Day 3: Youth Commission Activities and Honoring Luncheon!

So much had happened by now, it was all I could do to keep up! The next day of Youth Commission featured presentations from Big Brothers Big Sisters in Indian Country, Center for Native American Youth, the Youth Honoring Luncheon, and two time Native GRAMMY recording artist Star Nayea!

Morning Presentations!

The Big Brothers Big Sisters in Indian Country discussed mentorship, and how we—Native kids—can be mentors for the younger ones. We did an activity where we made a paper kid and paper mentor and told their story. Afterwards we broke up into talking circles-important discussion groups where we passed around a feather much like a talking stick. I enjoyed the conversation our group had; we discussed cultural vs contemporary attire. We all came from different tribes all over the country and it really made me appreciate the diversity of tribal leadership, albeit, on a macro scale.

Youth Commission Activities

Afterward, we heard a brief presentation from Dustin Martin, the Program Director for ‘Wings for America, a national organization that empowers Native youth through running and fitness. He discussed the film, “Run to the East,” and how we as Native people can use our cultural lifestyles to keep us not only physically healthy, but spiritually as well. The Center for Native American Youth discussed with us more in depth about how we can use healthy lifestyles for suicide prevention and further youth development in our own communities. We heard from Dirk Whitebreast, the tribal leader from Sac & Fox Tribe of Minnesota. He shared his incredible journey from suicide when he decided to run 10 marathons in 30 days to raise awareness of youth suicide prevention. I really appreciated their message and it’s helping me understand that healing comes in many different ways.

Luncheon!

It came time for the Youth Honoring Luncheon! (I was particularly looking forward to this as I was very hungry and my mom and I had developed a habit of not eating breakfast by now.) During this luncheon, we would be honoring an outstanding boy and girl with the Ernie Stevens Jr., Leadership Award. My mom and I (after a frantic 15 min search for the ballroom) sat with Annette Anquoe of the Seattle Indian Health Board, and the students from T’ohono O’dham Youth Council joined us. I had seen them at UNITY this last summer so we finally got to formally introduce ourselves.

Ballroom for Luncheon

Later, Star Nayea took the stage and gave a powerhouse performance (like always)! I’ve met her before through my time in Red Eagle Soaring (a Native American theatre group here in Seattle) and at a previous conference. As always she shared her incredible story as a “Scoop Up” baby; she was part of the 60’s/70’s generation of First Nations children who were stolen from their families and purposely adopted outside their communities to be assimilated into non-native society. She found her healing through music and singing. She would be the final presentation to the youth after the luncheon. J

Winner of the Ernie Stevens Jr. Leadership Award

Afternoon Presentations!

Prior to the Culture Night that evening, my mom and I were eager to attend the General Assembly to see the report by Loretta Tuell, Majority Staff Director and Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. The Congressional Messages report featured an update about the Native CLASS Act, which seeks to improve Indian Education Nationwide among other important topics. Even with my knowledge as a college student, it was all I could do to keep up during the Q&A. The diversity of issues in Indian Country will always continue to boggle and turn my mind inside out! I met Tuell at UNITY this last summer and she was the one who made the report about why it’s wrong to associate Osama Bin Laden with Geronimo, and that’s the same report that went viral on facebook.  

Getting into the afternoon, my mom and I decided to check out some of the subcommittee meetings. I was desperate to see what Tribal leaders were doing in Indian Country pertaining to education in particular. Knowledge, be it Western, or Indigenous, or even from a movie, is something that I’m passionate about and something I struggle with every day as a college student. I awestruck by a presentation by the Chickasaw Nation and what they were doing to encourage their college students to come back to work for the tribe. Although I’m not Chickasaw, it was empowering for me as a college student to see how our Indian people are taking care of our post-graduates. J

Delicious delights!

My mom and I ran around some more, peeking in on various other meetings. I can’t describe how exciting it all was, to see so many beautiful things happening all at once, and being around so many passionate and strong leaders. We ended the day with a firm hope and belief in a more positive future...

…and then we got ready for the Culture Night an hour later.