Wednesday, December 14, 2022 – 45th Lakota Nation Invitational: sports, culture, and education

The 45th annual Lakota Nation Invitational (LNI) in Rapid City, SD is underway and hundreds of Native athletes are not letting a little winter storm get in their way. What started as a basketball tournament in 1977 is now a not-to-be-missed five-day event that includes multiple sports including wresting, volleyball, and cheerleading and cultural competitions for hand games, language, and archery. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce talks with Chuck Wilson (Lakota from the Rosebud Sioux Tribe), president of the board for LNI; Bryan Brewer (Oglala Lakota from Pine Ridge), founder and director of LNI; Kellee Brewer (Oglala Lakota), coordinator of the Cheerleading championship at LNI; and Corey YellowBoy (Oglala Lakota), coordinator of the Lakota Language Bowl at LNI, about the evolution and importance of this event.