The Cheyenne River Youth Project® is launching its annual star quilt raffle this week, with two interesting twists. First, instead of raffling off a single quilt, the 25-year-old not-for-profit youth organization will have two on hand. And, next, proceeds will support CRYP’s brand-new Waniyetu Wowapi (“Winter Count”) Art Park, which was just dedicated in September.
In this year’s Waniyetu Wowapi Star Quilt Raffle, ticket-holders will have a chance to win a distinctive, queen-size Lakota star quilt that will mimic a dramatic graffiti mural by acclaimed Minneapolis-based artist Peyton Scott Russell (see photo). Peyton, as the artist is known professionally, created the original piece of street art this year.
“Since the funds raised will support our new art park, we thought it would be a great idea to have the first quilt be inspired by the form of artistic expression that Waniyetu Wowapi celebrates,” said Julie Garreau, CRYP’s executive director. “Bonnie LeBeau, a Cheyenne River Sioux tribal member, will hand-craft the quilt. Bonnie Sachatello-Sawyer donated the second quilt, and we’re deeply grateful to her for her support.”
Sachatello-Sawyer is the executive director of Hopa Mountain, a Bozeman, Montana-based not-for-profit organization that is dedicated to investing in rural and tribal citizen leaders in their efforts to improve education, ecological health and economic development. Hopa Mountain has been a frequent, and highly valued, CRYP partner through the years.
Not only are CRYP’s star quilt raffles important fundraisers for the youth project’s programming and facilities, they are highly anticipated annual events that give members of the public a chance to acquire a truly one-of-a-kind item to add to their home or give to a loved one as a gift. Star quilts originated among the Great Plains nations after European contact; the star pattern evolved from the nations’ original buffalo-robe designs.
“Our people simply adopted the newcomers’ quilting techniques and adapted them to suit our culture,” Garreau explained.
Tickets are already on sale and may be purchased until Wednesday, December 24. CRYP will conduct the drawing and announce the two winners on Friday, December 26; the organization will then ship the quilts to the winners free of charge.
“There are several ways people can help with the raffle,” Garreau said. “First, buy tickets. They are $1 each or $5 for a six-ticket packet. You also can sell tickets for us, and help spread the word by telling family and friends and by sharing information through social media.”
To purchase tickets, send cash, checks or money orders to: Cheyenne River Youth Project, Attn: Art Park Star Quilt, P.O. Box 410, Eagle Butte, SD 57625. You also may pay online at www.lakotayouth.org. Simply click the “Donate Now” button on the home page, and put “Art Park Star” in the notes section when paying with a credit card. Do not write the word “raffle” anywhere in the payment.
To sell tickets, please send an email to Julie Garreau, CRYP’s executive director, at julie.cryp@gmail.com. She will send as many tickets as you request; they come in books of six. Once you receive your tickets, along a quilt photo and information sheet, you will be responsible for selling those tickets. All tickets need to be turned in by December 24 so CRYP can conduct the drawing as planned on December 26.
CRYP’s staff is eager to see where the requests for tickets originate, as the youth organization’s raffle fundraisers tend to reach far beyond U.S. borders. Previous years’ raffle winners have come from as far away as the United Kingdom and New Zealand.
“The best part of these raffles is that they’re international,” Garreau said. “Anyone can buy tickets, whether you live in South Dakota, elsewhere in the United States or in another country. And everyone who participates in the raffle, no matter how great or small the contribution, is taking an active role in supporting our new art park — and through it, our community.”
The Waniyetu Wowapi Art Park is a free, safe, public art space that allows community members and artists — residents and visitors alike — to express their own unique voices and life experiences through graffiti art and traditional painting.
The Cheyenne River Youth Project, founded in 1988, is a grassroots, not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing the youth of the Cheyenne River reservation with access to a vibrant and secure future through a wide variety of culturally sensitive and enduring programs, projects and facilities that ensure strong, self-sufficient families and communities.