Since its opening in 2023, our Oyate Ta Kola Ku (OTKK) Community Center on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation has become a space dedicated to improving the health and well-being of Oglala Lakota families.
The center provides our youth with a place to connect with strong role models and be inspired to achieve their personal best through exercise. From skills training in sports like basketball and volleyball to 5K races in honor of Billy Mills, the center has fast become “the place to be” for fun-filled summer days.
Each week last summer the center welcomed dozens of youth for classes on sewing and regalia making, gardening classes that teach how to plant traditional gardens and cooking classes that teach Indigenous food preparation and preservation.
This year, the OTKK community center’s summer rec program kicks off on Tuesday, June 10, with a wide variety of activities and programs including arts & crafts, sports including basketball, volleyball, kickball, dodgeball, tennis, Frisbee and capture the flag, along with learning about gardening, traditional plants and berry harvesting, cooking and sewing classes, and even nature walks and fishing – all free for incoming first through fourth grade students on afternoons Tuesdays through Thursdays.
The children are not only learning about the legacy of art in their culture, but each receives a meal as well.
And on the long summer days last year, dozens of children learned how to fish and teens trained for weeks to run in a community 5K. The Medicine Root Gardening students began to see the fruits of their harvest that can help their families to overcome food insecurity.
OTKK director Rose Fraser and staff have been planning this year’s summer rec program for weeks, and we don’t know who’s more excited — the team or the kids arriving each week for a summer filled with fun, learning, and connection.
In a community where 54 percent of families live below the poverty line, OTKK offers more than just activities — it’s a safe, welcoming space, completely free of charge.
“We are excited to announce the third year of our Summer Rec program for incoming 1st-4th graders!,” says Rose. “Our program features a variety of activities designed to engage and inspire.”
