Visions of Hope

Jun 22, 2012

By Laura Johnson

What does hope look like to the young eyes of Pine Ridge Reservation? There will be a thousand examples of it on display this Friday, June 22, at the Lakota Voice Project art installation opening at the Little Wound Elementary School Auditorium in Kyle.

The project is the brainchild of business students at Oglala Lakota College. They wanted to raise awareness about the alarmingly high suicide rate on Pine Ridge, a problem that had touched every single one of them. To do so, the college students distributed hundreds of disposable cameras to Lakota schoolchildren, with only one rule  — to document what hope looks like. The children did, and their visions are beautiful. 

The American Advertising Federation of the Black Hills helped the Oglala Lakota College students develop the Lakota Voice Project. The collaboration has proved as inspiring for the professional mentors as it has for the youth. Jason Alley, a board member of the Advertising Federation, recently wrote, “This class of college students gave me a first glimpse of a world that few advertising professionals truly understand. And they gave me a view of a way that life can be lived that surprised me, that invigorated and enlightened me. More importantly, they are a shining example to our local advertising community at large. Do something to better your community. Do something to change social forces. Do something that won’t show up in your company’s bottom line. Do something.”

Do something. That’s a good lesson for all of us to take from the Lakota Voice Project's messages of hope.