MMDTC's Dakota Culture and Heritage revitalization project.
MMDTC's "Spark of Creativity" Dakota Humanities Revitalization Project.
With this project, we aim to host 5 new distinct workshops focusing on traditional Dakota arts and culture.
Planned workshops:
3 in-person and online courses teaching the critically endangered "Dakota Language & Writing", "Regalia making & Dakota Crafts", and "Dakota Culture & History" classes.
2 workshops where the participants will work together to make traditional Dakota Tepees and Birchbark canoes.
2022-2023 Cultural Heritage and Community Identity Grants - Winter 2021
MMDTC will been recording both our proposed and actual outcomes quantitively based on number of participants, as well as participant engagement satisfaction. Based on past programs, participant feedback, and preliminary surveys that we have conducted, we project at least 500 participants over the course of project, with well over 10,000 additional indirect participants via our annual Wacipi going forward. We will be asking all participants to complete a survey upon attending our workshops in order to ascertain if / how we can do better at spreading awareness and preserving the Dakota culture. MMDTC is always striving to improve and strengthen our ability to achieve our mission. During our annual Wacipi, which sees thousands of participants every year, we will also be displaying the workshop's Tepees, and we will have a booth on location to provide information for future prospective attendees for future workshops and gauge reception. By coalescing our programs in ways such as this, we are able to strengthen and enrich our projects and increase participation and exposure.
So far, we have accomplished all of our goals to this point. We have held instances of each class, and the first phase of both Tepee and Canoe classes are complete.; We accomplished all of our goals!. We have held instances of each class, and the first phase of both Tepee and Canoe classes are complete. The classes are still ongoing, as planned and scheduled.
Steven Renville, Vice Chairman (LM)
Greg Strandmark, Historian (LM)
Daniell Ross, Secretary, (LM)
Joseph Lennartson, Treasurer (LM)
Tommy Tomahawk, Tribal Relations