Children to children
James, a History teacher in the Midwest, contacted ONE Spirit about a project he was doing with his 7th graders. He had a short study section on Native American History, showed the movie, "Dances with Wolve"” and Diane Sawyer’s 20-20 episodes "Children of the Plains". He wrote, "Many of my students come from affluent backgrounds and didn’t realize the struggle the Lakota people were having just a few hundred miles from them. It really got the kids thinking about how they could help."
And did they ever help! "The kids had bake sales, a penny war, a silent auction and sold silicon bracelets saying "We Believe" in the Lakota language. The classes raised $800. We are going to talk about where it should go within the ONE Spirit organization."
The 107 kids had to decide whether to support short term goals of food, heat, and clothing or long term goals. The kids voted to send the money to the Safe House, to help with the long terms goals of supporting Lakota Youth.
James wrote "It was the kids who are the stars of this. I am very proud of my students and to be honest, a little awed. I never thought we would raise this much money! You are the ones that should be thanked. With the efforts of all the people at ONE Spirit, this great culture may yet survive. One of the themes of my curriculum is the mistreatment of Native Americans and you are there for us, working to correct that. Thank you!"
