Young Native Americans celebrating their culture

By Emanuella Grinberg, CNN

Updated 1837 GMT (0237 HKT) February 12, 2015

Sage Honda, a 22-year-old from Peach Springs, Arizona, wears a handmade dress at the Grand Canyon, a sacred site of the Hualapai people. Since appearing in Miss Native American USA, she has been encouraging Native youth to travel off the reservation to explore more opportunities. "I want to be a role model to show my community and youth that it is possible to come off our land and do big things," she said in the "Red Road" photo series.
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Sage Honda, a 22-year-old from Peach Springs, Arizona, wears a handmade dress at the Grand Canyon, a sacred site of the Hualapai people. Since appearing in Miss Native American USA, she has been encouraging Native youth to travel off the reservation to explore more opportunities. "I want to be a role model to show my community and youth that it is possible to come off our land and do big things," she said in the "Red Road" photo series.
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Evereta Thinn, 30, is a Navajo woman from Shonto, Arizona. An administrator at a Shonto school district, she aspires to start a<br />language and cultural immersion school for her people.
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Evereta Thinn, 30, is a Navajo woman from Shonto, Arizona. An administrator at a Shonto school district, she aspires to start a
language and cultural immersion school for her people.
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Tanksi Morning Star Clairmont, 33, grew up off-reservation in Denver. But she credits her grandmother and mother for keeping her grounded and teaching her the Lakota language, ceremonies and traditional ways.
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Tanksi Morning Star Clairmont, 33, grew up off-reservation in Denver. But she credits her grandmother and mother for keeping her grounded and teaching her the Lakota language, ceremonies and traditional ways.
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Juliana Brown Eyes, 23, is from Oglala, South Dakota. She and her husband, Scotti Clifford, formed a band, "Scatter Their Own," that writes songs about Mother Earth, social justice and the Native American culture.
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Juliana Brown Eyes, 23, is from Oglala, South Dakota. She and her husband, Scotti Clifford, formed a band, "Scatter Their Own," that writes songs about Mother Earth, social justice and the Native American culture.
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Thipiziwin Young, 33, is a teacher on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. She has dedicated her life to learning and teaching the Lakota language, a language that has been dying over the last generations. She and some of her students sang Lakota songs to President Barack Obama and the first lady when they visited the reservation in June.