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# Cheyenne River Youth Project

![Kyla Scott](https://rootedsonshine.com/hubfs/headshot.jpeg)

[Kyla Scott November 17, 2024](https://rootedsonshine.com/blog/author/kyla-scott)

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#### Hearing about things that have happened elsewhere can spark ideas about what you can implement locally. 

"Founded in 1988, the [Cheyenne River Youth Project](https://lakotayouth.org/)is a grassroots, Native- and woman-led nonprofit organization dedicated to providing Lakota youth with access to a vibrant and more secure future. At the heart of our innovative, culturally relevant work is Wólakȟota, our people’s sacred way of life."

 

Their [perspective](https://lakotayouth.org/about/our-why/) explains that as Native leaders, their primary focus is to serve as healers. Their work is medicine. In Lakota culture, children are sacred. 

From their impactful [graffiti art program](https://lakotayouth.org/arts-center/) to their [youth center](https://lakotayouth.org/programs/the-main/) to [outdoor classrooms](https://lakotayouth.org/programs/native-food-sovereignty/outdoor-classroom/) to [midnight basketball](https://lakotayouth.org/programs/cokata-wiconi/midnight-basketball/), [CRYP explains](https://lakotayouth.org/about/our-why/), "it’s not just about giving money, which cannot solve every program by itself. In our communities, we need trust-based, heart-centered, low-touch giving and long-term investment designed to effect lasting, transformative change."

"For a hundred years, it was virtually illegal to be Lakota. The Native American tribe, known for its chiefs Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, and Red Cloud, was legally dispossessed of its religion, its spiritual practices, and much of its language, starting in the late 19th century. All Native American tribes were. Until 1978 and the passage of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, generations of Lakota were raised without access to their culture. [Now, the Cheyenne River Youth Project is working with a determined generation of young Lakota to create a stronger economic and cultural future—and they’re using their Lakota heritage to get there](https://lakotayouth.org/lakota-culture/lakota-in-america/)."

Executive Director Julie Garreau often says that CRYP is “[the little nonprofit that did](https://lakotayouth.org/about/mission-history/).” 

Cheyenne River Youth Project has indeed accomplished so much. They are an inspiration. 

![Kyla Scott](https://rootedsonshine.com/hubfs/headshot.jpeg)

### Kyla Scott

My professional goals are to support emotional health and well-being, develop informed appreciation of culture, foster critical thinking, and provide individuals with applicable information and practical skills that can be used in professional and personal lives. 

<https://rootedsonshine.com/blog/author/kyla-scott>

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