The Chippewa Cree Tribe Is Investing in the Future Through Youth Health Center
Youth from Rocky Boy Reservation (Photo: McKinstry.com)
Overview of the Project
Overview of the Project
The Chippewa Cree Tribe is planting seeds for the future on Rocky Boy's Reservation, one of the smallest reservations in Montana, by building the Mīyō Pimātisiwinkamik, (translates to "Good Life Lodge”), Youth Center. The facility will take a holistic view of health by addressing not only medical needs but also mental, emotional, and spiritual health.
The Mīyō Center is next to the Rocky Boy Health Center (RBHC). The RBHC was created using New Market Tax Credits (NMTC) and $1 million in EDA grants. According to the Tribal nation's project partner, McKinstry, center construction is anticipated to be completed in late 2025.
“We’re planting a tree in the plains. The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. We’re building this lodge for our youth so they have a safe place to learn, grow, build resilience in our community, and also to foster a healthy lifestyle. We’re really excited about the “Mīyō” center.”
-Rocky Boy Health Center CEO, Joel Rosette stated to MTN News.
Planning the Project
Planning the Project
This life-changing center had been in planning for several years. Rocky Boy’s Reservation first started its journey in healthcare in 1974 and continued growing self-governance in 1994. Rocky Boy was in a particularly rough spot in 2016, according to Chippewa Cree Business Committee Chair, Harlan Baker, statement to Harve Weekly Chronicle. The Nation was having trouble even cashing its payroll checks and being denied grants, but now they see new homes being built along with new infrastructure and a big part of that is the devotion of the tribe's leadership.
This center came after the Tribal nation identified overall community health needs and created a brand new Rocky Boy Health Center (RBHC) in 2019 and received funding for a Health Administration Building for behavioral health and substance abuse services in 2023.
Mīyō was created after numerous ideas, collaboration, meetings, planning teams, and surveys such as the 2019 Chippewa Cree Tribe Community Health Assessment. The planning process included community members to honor different perspectives and Rocky Boy’s youth with the hope that their input will ensure that visitors feel comfortable at the center and in accessing preventive care according to project partner, McKinstry.
“I’ve built a lot of projects in my time and what I’d like to say about this project is that it started with the kids.
The kids were asked what they wanted for their community, and they said they wanted a health and wellness facility just for them. So, it’s really cool to see that the project started with the desire of these kids and we’re doing our best to meet them.””
-Director of environmental health and innovation of RBHC, Beau Mitchell to McKinstry
Groundbreaking and Construction of the Center
Groundbreaking and Construction of the Center
Rocky Boy youth at the groundbreaking. (Photo: McKinstry)
In August 2023, the Tribal nation started the groundbreaking for the Mīyō Center. The facility is designed to foster connections between young people, their peers, their elders, their culture, their languages, ,and themselves. Center construction is anticipated to be completed in late 2025.
According to the previously mentioned sources, Mīyō will be a $20 million building will be between 25,000 and 30,000 square feet. The center includes a health and dental clinic, a teaching kitchen and cafeteria leading outside to a permaculture garden, wild game processing space, a gymnasium, two basketball courts and more.
It will provide indoor and outdoor spaces for youth to receive preventive medical care, learn health and wellness practices. It will also provided immersion in their culture surrounded by language, art, and teachings that draw from the heritage of the Chippewa Cree. The construction is being completed in partnership with McKinstry, Dick Anderson Construction, Architecture 118, and others.
Rendering of the Mīyō Pimātisiwinkamik Youth Center by Architecture 118. (Photo: McKinstry)
Construction of the Mīyō Pimātisiwinkamik Youth Center. (Photo: McKinstry)
Foreseen Impact of The Mīyō Center
Foreseen Impact of The Mīyō Center
Business Committee Vice-Chair, Ted Russette III, said that Rocky Boy isn't the only community that will benefit, as the facility will welcome young people from other communities like Havre, Gildford, Kremlin, Chinook, or even Great Falls. Russette states any young person who needs guidance toward the right path is welcome.
A barrier for local youth is being able to drive to a decent fitness center according to Giovanni Alvarez, a young adult resident of Havre, Montana. He is hoping that the Mīyō Center will help break those barriers as he spoke to MTN News.
There is a negative cycle within the community of Rocky Boy’s Reservation. A lot of children do not learn how to care for themselves, especially preventative healthcare, and when they become adults they do not have the tools to teach their children and the cycle continues, according to the Director of HR and Regulatory Affairs of RBHC, Brian Molina, Jr. to McKinstry. Molina believes the Mīyō Center can break that cycle and create a transformative healthy future for his community.
“I hope it serves as a place for a lot of people to go,
What I hear from a lot of people that are from here, is that they derail from a good, positive path because there’s nowhere to go and nothing to do. I feel this will benefit people by giving them a purpose, feeling like there is something, and that there is a place to go for youth.”
-Box Elder, Montana young adult resident, Angelica Ochoa to MTN News.
Language and Career Impact of The Mīyō Center
Language and Career Impact of The Mīyō Center
Mahchiwminahnahtik Chippewa and Cree Language Revitalization Executive Director, Dustin Whitford, said his organization is working to integrate language studies into Mīyō's activities according to Harve Weekly Chronicle. This will provide a vital link for local young people to their culture and history.
“Language creates connections between the people of the past and present and is interwoven into the history and culture of the tribe in a way that transcends simple conversational translation.”
-Dustin Whitford to Harve Weekly Chronicle.
Whitford said the connection to language and youth is largely missing but their organization and Mīyō can help with that. Language learning can create an understanding of youths’ selves through culture and can help fill the void that might otherwise be filled by destructive things like drugs.
As youth on the reservation had the opportunity to provide their input for the center, they will also have an opportunity to contribute to building the center as apprentices. The project includes a construction apprenticeship program facilitated by Dick Anderson Construction.
Students who complete self-paced modules through the Montana Digital Academy with at least 70% proficiency qualify to apply for on-site apprenticeships at the youth center site, including McKinstry’s mechanical, electrical, and plumbing portion of the work and other construction projects. Students from Box Elder School District and Stone Child College are currently enrolled in the program where they’re gaining practical knowledge in construction management, electrical work, plumbing, and other trades according to McKinstry
“There’s a sense of pride seeing those walls go up,
We love thinking about the future. The kids and grandkids of some of us will be able to play there, and I think of all our relatives that will have that opportunity. We want our kids to socialize in a safe space. We dug deep here and put all our effort and strength into building strong kids who will live and work in our community and walk with confidence.”
-CEO of RBHC, Joel Rosette to McKinstry
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The Department’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) awarded a $1 million grant through the American Rescue Plan to the Chippewa Cree Tribe of the Rocky Boy Reservation, Box Elder, Montana, for construction of the Rocky Boy Health Center.