Lakota Country Times: Pine Ridge youth compete in arts festival


Little Wound students participating in the regional meet in Rapid City included Alaina Clifford, assistant coach, Terri Dawn Vocu, Riley Yellow Cloud, Gabriel Pulliam-Sanchez, Shelby Goggles, Zoey White, Christopher Cuny, Gil Bush and Lifazz Lone Tree. Courtesy photo

Little Wound qualifies for State Oral Interpretation Festival
Sophomore Gabriel Pulliam-Sanchez qualifies in three categories
By Tom Crash
Lakota Country Times Correspondent
lakotacountrytimes.com

RAPID CITY - St. Thomas More hosted the regional Oral Interpretation Festival on Tuesday, November 22, at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Hope in Rapid City. Little Wound School (Pine Ridge Reservation) qualified students in five categories for the 2016 South Dakota Oral Interpretation Festival.

Qualifiers for Little Wound included sophomore Lifazz Lone Tree in Humorous with "Blips", sophomore Gabriel Pulliam-Sanchez in Poetry Reading with "Oxcart man and other poems"; senior Terri Dawn Vocu in Storytelling with "Pandora's Box"; Gabriel Pulliam-Sanchez in Serious Reading with "A letter to AA" Reader's Theater with Pulliam-Sanchez, Lone Tree, Gio Bush, Christopher Cuny and Riley Yellow Cloud with "The Fool's Chelm." Todd County's Alan-Michal Boyd qualified in both Poetry Reading and Non Original Oratory.

"We had five schools in the region -- Little Wound, Lead-Deadwood, St. Thomas More, Belle Fourche and Custer. We've had as many as nine schools but the competition was tough, really good," said Dan Snethen, Little Wound coach and region director. "The top three competitors in each category qualify for state."

For Snethen, this is his 20th year as Oral Interpretation coach at Little Wound, it's the third time he's qualified students in five categories, his best year, Little Wound qualified students in seven categories.

"We have a very young team," added Snethen. We had between 20 and 24 students participating. Terri Dawn is in her first year -- she's our only senior -- while Gabriel is a sophomore, he handles the material with ease, has no trouble memorizing all of his material."


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Snethen describes it as a long season. They started in Lead-Deadwood, went to Sturgis, Belle Fourche, St. Thomas More, hosted a meet at Little Wound then traveled to Pierre, Yankton, SF Washington, Dakota State University in Madison then Brookings.

"We'd take anywhere from 12 to 18 students," added Snethen. "Students had opportunities to improve their presentations and see students present from schools all over the state."

Snethen was assisted by Alaina Clifford and past students Tyler One Horn and Crystal Apple who volunteered to help prepare the students.

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