Ho Te’ca: Young Voice

Porcupine, SD, 2004

Looking up, an outsider might see a beautiful sunny sky above the Pine Ridge Reservation. But most teens on the reservation see a very dark cloud obstructing the blue sky of their aspirations for the future. Pine Ridge reservation is located in the poorest county in the United States. About 85 percent of its residents are unemployed, living below the poverty line in crowded, substandard housing. The high school dropout rate hovers at nearly 80 percent. It's no wonder there is a sense of hopelessness among young people. Many of the youth feel such a sense of despair that they have tuned out, asking “Why bother?”

KILI-FM Radio, the Oglala Tribe and partners at Youth Opportunity teamed together to tap the creative energy of teens, turning them into radio producers and inspiring them to envision a different future for themselves through a five-day youth radio production camp where teens learned the craft of creating radio programming.

Nine teens from South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Reservation called their program Ho Te’ca, which means "Young Voice" in Lakota. Hear the magic that happened when they found their voices to tell revealing audio stories about themselves using rap, poetry, music, and philosophic readings. For example, Travis and Will teamed up to produce a rap segment. Duanna and Hannah wrote poems, and Neesto read thoughtful observations. The topics? Rumors and lies, chosen by the teens because most of them had been deeply affected by them.

While recording and editing at their first radio production camp, the group worked together as a team to shape these pieces into a cohesive program—something they had never done before. Read more about the "first ever" Radio Production Camp in trainer Jamie Lee’s first-person report.

Ho Te’ca: Young Voice will provide the basis for wider community problem solving and training in how to use creative visioning to foster a better future for Pine Ridge youth.

Awards:

KILI-FM Radio Round Four

$ 4,150 for equipment for audio stations
— Empowerment Zone in Pine Ridge

$6,000 in-kind support
— OST Health

$6,000 in-kind support
— Youth Opportunity

$1,000 for equipment and $2,000 in-kind for instructor, on-line work and use of computers
— Crazy Horse School

$10,063 in-kind support
— KILI-FM