Sacred Water and Land Program

 

Native educators and youth organizers will be guiding the design and implementation of experiential education programs. Elders and youth in council working to preserve culture, sacred sites and our indigenous languages through songs have been laying a foundation for intergenerational programming. Sacred Water and Land: Youth Education and Empowerment is a way for the youth to connect to our sacred sites in the ways our ancestors taught us by the offering of ourselves, acknowledging the spirits of the land, allowing the youth to hear the stories and teachings of the elders and knowledge keepers of these sites.

The youth will learn original instructions on how we are to care for all creation and document their family histories. They will be mentored in a space where they can cultivate critical consciousness that enables them to deconstruct problems and offer culturally-rooted solutions. This will stimulate family tree conversations at home and also remind them of our responsibility to all life in their own terms. We aim to build long-lasting intergenerational relationships of mutual benefit for the youth and adults. At the end of the first cycle, the youth participants will co-design a peer evaluation which includes video testimony.

Short term Goals:
1. Youth participants cultivate a sense of honor in their indigenous heritage by undergoing a family tree exploration
2. 12-15 Youth trained in Indigenous Leadership skills and community advocacy
3. Participants’ physical and spiritual health is strengthened through land-based education and deepening knowledge of traditional foods.

Long term Goals:
1. Increased awareness and commitment to protect and honor sacred sites
2. Creative documentation of intergenerational exchanges i.e. visual art, poetry, stories that can be shared with broader community
3. Creating a community-based Texas Native library

4. Participants are inspired to explore career pathways in land management, language revitalization, and traditional arts.

 

We look to raise funds through private donors, grants, and fundraiser events so that we may continue to offer these programs to our youth within our communities . All raised funds are much appreciated and help us to offer youth programs to the like this one.