Last weekend, the Center for Native American Youth participated in the 2011 United National Indian Tribal Youth (UNITY) conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota, attended by over 1,000 Native youth! The Center led workshops with over 100 Native youth and also joined up with the Department of Interior in a remarkable Let’s Move in Indian Country Beyoncé dance.
The Center held three workshops with Native youth to introduce the Center for Native American Youth, educate youth on resources available to them and create a dialogue about the successes, challenges and needs young people are facing in tribal communities.
Attendees at the workshop played a game (with prizes for the winner) which taught youth about organizations and scholarships available to them, suicide prevention resources and other information about Native youth issues. Josie and Erin ended the workshop by leading the youth in an honest dialogue about youth-related concerns and ideas for possible solutions. This workshop was an opportunity to increase communication and collaboration among Native youth leaders, while allowing them to connect directly with the Center.
The Center plans to create a summary report on the workshops and share it with the workshop attendees and conference administrators to ensure we are moving forward with a continual collaborative effort.
The Center also participated in the Let’s Move in Indian Country activities at UNITY. Josie Raphaelito, from the Center, dancing for 6 hours, taught over 300 Native youth the official Let’s Move dance “Move Your Body” created by Beyoncé. Pictures and an official YouTube video will be shared on the Let’s Move in Indian Country website soon!
Photo by Adam Sings In The Timber
