CHEYENNE RIVER YOUTH PROJECT

2025 will mark our second year of active youth programming at CRYP's Wakanyeja Kin Wana Ku Pi property adjacent to sacred Bear Butte, and we are excited to announce that we have produced a new film that tells the story of that special piece of land and why it is so important for our young people. We have just learned that "Wakanyeja Kin Wana Ku Pi (The Children Are Coming Home)" is an official selection at the Beaufort International Film Festival next month! It also is gaining recognition elsewhere, and we are grateful for these remarkable opportunities to connect with audiences around the world. Stay tuned for more updates in the weeks to come! In the meantime, you can view the trailer here: https://lnkd.in/eKzn3zbm

Earlier this month, our Lakota youth had the opportunity to participate in a buffalo harvest at the DuBray Buffalo Ranch. This was an important cultural experience for our young people and our team of eight staff members, which included youth trainees. Not only do buffalo play a vital role in our creation story, they were essential to the people’s survival for generations — and remain essential for cultural reclamation.

Less than two weeks remain: Please help us bring holiday cheer to our children! Adopt a child's wish list: https://lnkd.in/emRSfepM Learn about other ways to help: https://lnkd.in/gPBjyHrt Read more about the toy drive, and our recent holiday party for our littles: https://lnkd.in/exDhqFAy

The second week of #MyCauseMyCleats kicks off Thursday, Dec. 5 with the Detroit Lions vs. Green Bay Packers game, and the players will be wearing their custom cleats! Cheer on CRYP's champion, Green Bay Packer Tucker Kraft (#85) from Timber Lake, SD — and join him in supporting our youth project. Together, we can make a real difference in the lives of our children! https://lnkd.in/gTAB7V8X #NFL #tuckerkraft #rayzeapp

Today is Giving Tuesday, and we need your help as we seek to bring holiday joy to more than 1,000 children in this year's Wo Otúh'an Wi Toy Drive. We still have 300+ Wish Lists that need to be adopted — please click this link and learn more about how you can help. Philámayeye! Thank you! https://lnkd.in/gPBjyHrt

Looking for something fun to do on Black Friday? Please consider adopting a child's "wish list" and help us bring holiday joy to the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation this year! Adopt a Wish List: https://lnkd.in/emRSfepM Learn More: https://lnkd.in/gPBjyHrt

Green Bay Packer Tucker Kraft has chosen the Cheyenne River Youth Project as his cause through the NFL's My Cause My Cleats initiative! How absolutely special. Please read the article to learn more: https://lnkd.in/exeHVMG9 "Kraft will highlight the Cheyenne River Youth Project, whose work is dedicated to providing Native American youth in the Lakota community with the access, resources, and opportunities they need to have a successful future." Philámayeye to Tucker and the NFL! We are grateful.

As many of you are aware, we started a beekeeping project this year. Not only are our bees thriving, they actually gave us our first honey harvest much earlier than we expected. This fall, we harvested roughly 40 pounds of honey, which we are calling Wičháyažipa Othí Wín Wičháyažipa Čhanhánpi (Honeycomb Woman Honey). The honey is available for purchase if you call us — we can ship!

November is Native American Heritage Month, and here at CRYP the calendar is full of activities that celebrate Lakota culture and life on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation. We recently held our Young Women's Healing Camp, and coming up are our annual “Thanks for Kids” community feast, a garden blessing ceremony, the wrapping up of multiple teen internships and robust cultural programming with artist-in-residence Dallas Chief Eagle. Learn more here:

🥁Drum roll please…🥁 Meet our 2024 #MidwestFrontlineFund grantee cohort! We are honored to introduce you to the #EJ organizations across the #Midwest who have received the 2024 #MidwestFrontlineFund grant. The organizations in this year’s cohort represent a broad spectrum of environmental justice work across the region: 🌱 food justice + sovereignty 🏭 air pollution + cumulative impacts 💡 energy democracy + infrastructure 🌊 protecting our waters . . . . Please join us in welcoming our new and returning partners 🎊 A Red Circle || Blacks In Green || Calumet Collaborative || CHEYENNE RIVER YOUTH PROJECT || COPAL MN || Dakota Resource Council || Dakota Wicohan || DETROIT BLACK COMMUNITY FOOD SECURITY NETWORK INC || Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice || Dream of Wild Health || East Michigan Environmental Action Council || Frogtown Neighborhood Association (District 7) || Giniw Collective || Great Plains Action Society || Just Transition Northwest Indiana || LEAGUE OF UNITED LATIN AMERICAN CITIZENS, COUNCIL 307 || LITTLE EARTH RESIDENT ASSOCIATION INC || Little Village Environmental Justice Organization || Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition || Milwaukee Water Commons || Neighbors For Environmental Justice || North Dakota Native Vote || Owámniyomni Okhódayapi || People for Community Recovery || Petty Propolis || Rustic Roots Sanctuary || Southeast Environmental Task Force || TAMALES Y BICICLETAS || THE GREEN DOOR INITIATIVE || Ujima STL || Urban Native Collective || Victory Garden Initiative || We Want Green Too || Wisconsin Green Muslims