Life Initiatives

	Featured Video Pastor Larry Salway gives an exciting recap of what God has done this year at He Sapa New Life and Life Initiatives

Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation
Blizzard Relief Trip

The Cheyenne River Reservation was among 7 South Dakota reservations hit hard by blizzards in early 2010. Take a virtual trek with us to Cherry Creek to take food and clothing to the victims.

Basketball Camp 2009

Poverty is a lack of resources. One of the greatest resources that are absent among the poor are relationships that give hope. Basketball is a universal relationship-builder.

Life Initiatives

faith-based social action

training: extensive, free, video-based training on Lakota (Sioux) culture and the complexities of rising above poverty. Use the Navigation Bar at the top of this page to browse our resources for action.

Understand. Do.
(Preferably in that order)

community development: through relationships, equipping and building infrastructure.

racial reconciliation: Life Initiatives is a Native/Non-Native partnership committed to fostering understanding and reconciliation.

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Whether we are inside the Lakota Nation, or seeking to understand it from the outside, it's imperative to know the history of the Lakota people. We must appreciate the undaunted courage, the enduring spirit of survival, and the happy spirit of laughter among the Lakota. We must also appreciate the depth and breadth of challenges this people faces:

INJUSTICE has been a crippling force – both the generations of wrongs done to the Lakota by non-native people and power structures, as well as injustice from within some Native power structures.

GENERATIONAL POVERTY (in whatever culture it is found) becomes a self-generating force for failure if not properly understood and addressed.

SUBSTANCE AND SEXUAL ABUSE also present formidable barriers to taking the initiative for a better life.

But the Lakota people are here, still proud, still strong, still surviving, in the face of inestimable difficulties. And the victory of a better life will come. Life Initiatives, Inc exists as a partnership between Native and Non-Native people to address these challenges with confidence and realism. Few people have the fortitude to simply “will” themselves past these barriers to a better life, but with the support of one another, with spiritual strength, and with a clear strategy, we can take the initiative for a better life.