8th Native American Journalism Career Conference
largest yet held at Crazy Horse Memorial complex

Five Lakota students from South Dakota received college scholarships at the 8th annual Native American Journalism Career Conference at Crazy Horse Memorial.

The April 17-19 conference drew 163 students from 11 states, as far away as Alaska. Veteran reporters and editors introduced them to basic reporting and photography. Such motivational speakers as USA Today founder Al Neuharth encouraged them to consider a career in journalism.

Neuharth, memorial President/CEO Ruth Ziolkowski, and her daughters Anne and Jadwiga answered curious students in a press conference setting. The questions varied from personal, to about carving a mountain to how to achieve your dreams.

“Find a job, work hard and keep looking for the job you love until you find it,” Mrs. Ziolkowski said. “Work can be and should be fun.”

The abundance of computers, printers, digital cameras, video recorders and wireless Internet connections made this conference the best equipped yet. Several conference workers and Mrs. Ziolkowski told the students that they were among the brightest and most appreciative the conference has seen.

The conference is the largest of its kind. Counting mentors, speakers and staff, this was the largest yet.

“At this (growth) rate, Ruth Ziolkowski will need a larger theater,” Neuharth told students filling the memorial’s Welcome Center auditorium.

Conference scholarships also grew – to $6,000. That’s doubled since 2005.

Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation officials Jim and Elaine Emery, conference coordinator Jack Marsh of the Al Neuharth Media Center, and Anne Ziolkowski, the memorial’s director of educational and cultural affairs, presented the scholarships. Receiving $1,000 apiece when they enroll in college classes next fall were:

– Mary Abbott, Cheyenne River Sioux, Sioux Falls Roosevelt High School.

– Randall Barrett, Oglala Lakota, South Dakota State University.

– Samantha Brinkman, Rosebud Sicanjou, Sioux Falls Washington High School.

  Receiving $1,500 apiece when enrolling in fall classes were:

– Danielle Ducheneaux, Lower Brule, University of South Dakota.

– Valeriah Vasek, Yankton Sioux, Marty High School in Lake Andes. 

Sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski established education as a cornerstone of the Crazy Horse Memorial mission to honor American Indians. Believers in his dream established the scholarships in memory of:

Robb DeWall, the longtime Crazy Horse historian and communications director; Bob Lee, a well-known Black Hills journalist, historian and author; Lem Price, a conference participant who died in a traffic accident going to his first job; Peggy Sagen, a Rapid City Journal editor who mentored at the conference; and Matt and Nellie Two Bulls, longtime educators from Pine Ridge. They brought two survivors of the Battle of Little Big Horn to the 1948 dedication of Crazy Horse and continued to support the memorial until their deaths.

The conferees honored Mrs. Ziolkowski with a buffalo hide illustrated by Lakota artist Donald Montileaux of Rapid City. It shows the “winter count” history of her family and the Memorial’s development. The hide was the backdrop as conference participants lined the theater to give her farewell hugs as a Lakota drum group performed an honoring song. 

The conference was co-sponsored by the Freedom Forum's Al Neuharth Media Center, Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation, the South Dakota Newspaper Association, the Native American Journalists Association and the journalism programs at South Dakota State University and the University of South Dakota. Funding came from Gannett Foundation/Sioux Falls Argus Leader, Lee Foundation/Rapid City Journal, Morris Communications/Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan and the Nebraska Press Association.