Uplifting Youth through Servant Leadership
Sophie Landin, an enrolled member of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation (MHA Nation), exemplifies servant leadership as the Great Plains Regional Representative on UNITY’s Executive Committee. In her community of White Shield, North Dakota, Sophie focuses on empowering Native youth and celebrating culture. She works closely with elders and school leaders to plan meaningful activities, ensuring that traditions and values guide each initiative. By putting her community first and encouraging others to lead, Sophie demonstrates that true leadership is about service, culture, and unity – qualities that continue to inspire Native youth across the Great Plains.
Reviving Language and Cultural Pride
One of Sophie’s recent efforts has been revitalizing the Arikara (Sahnish) language in daily life. With her guidance, the MHA Youth Leadership Council organized daily Arikara language announcements over the school intercom. Each morning, students hear greetings, phrases, or a word of the day in Arikara, bringing a once-endangered language into the hallways. This daily practice strengthens cultural identity and encourages all students to learn and use their Native language. Alongside language, Sophie’s council introduced weekly themed dress-up days during Native American Heritage Month in November. Students and staff participated in “culture day” themes – from wearing traditional attire or moccasins to showcasing tribal colors – turning school spirit into a fun cultural learning experience. Elders and cultural department staff helped provide teachings for each theme, so that every outfit or symbol came with a lesson about its significance. These creative spirit weeks not only made school more exciting but also taught students about their heritage in an engaging way. By weaving language and tradition into everyday school life, Sophie has helped her peers take pride in who they are and learn about the rich history of the Great Plains tribes.
Showcasing Youth Talent and Confidence
To further empower young people, Sophie and her youth council hosted a youth talent show for local elementary students. They transformed the school gym into a supportive stage where children could sing, dance, tell stories, or display any talent they wished. Older youth volunteered as mentors and emcees, coaching the little ones and cheering them on. The event drew proud families and community members, all there to celebrate the children’s gifts. Sophie shared that the goal was to boost each child’s confidence and show them the value of their abilities. “We wanted to show our native youth that their talents are powerful and can lead them to achieve great things.” By the end of the talent show, smiling performers and loud applause confirmed the success of that mission. From traditional drum songs to modern dance routines, the young participants discovered that their voice and creativity matter. This servant-leadership approach – older students serving younger ones – created a cycle of mentorship. It also reinforced cultural knowledge, as some students chose to perform tribal songs and dances they learned from elders. Through the talent show, Sophie helped instill self-esteem in the next generation and proved that celebrating youth achievements can strengthen the whole community.
Connecting Communities through Tradition
Sophie’s servant leadership also extends beyond her own school. Recently, she led her youth council in attending a hand game tournament at a nearby school, building friendships through intertribal sportsmanship. Hand games are a traditional team game in many Plains tribes – a lively competition of hiding and guessing, accompanied by drumming and singing. By bringing her group to support and play with students from another community, Sophie fostered unity between schools. The team from White Shield joined in the songs and cheers, demonstrating respect and enthusiasm for their peers’ cultural event. For many of the younger kids, this was their first time visiting another reservation’s school, and Sophie wanted it to be a positive, eye-opening experience. The hand game tournament became an opportunity to share culture and make new relatives in the true spirit of Mitakuye Oyasin (“we are all related”). Through activities like these, Sophie shows that leadership isn’t confined to one’s own community – it’s about reaching out, learning from others, and celebrating together. Her willingness to participate in another school’s cultural event exemplifies the unity and mutual support that UNITY encourages among its youth leaders. Students returned home not only proud of how they played, but also inspired by the friendships and knowledge gained. In Sophie’s eyes, every such connection strengthens the network of Native youth who uplift each other across the Great Plains.
Great Plains Youth Lead Heritage Month Celebrations
Sophie Landin’s efforts are part of a larger movement of Native youth leadership blooming across North Dakota and South Dakota during Native American Heritage Month. Throughout November, Native youth councils, schools, and tribal organizations in the Great Plains Region hosted a variety of cultural events and service projects to honor their heritage. In communities across both states, young leaders took center stage in celebrating Indigenous identity:
- Cultural Workshops and Arts: On the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation in South Dakota, for example, the Cheyenne River Youth Project offered robust cultural programming for youth of all ages. Teen interns there welcomed guest artists like hoop dancer Starr Chief Eagle, who shared Lakota traditions of dance and song. They even learned to craft their own hand drums and create ledger art under the guidance of Lakota artisans. These hands-on workshops empowered teens to embrace their creativity while learning about their culture. “They also taught the teens basic sentences, and showed them how they can incorporate Lakota into daily life,” said Jerica Widow, CRYP’s programs director, emphasizing the focus on language during these activities. By month’s end, the youth proudly drummed and sang traditional songs they had learned, illustrating how cultural arts can build confidence and identity.
- Language Revitalization: Language preservation was a common theme throughout the region. Many Native students practiced their ancestral languages in November. At CRYP’s youth centers, instructors introduced a “Lakota word of the day” for younger children, weaving new vocabulary into daily games and crafts. “We would write a Lakota word on the board daily and teach the kids how to pronounce and use it correctly,” Widow said, describing how even 4- to 12-year-olds eagerly learned words like oyate (the people) and khola (friends) through fun activities. In North Dakota’s public schools, Native youth and allies also embraced language learning. One elementary school in Bismarck hung the flags of local tribes in its hallways and integrated Lakota language lessons into gym class – teaching all students to count to ten in Lakota as they did exercises. “They’re just excited to learn and they want to understand each other,” a Bismarck teacher noted, observing how exposure to Indigenous language broadened his students’ cultural awareness. From Arikara words echoing over intercoms to Dakota and Lakota phrases shared in classrooms, Native youth took pride in speaking their languages and encouraged their peers to join them.
- Community and School Partnerships: Many Heritage Month events were collaborative efforts. Youth councils often partnered with schools, elders, and local organizations to maximize their impact. In several tribal schools, elders were invited to speak to students, telling traditional stories and history lessons. Youth leaders at White Shield’s MHA Youth Council, guided by Sophie, set a powerful example by involving their tribe’s cultural department and elders in planning all their Heritage Month activities. “The input from our elders is invaluable, and it’s inspiring to see how much we can accomplish when we work together,” Sophie explained of this intergenerational approach. Similarly, in other communities, Native high school students helped organize events like powwows, veterans’ honor ceremonies, and community feasts in partnership with tribal councils and schools. These partnerships provided a platform for elders to pass down traditions (such as opening events with prayer or a flag song), while youth took on leadership roles in logistics, public speaking, and performances. The result was a series of heartfelt gatherings that not only celebrated Native American Heritage Month, but also strengthened relationships between youth and elders, schools and tribes.
- Youth as Role Models: Across North and South Dakota, Native youth stepped up as role models during Heritage Month. From moderating panel discussions to leading traditional dances, they showed younger children what positive leadership looks like. In some communities, high school students mentored elementary classes for special projects – such as helping them make ribbon skirts/shirts or teaching them a hand game – exemplifying the concept of “each one, teach one.” At a regional hand games tournament in South Dakota, youth teams from different reservations came together in friendly competition, demonstrating sportsmanship and cultural pride (much like Sophie’s council did in North Dakota). Even beyond scheduled events, youth found ways to serve: some organized food or clothing drives as a “thank you” to their community, while others volunteered to clean up cemeteries or elders’ yards before winter, embodying the spirit of giving back. Through these actions, Native youth proved that Heritage Month is not just about reflecting on the past, but also about taking responsibility for the present. Their peers and community members saw in them the qualities of leaders – compassion, initiative, and respect for culture.
A Legacy of Empowerment and Unity
The servant leadership shown by Sophie Landin and her fellow Great Plains youth leaders has created a ripple effect of positivity. By honoring their languages, showcasing talents, and strengthening community bonds, these young role models are uplifting their nations while building their own leadership skills. Sophie’s approach – listening to elders, empowering younger students, and leading by example – embodies UNITY’s mission of fostering spiritual, mental, physical, and social development in Native youth. Her work reminds us that leadership flourishes when rooted in cultural identity and service to others. As Sophie observed, seeing the growth in her community has been its own reward: “Seeing the changes in our community this year makes me so proud. It’s amazing what we can achieve when we all come together.”
Across North Dakota and South Dakota, Native youth are carrying this message forward. Each language lesson taught, each event hosted, and each volunteer hour logged is a step toward stronger, healthier communities. In lifting others, these young leaders lift themselves – gaining confidence and experience that will serve them and their people for years to come. The Great Plains Region’s Heritage Month celebrations, guided by servant leaders like Sophie Landin, show that the future of Native communities is bright when youth embrace their role as keepers of culture, bridge-builders between generations, and champions of service. Their achievements this season are more than one-month happenings; they are the foundation of a legacy of unity and hope being built right now, one youth and one community at a time.
Sources: Great Plains UNITY Region reports and local news