SDSU Extension will be recognized at Acts of Excellence event

The Acts of Excellence program, sponsored by Sanford Health, connects us with individuals and organizations who are building a culture of excellence in South Dakota, one act at a time. Please join us and area inductees to celebrate this Act of Excellence on Tuesday, Thursday, April 15th, 2021, from 4:30 to 6:00 pm CT at the Lake Area Tech College, Event Center Level 4, in Watertown South Dakota.

SDSU Extension Offers Lakota - Dakota Games Guide

The Extension Service at South Dakota State University is providing a resource guide to a series of traditional Lakota and Dakota games, including photos, instructions on how to play the traditional games, and guides to creating the necessary game pieces. The goal is to promote physical activity, according to Prairey Walkling, Extension family, and community health field specialist. “The resource is easy to use and promotes physical activity for families, teachers in classrooms, tribal programs, and museum presenters, among others,’’ Walkling said. 

Content for the resources was provided by Jeremy Red Eagle of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate and Mike Marshall, a Sicangu Lakota artist. The International Traditional Games Society of Montana partnered in the project. The group’s goal is to restore and re-introduce traditional games, which were once taught for survival but now are played for fun. “Within SDSU Extension’s Healthy Food, Families and Communities project, we are using traditional games as a strategy to increase physical activity in communities that are high-risk for chronic diseases related to obesity,” Walkling said. “Traditional games offer mental, physical, and spiritual benefits. They are also very versatile, as many game pieces come from nature, allowing them to be implemented with minimal resources and played any time of the year.’’ 

Those involved in the effort say indigenous people had thousands of games, some of which have formed the foundation of modern games such as baseball, cricket, hockey, and soccer.