FORT HALL — The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes are hosting the 40th annual Northwest Indian Youth Conference with the theme “Dreamers of Today and Champions of Tomorrow” March 23 through 26 at the Fort Hall Reservation in Fort Hall and Idaho State University.
The four-day conference will include leadership workshops, motivational speakers, a two-day College and Resource Fair, Idaho National Laboratory CAVE exhibit, a talent show, a fashion show, a powwow, traditional games and feast and more. The tribes anticipate up to 600 American Indian youth ranging from 14 to 18 years old and adult mentors from all over the Northwest region including Idaho, Nevada, Montana, Wyoming, Washington and Oregon to attend the four-day conference.
Each day of the conference has a unique theme: Day 1 is Culture Day, Day 2 is Physical Activity Day, Day 3 is Education Day and Day 4 is Leadership Day.
On day one, culture day, will include an opening ceremony with prayer, a welcome by the Fort Hall Business Council, a flag ceremony by local Veterans Association, a cultural welcome by the Shoshone-Bannock Junior/Senior High School youths followed by a keynote speaker on “The Importance of Culture in Modern Society.” The day continues with traditional games and Shoshone-Bannock feast including buffalo stew and chokecherry pudding.
Day two is physical activity highlighting the importance of taking care of your body — physically, mentally and spiritually. Various activities have been planned both on and off the reservation including rock climbing, archery, Zumba, a day long trip to “PohaBa,” land of healing waters in Lava Hot Springs, a 3-on-3 basketball tournament, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and cultural activities where youth get to create and take home a ribbon shirt or cultural tie for the males and wing dresses for the females.
Evening activities include a banquet with a talent show and fashion show at the Chiefs Event Center with live music by MTV 2015 Artist of the week, Supaman (member of the Crow Tribe of Montana). Banquet tickets may be available for sale to the community depending on maximum capacity in the facility.
Day three is Education Day held at ISU with a welcome by ISU Native Americans United and TRIO program, a keynote address titled “Finding the Warrior Within,” the start of the two-day College and Resource Fair, the INL CAVE exhibit (one day only), empowering workshops on tribal sovereignty and leadership, tobacco prevention and energy related activities including nuclear forensics and geothermal. Evening activities include the youth dance and DJ Battle hosted by tribal DJ Supaman and a money spending activity with an ice cream social. The dance is open to the community youth for $5 at the door.
Day four is leadership day back in Fort Hall at the Chiefs Event center with a keynote address by famous American Indian female activist Winona LaDuke (Anishinabe tribe); this event is open to the community for a small fee at the door. Workshops include teen driving, youth leadership and one-on-one with special guests Winona LaDuke, Tara Houska and Supaman, followed by a cultural giveaway at lunch, an awards ceremony and the annual social powwow (open to community for free) with a special autograph session with all the special guests attending the youth conference.
The NWIYC youth conference is the second-largest youth conference held annually throughout the Northwest by various host tribes that bid for the event. The last time the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes hosted NWIYC was 10 years ago in 2005 at ISU.
To register or for more information, contact Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, 477 Human Services, P.O. Box 306, Fort Hall, Idaho 83202, 208-478-3712, toll-free 888-297-1378, e-mail nwiyc@sbtribes.com. Cost is $150 student fee ages 14 to 18 and $75 for mentor registration chaperone with students. The registration includes a swag bag with event T-shirt, meals, all access to sessions and activities.
For more information, go to www.sbtribes.com/NWIYC or Facebook 2015 NWIYC.