Native American Youth Culture Camp Has Its Best Summer Yet
Each year, The Next Door Inc.’s (TNDI) Youth Services team puts on free summer camps for local area youth. Among the three camps and summer youth employment program offered by TNDI is a Native American Culture Camp (NACC). Now in its third year of programming, the camp has seen its greatest turnout yet.
Upwards of 30 community volunteers and staff members helped facilitate two weeks of cultural and outdoor activities for over 60 young Native American campers. Activities included beading, moccasin and ribbon skirts/shirts creating, painting, drum making, and learning Ichishkin (Sahaptin) language. Kah-Nee-Ta Resort and Spa also welcomed NACC campers for their soft opening of their new and improved facilities. In addition to Kah-Nee-Ta, over a dozen community partners contributed to NACC’s success this year by providing transportation, snacks, education, health services, and more each day.
Similar to past years of NACC, the final day of camp was reserved for a mini powwow for campers to invite their families for a meal and to showcase of what youth worked on during NACC.
“Despite the heat, youth worked to finish projects, started to become friends with one another, and were planning what they would do on their family day, each of them getting excited for our ending celebration and Indian Tacos they would be eating with their family,” TNDI’s Native Supports Program Manager, Dawn LeMieux shared.
“Knowing the youth who participated will see the friends they met at camp in their community, at school, or at cultural events, and that the campers are already asking about the next culture camp and the activities we'll be doing during the school year, continues to inspire me to keep planning and advocating for our community engagements to continue. This continues to be the dream job for me and the community as youth are now seeing what I wished I had when I was their age,” she reflects.
