We are the Center for Native American Youth

Our Vision is for all Native American youth to lead full and healthy lives, to have equal access to opportunity, and to draw strength from their culture and inspire one another.

GIANNI LACEY-HOWARD

GIANNI LACEY-HOWARD, 18
OCCANEECHI BAND OF THE SAPONI NATION

For me, wearing my beadwork is like wearing armor on a battlefield. It brings me protection and tranquility. In this painted image, the medicine wheel presents itself behind a young Native woman wearing a matching beaded earring and necklace set. It is to represent the strength that beadwork carries when preserving mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health.

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"Our youth are in a hard time right now. We face loss of language, culture, lives, and lack of representation in tribal and federal government. Every elder lost is one more speaker we cannot learn from. I created the Youth Enrichment Camp to target our loss of language and culture."

-Nancy Deere-Turney,

Muscogee (Creek) Nation, 2017 Champion for Change