48th annual Lakota Nation Invitational kicks off in Rapid City

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KELO) — A few thousand people from the region are starting to gather in Rapid City for the 48th annual Lakota Nation Invitational.

The Lakota Nation Invitational will fill The Monument arena as people celebrate culture and participate in multiple sports tournaments.

“Especially the kids, that’s who this is for, that’s who we put this on for is the kids and nothing wrong with the fans being excited about it and they usually are. So I mean this is just going to be an exciting thing. You don’t think at 7:30 a.m. there would be a whole lot of people rolling in here but you’d be wrong to think that,” LNI Board Member Jay Claymore said.

The basketball tournament switched from the All Indian Tournament to the Lakota Nation Invitational to help include non-Indian teams. The event will also be inviting next year schools to join the field, such as Stevens, Central and more.

“You know we just don’t want to hit the Native schools  either, we want to include other schools in the area. You know, reconciliation is very important to the LNI board of directors,” LNI Board President Chuck Wilson.

This week-long event is more than just basketball, with other events including hand games, wrestling, skateboarding, art showcase and a fashion show to highlight more students.

“Everybody thinks basketball, basketball, basketball but like you said there is so much more than basketball here. We fill this place up with so many activities that you wouldn’t even think of that are here to celebrate,” Claymore said.

“There’s a lot of talented kids and they’re not basketball players. They’re great artists, they can play the hand games, they do the knowledge quiz bowl. I mean there’s so many aspects to what we’re doing and I think it’s important that we try to cover all of those or offer those to different groups,” Wilson said.

Wednesday morning will be the start of several events, including both boys and girls basketball tournaments. 

All of the events will continue through Saturday night.

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