Mitakuye Foundation

Hoye Wayelo Fall Arts Workshops is a WRAP!

November 3, 2016 by Mitakuye Foundation Leave a Comment

Artists and teachers gather around the drum!

Back from an amazing workshop with the young people of Pine Ridge!

Young artists from all over the reservation created content for our quarterly magazine and a gallery full of painting, drawing, collage, and three dimensional art. They built a traditional drum and carved and painted their own drum sticks. They did traditional bead and quill work and wove baskets from sweetgrass. One group wrote, directed, and shot a scary movie which they created original choreography, music, and sound effects for! They did Halloween make-up and face painting with a professional hair and make-up artist. They all participated in an art/service project – braiding fresh sweetgrass for Tiny and the BEARs program and took part in painting our new mascot Big Red. Phew – that was a lot of creating!

We all kept the people in Standing Rock in our thoughts and prayers and used our time together to discuss and create art that reflected what was on our minds. These beautiful young people chose to use their time and energy for something positive and constructive. We finished the program with a movie screening, some spoken word poetry, and an Art Walk to see everything the students created. We finished by handing out awards for the September art contest and then celebrated with Indian Tacos!

Thank you to all of the people who helped make this workshop possible!

Chris Bordeaux, Julie Yellow Hawk, and the Porcupine School staff! Simon J. Joseph, Tiny DeCorey, Rick Gray Grass, Waylon Black Crow, JT Shinning Oneside, Paula Cantu, Maryan Captain, Brittanie Sterner, Mary Gleason, Sandhya Ramachandran, Vanne Mocilac, Outlast Film Program, Charlyn Griffith, Sam Spetner, Lakota Prairie Ranch Motel, Terry Pechota, Lee Linehan and Oelrichs School, Cheryl Locke, Kellee Brewer and Wolf Creek School.

Our Mascot BIG RED welcomes the students. Photo Simon Joseph.

Our amazing hosts Pahin Sinte Owayawa! Photo Simon Joseph.

Morning Circle. Photo Simon Joseph.

Morning greeting! Photo Simon Joseph.

Waylon Bllackcrow makes a traditional drum with the students. Photo Simon Joseph.

Preparing the Buffalo Hide for the drum. Photo Simon Joseph.

Preparing the drumstick for sanding and painting. Photo Simon Joseph.

Drum Sticks. Photo Simon Joseph.

Students painting BIG RED. Photo Simon Joseph.

Painting Big Red. Photo Maryan Captan.

Kids setting up our Mascot BIG RED! Photo Sandhya Ramachandran.

Our newly designed mascot – painted by the students – makes its debut! Photo Simon Joseph.

Working on content for the magazine. Photo Maryan Captan.

Even Vampires love writing class! Photo Brittanie Sterner.

Art Class. Photo Sandhya Ramachandran.

Painting. Photo Sandhya Ramachandran

Drawing. Photo Simon Joseph.

JT teaches traditional arts to the students. Photo Simon Joseph.

Beading. Photo Sandhya Ramachandran.

One of our artists shows off a sweetgrass basket in progress. Photo Sandhya Ramachandran.

Students create Halloween monsters with our resident Hair and Makeup artist Paula Cantu. Photo Jennifer Jessum.

Students help get the monsters ready for filming. Photo Mary Gleason.

Our filmmaking team rehearses a scene! Photo Sandhya Ramachandran.

Our DP Tailyn sets up a shot for the film. Photo Mary Gleason.

Our camera operator shoots the exterior scenes. Photo Sandhya Ramachandran.

Braiding the sweetgrass for our art/service project. All the sweetgrass grown and donated by our friend Vanne Mocilac! Photo Sandhya Ramachandran.

Sweetgrass braided by the students in our art/service project for Tiny and the BEARs program. Photo Maryan Captan.

Little Beau belts out a prayer song! Photo Jennifer Jessum.

Our young resident singers! Photo Sandhya Ramachandran.

Traditional drum and sticks created by the students. Photo Jennifer Jessum.

Art Walk. Photo Maryan Captan.

Final Art display for the Art Walk. Photo Jennifer Jessum.

Students check out each others work during the Art Walk. Photo Jennifer Jessum.

September Winners: WATER

October 15, 2016 by Mitakuye Foundation Leave a Comment

Winners from our September Art Contest. This month’s theme was WATER. This has been a very important topic on many fronts and the young artists had many ways to interpret the theme. Congratulations to all of the winners!

Grand Prize Winner: Denato Two Bulls, Age 16, Oelrichs School

1st Place Honors Winner: Elizabeth Iron Horn Age 13

1st Place Winner: Joey Hill, Age 11, Wolf Creek School

1st Place Winner: Shawnee White, Age 13, Little Wound School

1st Place Winner:Dionne Mesteth, Age 14, Wolf Creek School

Honorable Mention Winner: Serenity True Blood, Age 10, Wolf Creek School

Honorable Mention Winner: Chamiqua Martinez, Age 11, Anpo Wicahpi School

Honorable Mention Winner: Eliza Brien, Age 10, Wolf Creek School

Merit Award Winner: Nisa Red Cloud, Age 11, Little Wound School

Merit Award Winner: Tara Roulliard, Age 12, Alpo Wicahpi School

Merit Award Winner: Mia Grant, Age 10, Wolf Creek School

Merit Award Winner: Ohiyesa Ramirez, Age 12, Anpo Wicahpi School

Merit Award Winner: Arlen Palmier, Age 9, Wolf Creek School

Merit Award Winner: Kayla He Crow, Age 10, Wolf Creek School

Merit Award Winner: Arianna Garcia, Age 11, Anpo Wicahpi School

Merit Award Winner: Tallinn Richards, Age 10, Wolf Creek School

Merit Award Winner: Britney No Leaf, Age 18, Gordon School

Merit Award Winner: LaTonna BlueBird, Age 10, Wolf Creek School

Prayer Run To Standing Rock Video

October 13, 2016 by Mitakuye Foundation Leave a Comment

Check out the inspirational young Sacred Hoop Runners as they run into the Oceti Sakowin Water Protectors Camp at Standing Rock!

Check out our photos from the run here:

Back From Standing Rock

October Art Contest: UNITY

October 5, 2016 by Mitakuye Foundation Leave a Comment

Prayer Run To Oceti Sakowin Water Protectors Camp at Standing Rock!

September 26, 2016 by Mitakuye Foundation

Mitakuye is excited to be sponsoring this prayer run from Pine Ridge to Standing Rock! The youth will run from the center of Pine Ridge reservation to Eagle Butte then on to Standing Rock and will finish at the Oceti Sakowin Camp where they will camp out and join with water protectors from tribes around the globe! We will have cameras for the youth to document their experiences and will help them edit together a short film in our fall workshop!

We will be running with special prayers for our beloved friend Tabria Red Cloud who just made her journey.

Come pray and run and be a part of this historical gathering. Runners please contact Rick Gray Grass Ricky Sage at the number listed on the flyer for details. Donations can be sent via https://mitakuyefoundation.com/donations/ (please note “Standing Rock Prayer Run”)

And big thanks to Lo Sprague and Meera LeVine for being instrumental in helping to make this happen!

MITAKUPI is now MITAKUYE!!!

September 25, 2016 by Mitakuye Foundation

Photo By Simon Joseph

We are changing our name to MITAKUYE!

We will be shifting over our paperwork to the new spelling over the next few months but are happy to let everyone know that we are now officially The Mitakuye Foundation!

Honoring Tabria

September 17, 2016 by Mitakuye Foundation

All of us here at Mitakupi are feeling heartbreak today as one of our students Tabria L. Red Cloud makes her journey. What a beautiful spirit! Always a smile on her face. Always ready to jump in and be of help. Always ready to try something new. We hold Tabria and her family and all of her BEAR family in our thoughts and prayers.