has always been an escape for me whether I was bored or just needed a break from my studies,” she had told […]

Carlon Ami – Art with Navajo Culture

Carlon Ami

Running Strong for American Indian Youth® Dreamstarter Creative Carlon Ami (Navajo) of Tsaile, Arizona, had told us in his grant application that his favorite medium is to work with silver and stone “primarily due to the cultural relevance of jewelry not only as a personal adornment, but from a spiritual perspective.” With his $2,500 Dreamstarter […]

Ann Miller-Larson

DSC Ann Mille

Running Strong for American Indian Youth® Dreamstarter Creative Ann Miller-Larson (Oneida and Ojibwe), of Green Bay, Wisconsin, used her grant funding to create large, beaded pieces (roughly 8×10 inches) that address the importance of traditional food and food sovereignty.  With her $2,180 Dreamstarter Creative grant for her project “Our Foodways Are Sacred,” she purchased beads, […]

Alana Crutcher

Running Strong for American Indian Youth® Dreamstarter Creative Alana Crutcher (Paiute/Shoshone), of Elko, Nebraska, says her favorite medium is working with broadcloth and floral materials “bringing to light the feeling to embrace the quilts. Her Dreamstarter Creative project was “to share my quilting skills and the significance to our younger generations, sharing with them the […]

Menominee and Wakpala Smart Sacks Backpack Food

More than a decade ago, we at Running Strong for American Indian Youth® heard from the superintendent of the Menominee Indian School District (MISD) on the Menominee Indian Reservation in Keshena, Wisconsin, that young children were arriving at the elementary school on Monday mornings lethargic and unable to focus on their classwork. The reason? They […]

Heat Match

For tens of thousands of residents on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation on the Great Plains of South Dakota, it’s already been a brutal winter as during the holiday season a massive blizzard bringing with it below-freezing temperatures for days on end and sub-zero wind chill factors. That’s why for more than 20 years, thanks […]