Services

Youth Sports Program: Activities include youth tackle football, cheerleading, and basketball, 3 on 3 basketball, soccer, baseball, golf, swimming, dance, and wrestling.

Rock ‘n the Rez Summer Program: This six-week program is conducted Monday through Thursday from 9:00am – 4:30pm. It is designed for youth ages 6 – 12 years, provides activities such as traditional singing, dancing, drumming, arts and crafts, hip-hop dancing, rock climbing, fishing, NFL football camp, traditional camp, filming music video, and field trips. Annually, this program culminates with a Pow Wow and live performance for parents, relatives, friends, and community members. During the last project year, the Youth Leaders, Assistant Youth Leaders, and two Youth Coordinators provided supervision and oversight for this program.

Tribal Youth Council: The Tribal Youth Council, began during the early stages of this project and has grown from fifteen (15) to thirty (30) members, ranging in age from 12 - 19. The Council meets the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of each month. Their activities include fundraising, community projects, leadership camps, UNITY conference and the Northwest Indian Youth conference. During the third project year, the Coeur d’ Alene Tribal Council signed a resolution recognizing the Tribal Youth Council as a formal entity. The Council is also recognized as a UNITY Tribal Youth council.

The Council’s community projects have included cutting and stacking wood for elders, serving dinner at community events, cleaning and planting flowers at  neighborhood parks, and helping at the Affiliated Tribes of the Northwest Indian conferences.

The fundraising projects have included 50/50 drawings, bake sales, and a Youth Basketball Tournament.

The Tribal Youth Council also hosted dances for the Youth in the community; over the last three years 924 youth attended the eleven-hosted dances.

The After school Program: Activities include arts and crafts, traditional Native American dancing and drumming, hip hop dancing, swimming, games, physical activities, tutoring, and field trips. A total of 147 youth have participated in the after school program.

Desmet Community Youth Center: A youth “drop-in” program, begun in one of the outlying rural communities, serves an average of 20-30 youth each evening (Wednesday – Sunday from 6:00 -1 0:00pm). Activities at this center include games, physical activities, community dinners, field trips and the center has become a safe place for the youth to just go and “hang out.”

Staff

The Youth Program staff is dedicated to providing a safe, non-threatening environment for youth of all ages. Our goal is to educate youth in order to make lifestyle change. We seek to leave members with a good experience that can be carried with them in the future.