Although Nation Cowins grew up in Eagle Butte, South Dakota, he didn’t discover CRYP’s youth programming until this spring. He first arrived at Cokata Wiconi (Center of Life) in March, and he immediately got involved with the teen center’s native wellness, native food sovereignty, indigenous cooking, and arts programs. “The different types of programs were… Continue Reading
While many of our teens first discover CRYP as 4- to 12-year-olds attending our youth programs at The Main, some arrive a bit later — drawn by dedicated teen programs at Cokata Wiconi (Center of Life). Deja Roberts falls into the latter group. Deja grew up in our hometown of Eagle Butte, South Dakota, and… Continue Reading
This month, CRYP staff joyfully welcomed our children back to “The Main” youth center and the Cokata Wiconi (Center of Life) teen center. While we are grateful to focus on our Wo Otuh’an Wi (Moon of Giving Away Presents) Toy Drive throughout the month of December, we miss our kids, and the day of their… Continue Reading
This year, CRYP launched its first-ever Lakota Arts Fellowship program. Operated through the Waniyetu Wowapi (Winter Count) Lakota Youth Arts & Culture Institute, this nine-month fellowship is designed for young people who have completed multiple teen arts internships and have expressed interest in pursuing advanced arts education and eventually careers in the arts. Introducing our… Continue Reading
CRYP staff and volunteers have grown accustomed to two familiar faces around The Main in the last year. Cousins Kazmira Runs After, 6, and Xavier Sebastion, 10, are regulars at the youth project’s center for 4- to 12-year-olds, and more often than not, they attend youth programming together. Kazmira says her mom told her about… Continue Reading
Hayzil Yellow Fox was just a small child when she first began coming to CRYP’s “The Main” youth center. Back then, as for many children, it was all about the daily fun, from arts and crafts to playing with the short- and long-term volunteers. And, as with many children, Hayzil looked forward to being old… Continue Reading
One of our greatest joys at CRYP is witnessing a child who attended our youth programming at The Main successfully transition to our Cokata Wiconi (Center of Life) teen center. A’Leigh RedDog is one such success story: She first started coming to The Main at age 7, and now at 15, she is a regular… Continue Reading
In the nearly 13 years since CRYP officially opened the doors to its Cokata Wiconi (Center of Life) teen center in Eagle Butte, South Dakota, we’ve learned that our teens participate in activities here for a variety of reasons. They might want to play basketball in the full-size gymnasium, use the fitness center, sign up… Continue Reading
CRYP has been active in the community for more than 30 years, which means we’re well into our second generation of kids. The thrill of welcoming our community’s younger children hasn’t worn off, however; we’re always delighted when they find us. Blue White Horse, 11, learned about The Main through his older brothers and sister.… Continue Reading
This month, the Cheyenne River Youth Project would like to shine the spotlight on one of our newest teen participants at Cokata Wiconi (Center of Life). Eagle Butte resident Maliyah Lee, 14, first started coming to our campus this past December, and she’s already completed her first internship. Maliyah says she immediately liked CRYP because… Continue Reading
At CRYP, we love welcoming new children to The Main youth center. Not only is it a joy getting to know each and every one of them, it’s so much fun to see what interests they explore, and what gets them excited. Charly Etzkorn, 11, first came to The Main this past spring. Her parents… Continue Reading
Basketball is a big deal on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. Lakota youth have a great passion for the sport, so it’s perhaps unsurprising that many of them first find their way into Cheyenne River Youth Project programs via our full-size Morgan Yellowhead Gymnasium at Cokata Wiconi (Center of Life). One of… Continue Reading
We love getting to know our youngest CRYPers at what we’ve come to call, affectionately, “the little Main.” These 4- to 12-year-olds are enthusiastic about everything they do here, and we get a kick out of watching them discover their passions and interests as they have fun, socialize with friends, and enjoy quality time with… Continue Reading
When young children participate in their first programs or activities at the Cheyenne River Youth Project, they’re embarking on a journey that likely will continue through their teen years and into their adult lives. One child might drop into The Main for arts and crafts, another might enjoy playing in the new playground or joining… Continue Reading
A couple of months ago, we profiled one of the five Lakota teens who have been participating in “Growing Into Wowachinyepi (One Who the People Can Depend On),” a special program we designed in conjunction with the Center for Native American Youth at the Aspen Institute based on its “Champions for Change.” This month, we’d… Continue Reading
This spring, five Lakota teens have been participating in “Growing Into Wowachinyepi (One Who the People Can Depend On),” a special program we designed in conjunction with the Center for Native American Youth at the Aspen Institute based on its “Champions for Change.” The program is designed to honor Cheyenne River’s youth leaders in a… Continue Reading
In a small town, it’s fun for everyone when someone new arrives—for us as a staff, and for all the kids. This spring, we all welcomed 7-year-old Christina Collins Siquieros to The Main, and already she is thriving. Christina actually lived on the Cheyenne River reservation when she was small, but her family has been… Continue Reading
Cheyenne River Sioux tribal member Elsie DuBray, 17, first attended a special event at the Cheyenne River Youth Project in Eagle Butte when she was a third-grader. She thought it was so cool, she has volunteered with CRYP nearly every year since then, for the nonprofit youth organization’s long-running Christmas Toy Drive and Passion for… Continue Reading
The Cheyenne River Youth Project has welcomed children ages 4 to 12 since we opened our doors to “The Main” in 1988, long before the opening of our Cokata Wiconi teen center. Since the beginning, we’ve understood how important it is to reach our children while they’re young—to provide safe spaces, positive role models, healthy… Continue Reading
In the four-plus years since we launched our teen internship program, we’ve seen three types of participants: teens who complete one or two internships in different tracks, teens who complete all four tracks, and teens who fall in love with one particular internship and keep returning to it. Xander Red Horse falls into that last… Continue Reading
When Juell Twite was a young child growing up in Eagle Butte, she wanted to join the other kids at CRYP’s The Main youth center for 4- to 12-year-olds. Sadly, health issues kept her close to home — until one summer day, when she was a teenager. “I was sitting at home feeling sad, because… Continue Reading
More than a decade ago, a Cheyenne River teen named Anthony Potter was a regular around CRYP’s “The Main” youth center, offering volunteer service wherever and whenever it was needed. Fast forward to 2017, and quite a bit has changed: For starters, the youth project has expanded beyond The Main and is now a 5-acre… Continue Reading
Welcome back to our “Main Edition” of the CRYP Hall of Fame! This month, we’d like to introduce you to Dexter Hawk Eagle, who started attending youth programming at The Main this summer. Dexter is 7 years old, and he’s a second-grader at Cheyenne-Eagle Butte Elementary School. “I’ve been coming to The Main for about… Continue Reading
Cheyenne River’s young people immersed themselves in art during CRYP’s RedCan invitational graffiti jam this year. From the First Peoples’ Fund’s Rolling Rez Arts activities to the many ready-and-waiting walls in the Waniyetu Wowapi (Winter Count) Art Park, teens and littles alike expressed themselves creatively and energetically. CRYP’s art interns were busy too. With the… Continue Reading
While the Cheyenne River Youth Project has provided programming and facilities for 13- to 18-year-olds since we opened our Cokata Wiconi (Center of Life) teen center in 2006, we’ve been serving our reservation’s 4- to 12-year-olds since the very beginning. They eagerly came through the doors of The Main youth center when we first opened… Continue Reading
At the Cheyenne River Youth Project, we’ve worked hard over the years to develop a programming mix that allows us to reach as many young people as we can, and then develop deeper, more meaningful relationships with particular individuals over time. For example, we created Midnight Basketball in 1996 so area teens would have a… Continue Reading
Although we at the Cheyenne River Youth Project are immensely proud of our teen internship program and our burgeoning arts initiatives, we’ll never forget our roots. CRYP got its start nearly 30 years ago in a little youth center for 4- to 12-year-olds, and to this day, we are well aware that our impact on… Continue Reading
When the Cheyenne River Youth Project designed its innovative teen internship program, it created four distinct internship areas to appeal to a diverse range of interests. Yet staff members are discovering that many teens choose to participate in all of them. Once the kids start learning, it seems, they don’t want to stop. Genevieve Iron… Continue Reading
The beating heart of the Cheyenne River Youth Project’s Cokata Wiconi (Center of Life) teen center is its internship program. Created three years ago to provide Cheyenne River’s teens with opportunities to learn valuable job and life skills, the program now includes robust, innovative internships in sustainable agriculture, social enterprises, wellness and the arts. Some… Continue Reading
Fifteen-year-old Brenton Veit might have originally signed up for a teen internship at the Cheyenne River Youth Project to earn a little extra money, but he ended up taking home much more than his stipend. Brenton has attended CRYP programs since he was in sixth grade, taking advantage of the opportunity to get out of… Continue Reading
In the years since we launched our Cokata Wiconi (Center of Life) teen center’s internship programs, we’ve learned two very important things. Cheyenne River’s teens crave opportunities to learn new job and life skills, and they welcome mentorships that inspire them and encourage them to imagine all the possibilities for the future. Some of these… Continue Reading
While many of the Cheyenne River Youth Project’s teen interns have completed multiple internship programs at our Eagle Butte campus, we are constantly welcoming new participants. We take great pleasure in watching them learn new skills, develop a sense of pride in themselves and in their work, and design future plans that incorporate these meaningful… Continue Reading
When the Cheyenne River Youth Project first launched its innovative teen internship programs in 2014, its primary goal was to give Cheyenne River’s young people new opportunities to learn job and life skills that would serve them well into adulthood. That goal is now being realized, as some of their more experienced interns are entering… Continue Reading
Through the Cheyenne River Youth Project’s teen internship programs, we’re able to engage young people with a variety of interests. Some teens want to work in our organic Winyan Toka Win (Leading Lady) garden. Others wish to learn to make gourmet coffees and prepare handcrafted entrees with farm-to-table ingredients in our Keya (Turtle) Cafe, or… Continue Reading
Before the Cheyenne River Youth Project® was founded in 1988, children growing up on the Cheyenne River Lakota reservation didn’t have many options for safe, positive places to go outside of school. When CRYP opened the doors to its Main youth center, 4- to 12-year-olds finally had their own space for playing, learning, and enjoying… Continue Reading
When the Cheyenne River Youth Project opened the doors to its Cokata Wiconi (Center of Life) teen center 10 years ago, staff members envisioned that the 26,000-square-foot facility would become a true center of life in the Cheyenne River community. And, they hoped teens would use the center and its offerings to find their true… Continue Reading
Wendell Nezzie is a valuable member of the Cheyenne River Youth Project’s youth programming staff. He also is a CRYP alumnus. Wendell grew up in a small community called Wicagakapi Sa, or Red Scaffold, in the western part of South Dakota’s remote Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation. He became a regular at CRYP’s Cokata Wiconi (Center… Continue Reading
In recent years, the Cheyenne River Youth Project® has devoted significant resources to its wellness programming. We believe the best way to serve our children and provide for a positive, healthy future is to address their holistic well-being — from nutrition and fitness, to community service, to connecting with the land and Lakota traditions. These… Continue Reading
Maxwell Peacock, 14, is a member of CRYP’s second cohort of Waniyetu Wowapi (Winter Count) Art Interns. He started coming to our campus regularly about a year ago, drawn to the environment and learning opportunities he saw at the Cokata Wiconi (Center of Life) teen center — in particular, he says he was interested in… Continue Reading
Nathanial Fast Wolf, 14, is a member of CRYP’s second cohort of Waniyetu Wowapi (“Winter Count”) Art Interns. He also served as a Sustainable Agriculture Intern in 2014, spending the summer in the Winyan Toka Win (“Leading Lady”) organic garden, and he’s a regular participant in the Cokata Wiconi (“Center of Life”) Book Club. Nathanial… Continue Reading
Xzanndria Norris, 14, has been participating in programs and activities at CRYP since she was a little girl. She says she loves how CRYP provides two centers that are geared toward young people, The Main youth center for 4- to 12-year-olds and the Cokata Wiconi (“Center of Life”) teen center, and she definitely has some… Continue Reading
For the first time, we’re inducting a young person from The Main youth center into our CRYP Hall of Fame. His name is Thomas Lucero. This bright, curious 11-year-old started coming to The Main last fall. Thomas says he enjoys The Main’s playground and the full-size gymnasium at the next-door Cokata Wiconi (“Center of Life”)… Continue Reading
Here at CRYP, one of our greatest joys is to see our kids grow up, realize their true potential, and pursue their treasured dreams for the future. This month, we’d like to shine the spotlight on one of those kids. Nate Widow, 20, started coming to the Cokata Wiconi (“Center of Life”) teen center in… Continue Reading
When CRYP opened the doors to its Cokata Wiconi (“Center of Life”) teen center in August 2006, its mission went beyond simply providing a safe place for teens to socialize, enjoy meals and snacks, do homework, watch movies and play sports. The center also was designed to provide a venue for learning valuable job and… Continue Reading
Mary Mitchell, 21, was born and raised in Eagle Butte, South Dakota, and she is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. A 2011 graduate of Cheyenne-Eagle Butte High School, Mary just graduated with honors from Black Hills State University with a degree in elementary education. “Ever since I was a little girl,… Continue Reading
Enrolled Cheyenne River Sioux tribal member Anthony Potter grew up in Eagle Butte, South Dakota, in the heart of the 2.8-million-acre Cheyenne River reservation. His house was just down the street from the original “Main” youth center, founded in 1988 in a defunct Main Street bar. note dealer The Cheyenne River Youth Project’s original Main… Continue Reading
This month, we’re featuring a young man who is an alumnus of The Main youth center and the Cokata Wiconi (“Center of Life”) teen center. His name is Joseph White Eyes, and we are proud to say that he is a member of our staff. An enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, Joseph… Continue Reading
This month marks the kickoff of something new for us: the CRYP Hall of Fame. In this special section, we’re going to highlight a current CRYP participant or alum; this is exciting, because it gives us an opportunity to introduce our young people to you, our deeply valued friends and supporters. Rather than choosing just… Continue Reading
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