Cheyenne River Youth Project
This project’s mission is to “giving our Lakota youth and families access to the culturally relevant, enriching, and enduring opportunities we need to build stronger, healthier communities and a more vibrant future together.” This statement recognizes children as the future and prioritizes them & their needs. This organization focuses on a lot more than just food sovereignty, and began as an afterschool youth center for children. CRYP also has programs and initiatives focused on the Lakota teen community’s needs and desires, family services, art enrichment, and social enterprises dedicated to bringing money back into the community. To foster Native food sovereignty, the organization has a 2.5 acre community garden, an outdoor classroom that offers education to children and teens, and additional workshops and classes on food sovereignty, environmental education, and Indigenous farming techniques. The goal of the Winyan Toka Win garden is to acquaint Lakota youth with their native lands and foster a healthy relationship with food and their elders. Some of the food grown here is incorporated into the snacks offered at the CRYP’s youth center, so even those who don’t spend time at the garden will reap the benefits of what’s growing there.