The Children are Coming Home – 2025
“The Children Are Coming Home” revisits the Cheyenne River Youth Project, first featured in Square’s 2017 film “Lakota in America.” CRYP founder Julie Garreau and her team have spent the last 10 years building youth employment programs, preserving Lakota culture, and expanding operations to land near Bear Butte — sacred ground that will belong to future generations. Block (Square’s parent company) has partnered with CRYP since 2016. This film shows what a decade of that work looks like.
This short documentary was produced by Square.
Wakanyeja Kin Wana Ku Pi (The Children are Coming Home) – 2024
The Lakota Nation’s access to sacred Bear Butte was lost more than a century ago. In early 2024, the Cheyenne River Youth Project restored access by acquiring the land it calls Wakanyeja Kin Wana Ku Pi, which means “the children are coming home” in Lakota.
The film shares the story of CRYP’s historic purchase and explores how restoring access to sacred sites is essential for Native communities. Viewers will travel with Lakota youth from the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation to Wakanyeja Kin Wana Ku Pi. They will climb Bear Butte, descend into the depths of Wind Cave, visit Devils Tower National Monument and camp on the open, windswept prairie. Along the way, they will learn how the land connects Lakota people with their ancestors, ceremonies and traditional life ways — a connection that has the power to heal the massive intergenerational scars left by historical trauma.
This short documentary was produced by the Cheyenne River Youth Project.
Waniyetu Wowapi (Winter Count) – 2022
Welcome to the Cheyenne River Youth Project. Come with us into the heart of our circle, where you’ll meet our kids, parents, elders, artists, and partners. You’ll discover why art is so central to Lakota culture. You’ll experience how we are reclaiming spaces in our community. You’ll learn how we are revitalizing our language, ceremonies, and life ways through our own contemporary version of the Winter Count. And, you’ll share our joy as we bring to life our stories, truths, and messages for our people.
This documentary film was produced by the Cheyenne River Youth Project.
Lakota in America – 2017
For a hundred years, it was virtually illegal to be Lakota. The Native American tribe, known for its chiefs Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, and Red Cloud, was legally dispossessed of its religion, its spiritual practices, and much of its language, starting in the late 19th century. All Native American tribes were. Until 1978 and the passage of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, generations of Lakota were raised without access to their culture. Now, the Cheyenne River Youth Project is working with a determined generation of young Lakota to create a stronger economic and cultural future—and they’re using their Lakota heritage to get there.
This short documentary was produced by Square as part of its For Every Dream series.
Make a donation to the Cheyenne River Youth Project today to support our internship program and other initiatives.