Youth ‘Graffiti Jam’ hits 10th year anniversary on Cheyenne River Reservation

AUGUST 15, 2024:

The annual RedCan Graffiti Jam on the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota just celebrated its tenth anniversary. The Native youth art festival is held on the Cheyenne River Youth Project campus in Eagle Butte.

Executive Director Julie Garreau says the jam is about more than art She says part of their mission to provide opportunities for kids.

“You know, it’s community development. It is youth development. I would also say it’s like cultural reclamation. I think it’s language revitalization, because we’re using Lakota language on our walls. I think it’s also healing.”

This year’s event featured hoop dancing, poetry reading, community meals, skateboard painting and a rock band from Rapid City. Fourteen graffiti artists from across the world made nine murals in the campus’ art park and the community.

Garreau says the jam was designed as a one-time event a decade ago to improve decrepit buildings in town. But it was so well-received, she says the organization keeps hosting it. Next year, the group has been invited to bring a version of the RedCan Graffiti Jam to the Smithsonian Folklife Festival being held in Washington, D.C.

Additionally, Garreau says the Cheyenne River Youth Project is also doing summer internships for kids covering topics such as Lakota culture and arts, sustainable agriculture and Native wellness.

“We have these kids who are working jobs and learning specifically about those areas. And I get the biggest kick out of it. I’ll be listening to kids when they’re on break, and they’ll take a phone call and they’ll say, ‘No, I’m at work.’ They see it as something, like, really big.”

Garreau says the internship program, which started this year, helps kids build confidence.

CRYP is a Lakota youth advocacy organization founded in 1988.

JULY 18, 2024:

The Cheyenne River Youth Project’s 10th Annual RedCan Invitational Graffiti Jam (July 10-13, 2024) is in the books. Nine new murals have come to life around Eagle Butte, and the public Waniyetu Wowapi (Winter Count) Art Park is filled to the brim with new pieces from the 14 featured RedCan artists, CRYPs Lakota Art Fellows and teen art interns, local youth and community members of all ages.

On RedCan’s final day, the art park bustled with spray painting, skateboard design, youth arts and crafts, hoop-dancing lessons, and field day games — with plenty of water activities and a frozen T-shirt contest to help kids beat the heat. Despite temperatures in the 90s and high humidity, the community came together for a hearty evening meal in the park and live performances by Oglala rock band The Wake Singers and acclaimed Mvskoke Creek/Seneca hoop dancers The Sampson Brothers.

The CRYP team was able to button up all tipis, shade tents, art and youth activity supplies, performance equipment, and meal supplies before a powerful line of storms hit the region with 80-mile-per-hour winds and heavy rain. Thankfully, the CRYP campus — including its 2.5-acre Winyan Toka Win Garden — saw minimal damage from the severe weather, and artists, guests and volunteers were on their way home on Sunday, July 14 as planned.

For more information about artists, special guests and mural sites, see details below. More details are available at www.lakotayouth.org/redcan.

ARTISTS:

Returning RedCan artists:

East, an artist of Cherokee descent from Denver; Cyfi, a Yaqui and Azteca artist from Minneapolis; Dwayno, a Salt River Pima-Maricopa and Tohono O’odham artist from Arizona; 179, a Latine artist from Seattle; Hoka, an artist of Oneida, Oglala Lakota and La Jolla Band of Luiseño descent from Albuquerque; TamiJoy, a Cheyenne River Lakota artist; Yukue, from the Pascua Yaqui Tribe in Guadalupe, Arizona; Rezmo, a Diné and Mexicá artist currently living in the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community in Arizona; and Minneapolis-based artists Biafra and Wundr.

New artists in 2024:

Phat1 and Lady Diva, Māori artists from Aotearoa (New Zealand); Midwestern artist Brady Scott; and Kansas-born Ponca artist Amp.

GUEST PERFORMERS:

Guest performers for 2024:

The Wake Singers, an Oglala Lakota band from Mni Luzihan; Cheyenne River Lakota storyteller Taté Walker; entertainer Jackie Bird, a member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Tribe of South Dakota and Three Affiliated Tribes of North Dakota; and renowned Mvskoke Creek/Seneca hoop dancers The Sampson Bros.

As always, the Cheyenne River-based Wakinyan Maza drum group began and ended each day with songs and a blessing.

COMMUNITY MURAL SITES:

Sturdevants, East Side: US-212 &, Main St, Eagle Butte, SD 57625 (Artist: 179).

Old Agency Building: in front of the CRST Bingo Hall, On Lincoln Street between Jefferson Street and Highway 212 (Artists: Biafra, Cyfi, Wundr).

Si Tanka Trailer: Located on Landmark Avenue between Main Street & Cedar Avenue behind the CRST Fitness Center (Artist: East).

Sturdevants, North Side: US-212 & Main St, Eagle Butte, SD 57625 (Artists: Brady, Amp).

Wakpá Wašté Animal Shelter & Clinic: 16514 Rodeo Grounds Road, Eagle Butte, SD 57625 (Artist: TamiJoy).

Veterans Building: Trailer is located on the Corner of E Tituwan Lp and Highway 212 (Artist: Dwayno).

KIPI Radio: 724 Main St., Eagle Butte, SD 57625. Located on the corner of B Street and Main. (Phat1, Lady Diva).

CRST Vets Food Pantry: Located off Lincoln Street in the same parking lot as the Old Agency Building and the CRST Bingo Hall, all of which are just north of CRYP’s Campus (Artists: Yukue, Rezmo).

Golden Rule, North Side: 212 Main St., Eagle Butte, SD 57625. Located on Main Street and Pioneer Ave; the wall is facing north with a large empty lot (Artist: Hoka).

To view our new RedCan short film, “Owášte,” and our other documentary projects, visit CRYP on Vimeo at vimeo.com/lakotayouth.

To purchase our new RedCan 2024 merchandise, visit www.lakotayouth.org/shop/redcan-merchandise. All purchases directly benefit CRYP’s youth programming and services.