Mitakuye Foundation

Congratulations to all of the artists who submitted! Winners for the May contest DANCE are:

 

What a week! We brought our young mentee Brian Sherman to Los Angeles for a week of dance training and to get his Zumba Certification. This is a program we created for him as a winner of the 2017 Running Strong For American Indian Youth DreamStarters.

Brian traveled to Los Angeles with our co-mentor Tiny DeCorey to train in various dance techniques at some of the top studios in Los Angeles including Swing Brazil, Naam Yoga Zumba Program, Your Neighborhood Dance Studio, and the Millennium Dance Complex who donated a week of study to Brian for this program! Thank you Millennium.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brian’s week of study concluded with his all day Zumba training and certification!

Over the next few months will be working with Brian to get his classes and teaching ready to start his dance program for reservation youth!

 

We are gearing up for an incredible summer on Pine Ridge!

Don’t forget to get your application in for the Hoye Wayelo Summer Art Program! Deadline is June 15th.  You can apply via email info@MitakuyeFoundation.com, send us a message on FaceBook https://www.facebook.com/Mitakupi , or apply through your school. If you have any questions or need help with your application call us at (605)454-4000.

The 500 Mile Sacred Hoop Prayer Run starts June 18th! You can call Rick Gray Grass if you have any questions (605) 407-3453

And the new DreamSteps Dance Program launches in July! Running Strong For American Indian Youth DreamStarter Brian Sherman will be in Los Angeles next week training to start his new program for the youth. Be sure to stay tuned for details about his trip and the new program!

 

Congratulations to everyone who submitted work for the April contest! Everyone who participates receives points in the Creators Club to save up towards prizes. Congratulations to all of our winners:

The theme for the May 2017 Mitakuye Art Contest is DANCE.  There are so many ways to interpret this idea. We can’t to see what you come up with! Deadline for submissions is May 31st.

 

So proud of our mentee Brian Sherman Jr. – a 2017 Running Strong For American Indian Youth DreamStarter! Only 10 young people are chosen for this honor. Brian and Tiny traveled to Washington DC for the DreamStarter Academy where Brian learned about becoming a Running Strong For American Indian Youth Ambassador.

Brian will be traveling to Los Angeles in June to do an intensive training with us to start his DreamSteps dance program on Pine Ridge. Brian will train at different professional studios, receive one on one training in curriculum development and class structure and complete his Zumba certification.

One of the main goals of our trip was to do a big push push for our 24 hour hotline: the LIFELINE. We held an art contest to have students design a poster for the LIFELINE. The two winning artists got to work with a professional graphic designer in Los Angeles to turn their designs into print ready posters. We brought out hundreds of copies to share with the students and the schools and did a fun exercise with all of the students to help them remember the number. These posters are up all over the reservation and in Rapid City! Over the summer kids will participate in a music video to promote the LIFELINE.

It was a whirlwind tour around the rez – we made 15 visits in 4 short days!! We handed out awards to Monthly Art Contest Winners, presented membership kits to our Creator Club participants, shared the new LIFELINE posters, handed out applications for the Summer Arts program and watched videos created at Mitakuye programs!

We had dresses and make up for the young ladies of Pine Ridge who were getting ready for prom. Volunteer Paula Cantu set up shop in the BEAR cave so the young ladies could get their prom make up done by a professional hair and makeup artist. Our super-hero Tiny D even got a makeover!

Worked hard with Brian Sherman to create the name and logo for his new program DreamSteps! Brian is our Mentee who received a 2017 DreamStarter grant to start a youth dance program on Pine Ridge.  The Beautiful logo was created by Pine Ridge Artist Billy Janis. Brian will be traveling to Washington DC this weekend to attend the Dreamstarter Academy where he will get training in being a DreamStarter Ambassador!  Brian will travel to Los Angeles in June where we will train him and help him develop curriculum for his program. Yay Brian!!