To honor the people and spirit of All American Indian Days – when a community came together to confront racism and create lasting understanding.
About The Honoring Project
The Honoring Project is a Wyoming nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and honoring the legacy of All American Indian Days (AAID) in Sheridan, Wyoming—an influential regional gathering held from 1953 to 1984 that celebrated Native American culture, artistry, and intertribal friendship.
Founded through the vision and leadership of Sarah Johnson Luther (Diné, Miss Indian America XIV) and Vivian Arviso (Diné, Miss Indian America VII), the Honoring Project includes William Patton, son of a prominent Board member and Host Family in Sheridan whose whole family volunteered during AAID. This organization was created to build awareness that the Native people and non-Native community members who sustained All American Indian Days for nearly three decades are recognized with dignity, respect, and historical care.
Guidance for the project was shaped for many years by the historical knowledge and encouragement of Father Peter J. Powell (1928–2022), Big Horn, Wyoming, an Episcopal priest, historian, and lifelong advocate for Northern Plains tribes whose scholarship and relationships helped preserve their history. Our work continues to benefit from the advice and expertise of respected advisors including Mary Jane Edwards, former Executive Director of the Jentel Foundation in Banner, Wyoming, and Kendra Heimbuck, Executive Director of The Brinton Museum, Big Horn, Wyoming.
The Honoring Project works in close partnership with The Brinton Museum, who is our fiscal sponsor and institutional partner. Located in Big Horn, Wyoming, The Brinton Museum is one of the region’s leading cultural institutions dedicated to the art, history, and cultures of the American West and Native America.
At the heart of the Honoring Project's work is the Mitakuye Oyasin Memorial, a sculpture installed in Sheridan that honors the Sheridan townspeople and the Native participants who traveled from across the West and beyond to share their cultures through All American Indian Days. The Lakota phrase Mitákuye Oyaśin—often translated as "All My Relations"—reflects the spirit of connection, humility, and mutual respect that defines this unique gathering started by the town of Sheridan.
Through its years of collaboration between Native leaders, community members, and cultural partners, the AAID Memorial stands as a permanent tribute to the generations who helped build bridges of understanding at a time when Native cultures were often misunderstood or marginalized.
Building on the success of this memorial, the Honoring Project is now leading the development of a major pictorial history of All American Indian Days, bringing together photographs, archival materials, and personal memories from families, dancers, organizers, and community members. This book will document the extraordinary story of a gathering that, for decades, created a space for cultural exchange, respect, and friendship between Native participants and the Sheridan community.
Through its work, the Honoring Project remains focused on a single purpose: to honor the people who made All American Indian Days possible and to preserve their legacy for future generations.
Grounded in collaboration, historical integrity, and community respect, the organization continues to build on the spirit expressed in the words Mitakuye Oyasin—a reminder that all people are connected through shared history, responsibility, and respect.