The Dakota Partnership

The Baltimore-Dakota Learning Camps (formerly known as Hau Kola Learning Camps) were established as a result of a partnership between the Baltimore and Dakota Presbyteries.

HISTORY
Between 1997 and 1999, Brown Memorial members, as part of a Presbytery of Baltimore (PoB) team, helped lead summer Vacation Church School at Makasan Presbyterian Church in Oglala SD. Oglala is in southwestern SD on the Pine Ridge Reservation, a Lakota Indian reservation.

Beginning in 2003, Brown Memorial’s teens and adults have participated in over 30 PoB-affiliated summer Learning Camps that serve pre-school, younger elementary, older elementary, and young teen students. This year, we’re working toward offering five Learning Camps to take place in June, July, and August 2013.

RELATIONSHIPS
Most importantly, we have developed personal relationships with Lakota and Dakota teens and adults whom we met during Learning Camp activities, and have discovered a whole new world with our Native American friends. As Learning Camps are established at other sites, we expand our relationships.

During the 2011-2012 school year, two of our members, Chrystie and Doug Adams, volunteered as full-time site coordinators at the Multi-Purpose Center associated with Dakota Presbytery Church.

During non-summer months the Steering Committee (two members from Brown) work on the next summer’s Learning Camp curriculum, attend Dakota Presbytery meetings (October and May), and actively recruit new staff members from PoB church communities.

Learning-Camp Sites
• Makasan Presbyterian Church (Lakota) in Oglala SD on the Pine Ridge Reservation. (Started in 2003)
• Pine Ridge Presbyterian Church (Lakota) in the Village of Pine Ridge SD on the Pine Ridge Reservation (2004)
• Good Will and Ascension Presbyterian Churches (Dakota) in Sisseton SD on the Lake Traverse Reservation in northeastern SD (2008)
• Porcupine Presbyterian Church (Lakota) in Porcupine SD on the Pine Ridge Reservation (2008)
• Cedar & Greenwood Presbyterian Churches (Dakota) in Marty SD on the Ihanktonwan (Yankton Sioux) Reservation in southeast central SD (2010)
• (new in 2013) Pejuhutazizi Presbyterian Church (Dakota) in Granite Falls MN on the Upper Sioux Agency in southwest MN.

YOUR TURN? Want to make a difference in the life of a child and change your perspective on your life? Want to experience a culture quite different from Euro-American culture? This is a wonderful opportunity to find a way to show God’s love through action. Please consider applying for one of the Baltimore Dakota Learning Camps during the summer of 2014.

Every year teens and adults alike will be needed for many staff positions. Information and applications for summer Learning Camps are posted at the end of January on the Learning Camp website: www.baltimoredakotalearningcamps.org. Applications are due about the first of April. Typically, some scholarships for Brown Memorial youth are available from the Presbytery of Baltimore.