Spring Break Service Trip – Cheyenne River Youth Project
Eagle Butte, S. D.
Do you like youth? Want to see a different part of the country and learn about the inhabitants of this land before the U.S. was established? If so, volunteer at the Cheyenne River Youth Project Eagle Butte, S. D. for a week during spring break. Participants on this trip will be sharing their own college-life-culture and learning about Lakota lifestyles. Volunteers will develop relationships by tutoring, teaching classes, meeting elders of the Lakota community, and playing with the youth of this area.
Professor of History Michael Smuktsa, Ph.D., participated in three service trips to the Cheyenne River Youth Project over the 2008, 2010, and 2012 spring breaks. The group provided five days of service at the Cheyenne River Youth project.Click here to learn more about the Cheyenne River Youth Project http://www.lakotayouth.org/
In 2012, the service trip was linked to a Viterbo University Mission Seminar, VUSM 300, Serving the Common Good. In addition to examining the concept of the common good and issues of social justice, the class focused on the history of the Northern Plains Indians, specifically the Lakota, from pre-contact times to the present. Special attention was given to the issue of Paha Sapa, the Black Hills, in Lakota history.