Dances With Words Youth Development Program on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation

FAIN: ZH-252984-17

First People's Fund (Rapid City, SD 57701-2646)
Brandie Macdonald (Project Director: May 2016 to December 2016)
Laree Pourier (Project Director: December 2016 to May 2024)

Youth programs that focus on the importance of oral traditions through historical, cultural, and creative lenses.

Dances with Words (DWW) is a youth development initiative that works with young people, adult mentors, schools and nonprofit partners on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation empowering participants to become engaged civic leaders through literary, spoken word poetry and other art forms. DWW is a project of First Peoples Fund, a national organization founded in 1995 that supports Native American artists, culture and traditional knowledge. As part of Youth Speaks’ Brave New Voices cohort, Dances With Words has grown from four youth from one high school to 19 youth from all four high schools on the reservation and aims to continue to grow on Pine Ridge and create an adaptable program for other tribal communities. The program networks Native young people to literary traditions and other art forms, mentors, and the broader spoken word community,helping them grow into their roles as culture bearers, artists and community leaders.