CEDAR CITY, Utah — A Southern Utah group is bridging communities across the Southwest, bringing supplies and coats to Native American reservations.
Eric Morris, a Navajo medicine man and Lakota Sun Dance chief, co-founded the nonprofit "Braveheart Sundance" to support communities he says are being left behind. Through the organization, Morris and volunteers travel to reservations in New Mexico and South Dakota, delivering coats, clothes, school supplies, hygiene items, and hope to families in need.
"All the people living on the reservations are living well below the poverty line. They're doing everything they can to provide for their families," Morris said.
Morris, whose roots run deep through the reservations of New Mexico and South Dakota, now lives in Cedar City but maintains connections to his community on the Navajo Nation in New Mexico and the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota.
"It's hard for me to go back home and see that the rest of the world is moving forward," Morris explained. "Why are my people, my families, not able to do that?"
Kameron Knobel of West Point has worked alongside Morris for the past two years, helping collect donations and organize trips to the reservations.
Knobel, who connected with the Native American Church about 10 years ago, says he has witnessed firsthand the conditions on multiple reservations. "They don't have running water, they don't have electricity in a lot of these places," Knobel said. "There's people that have one pair of clothes, and they just wash them all the time because they don't have anything."
The organization is collecting coats, toys, clothes, monetary donations, and even prom dresses for young women on the reservation. They are also working toward providing scholarships for Native youth.
"I started posting about it on Facebook, and the community out here has been wonderful helping us out," Knobel said.
For Morris, the work is about more than giving back. "To be able to teach the families to look well beyond the system that they live in and truly understand the freedoms that they have," Morris said.
Braveheart Sundance plans to return to Gallup, New Mexico, to drop off donations in late February. Those interested in helping or finding the nearest donation drop-off location can contact Knobel at 801-347-6109 or visit Braveheartdance.org to learn about how you can support these communities.
