Mitakuye Foundation

The theme for February’s contest is LAKOTA!

You can interpret this idea any way you want. You can use painting, drawing, photography, collage, poetry, stories, video, music, dance – anything original that the theme of the month inspires you to create! It is all up to your imagination – we encourage all forms of creativity!

2018 was a record breaking year at Mitakuye!

We had more students than ever submitting to our Creators Club and Art Contests!

We ran multiple Hoye Wayelo Arts Immersion programs this summer including our first ever sleep away intensive in the Black Hills! The Intensives bring local artists and visiting artists from all over the globe to work with young Lakota Artists in the fields of Dance, Music, Music Production, Visual Arts, Filmmaking, Photography, Writing, and a full spectrum of Traditional Arts including: Traditional Brain Tanning, Beadwork, Plant Medicines, and Traditional Flutes.

Check out the song the music students created here:

https://mitakuyefoundation.com/hoye-wayelo-2018-summer-music-production-the-art-of-life/

Check out the films the students made here:

https://mitakuyefoundation.com/hoye-wayelo-2018-summer-films/

We took the art to the streets with students in Pine Ridge.

We did several Residencies at Crazy Horse School in Wanblee where we taught dance, music, writing, filmmaking and music production.

Students wrote and recorded an original song you can listen to here:

They also filmed a music video that will be out at the beginning of the year!

We connected with thousands of students across the reservation in our Spring and Fall school tours and handed out hundreds of awards to contest winners and Creator’s Club participants!

Every school is supplied with posters for The LIFELINE – our 24 hour help line run by leaders from the Sweetgrass Project and BEARs program.

We had another beautiful year for the Annual 500 Mile Sacred Hoop Prayer Run.

Footage of our runners from the Standing Rock Prayer run were featured in the award winning film AWAKE: A Dream From Standing Rock.

The Thunderlake Lakota Nation Boxing Club for Girls and Boys toured all over the region. Students won many of their matches this year including the regional and national Silver Gloves Championships!

Our Holiday Toy Drive sent out 2 huge shipments to Wakpamni village in Pine Ridge. The Holiday community dinner and give-away is one of many community safe events we sponsor.

We have a full roster of programs and events lined up for 2019!

Help us get the new year off to a great start by making an End Of Year contribution here:

https://mitakuyefoundation.com/donate/

WOPILA!

We are collecting NEW, UNWRAPPED toys for kids ages 9 months to 18 years.

Pick ups in Los Angeles are December 15th and 16th. If you would like to set up a drive in your community please let us know. You can also donate directly to the toy fund: https://mitakuyefoundation.com/donate/   – and note “Toy Fund” in the program box.

Wopila! Thanks to your support this has been our biggest donation weekend ever!!

Thank you Allen Salaway @lilnativeboy for your steadfast support of Native youth. And thank you to everyone who shared his article and donated to all the worthy causes @lilnativeboy has brought to light. Your support directly affects the lives of so many native youth. These are the voices we need to support. These are the voices that are changing the narrative!

During our end of summer programming we made time for a special site specific art adventure in the Black Hills with some of our Hoye Wayelo Arts Immersion students! We visited several locations and students experimented using the natural landscape and earth materials. Kids also experimented with photography, movement, and video.

In our final location of the day Ted decided to build a bridge!

Earn points every month in our Creator’s Club! Students earn 10 points every month they submit to save up for great prizes. Get in the practice of creating every month and earn prizes along the way!

On contest months we provide a theme and students can win art supplies and cash awards.

A beautiful way to end the summer! We spent a week making art in a residency at Crazy Horse School in Wanblee and traveling around to schools across the reservation handing out awards to our Contest winners and our Creator’s Club participants!

 

 

 

 

 

Our film students learned all aspects of film making: pre-production, production and post! They created two special projects in narrative and documentary genres.

The narrative group created this short horror film “Camp Thunder”. The script was created by the whole group and all pitched in in different crew positions.The film was Directed by Charlie Plenty Wolf, Cinematography by Aurora Marshall, and features Nora Marshall, Brandy Marshall, Amerylexa Sharpish, Mia Ann Grant, Natalia Two Two, Destiny Ann No Moccasin, Deneja Pine, and special guest star Destiny Leftwich. Nora Marshall also created the props for the film and wrote and performed an original score!

 

Students working on the documentary project interviewed Lakota elder Pauline Wilson. They shot footage and used archival and stock footage to create this short documentary. The film team:  Joey Hill, Maranda Joy Red Owl, Annette Red Owl, and Sweetgrass American Horse.

This original song was written, performed and produced by students of the Mitakuye 2018 Hoye Wayelo Summer Arts Intensive. Black Hills, South Dakota:

Beau Black Crow Jr. – Traditional Song and Drum
Charlie Plenty Wolf – Guitar & Production
Corey Short Horn – Traditional Flute
Dante Kaleb Sitting Up – Producer
Dora Red Owl – Synth Bass
Erin White Face – Guitar
Nora Marshall – Keyboard
Ted White Plume – Traditional Drum

Vocals and Lyrics by:
Shayondra Long
Teresa Isabel Graham
Waziyata Thunderhawk