Crazy Horse Memorial® will host its annual Native Americans’ Day celebrations on Monday, October 14, 2024. The all-day event features a Native Americans’ Day Program, guest speakers, hands-on activities, and performances by nationally acclaimed performance group, Native Pride Productions. The Native Americans’ Day Program begins at 10:00am and will feature speaker NBA Award Winner Shawn Martinez, who has made an impact in his NBA career for 22 seasons through various Native American initiatives. He spent 12 years with the Denver Nuggets and six years with the Detroit Pistons before joining the Suns and Mercury. Beyond basketball, Martinez regularly mentors Native youth and shares his indigenous roots and career journey at various events across the country. In 2022, Shawn performed at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian to celebrate Native veterans and the official dedication of the National Native American Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. As one of Nike N7’s Official DJ’s, he has performed coast to coast at some of sports and entertainment’s biggest events. The Native Americans’ Day program will also feature an interactive hoop dance presentation from Starr Chief Eagle and live song from Stampede Drum Group. During the hour-long program, the Crazy Horse Memorial Educator of the Year Award, which honors an individual who has made significant contributions to Native American education in the last year, will be named. The award includes a $1,000 grant to the recipient’s school library or to programs of his or her choice that help indigenous students. Last year’s Crazy Horse Memorial Educator of the Year was Jonni Hertel (Cheyenne River Sioux), an educator and administrator who has made significant impacts through her work at Rapid City Area Schools. As always, free tatanka stew will be available for lunch to all visitors while supplies last, courtesy of Korczak’s Heritage, Inc., Laughing Water Restaurant®, and Custer State Park. Hands on activities for all ages will be presented throughout the day. These activities will be guided by regional Native American artists and CHMF staff and volunteers. In addition to the crafts, hands-on activities such as a coloring wall will be on display so visitors young and old can draw what Native Americans’ Day means to them. Native Pride Productions will take to the Veranda Stage in the afternoon for two 45-minute performances. Native Pride Productions works with champion dancers from throughout the United States and will feature the most famous dance styles. The performances will take place at 12:30 and 2:30. All crafts, programs, and performances are included at no additional cost when you visit the Memorial. South Dakota was the first state to officially celebrate Native Americans’ Day on the second Monday of October annually since 1990. The South Dakota Legislature established the Native Americans’ Day holiday at the urging of Gov. George S. Mickelson, then governor of South Dakota. The transformed holiday was a direct result of correspondence between the editor of Indian Country Today, Tim Giago, and the governor. Giago, an Oglala Lakota hailing from Pine Ridge Indian Reservations, had written a column in the Lakota Times expressing the need for change. In addition to the newly created holiday, Mickelson further declared 1990 as a “Year of Reconciliation” in observance of the 100th anniversary of the Wounded Knee Massacre. The first Native Americans’ Day observance was held at Crazy Horse Memorial® and more than 1,200 people attended the event on October 8, 1990. “We can’t turn back the clock,” Gov. Mickelson said, “we can only turn to the future together. What we can do as leaders, both Native American and white, is teach others that we can change attitudes.” The Native Americans’ Day celebrations at Crazy Horse Memorial® will be the 33rd annual for South Dakota.