Grand Canyon Speaks (U.S. National Park Service)

Episodes

Season 3

Season 3 Trailer

Season Three Trailer

Transcript

[Kyle Sumatzkuku]

It took me just about almost two years just to get ready for the Boston Marathon.

[Audre Etsitty]

Our elders do say horses are sacred (speaks Navajo), the horses are medicine.

[Kelkiyana Yazzie]

And having someone who looks like you and has your same, similar lived experiences in this field of work is really important to just go to and lean on.

[Kyle Awelagte]

I feel it's more than running, like just, you know, getting hyped for a race in that competitive area. But I see it more as like a way of healing.

Hello.

And welcome to Grand Canyon Speaks, an online podcast that highlights the voices of tribal members who call the Grand Canyon home.

Welcome to season three, a season dedicated to highlighting indigenous athletes and learning about the impact that sports have on their tribal communities.

Tune in January 2026 to hear their stories.

[Kelli Jones]

And I think that's something that I love, you know, when I'm an interpreter here to kind of talk about this history. It might be hard history, but it's also showing the resiliency of what our people have gone through.

[Lynette Lewis]

We don't have scouts, college scouts coming out to the reservations to watch our kids play. So that's why, you know, tournaments like NABI were created. This was for the exposure.

[Ali Upshaw]

You know, names like Alvina Begay, Billy Mills, all native runners that have run at such a high level. And they've always, I guess, shown me that, like, if they can do it, I can do it too.

[Wendi Lewis]

Then you ever run on Hopi, they'll thank you in our language because we recognize that as prayer.

[Jason Amador]

So I would always say to never give up, keep going, and chase your dreams. Because for me, I was a kid in the stand from a small reservation. Now I'm a six-foot guard playing at Grand Canyon.

So for me, like, you can achieve anything you want.

We’re back! Welcome to Grand Canyon Speaks with Season 3, a season dedicated to indigenous athletes of the 11 associated tribes of Grand Canyon National Park. This series dives into their athletic journeys and how much of an impact sports have on their tribal communities.

Episode 1

Kyle Sumatzkuku Speaks

Transcript

Kyle Sumatzkuku: It pretty much opened my eyes and it gave me a perspective about how truly Hopi running is not only just about this physical capability, but pretty much just running with your heart.

Ranger Grace: Welcome back to season three of Grand Canyon Speaks. This is Ranger Grace.

Ranger Dan: And this is Ranger Dan.

Ranger Grace: In this episode, Meranden sat down with Kyle Sumatzkuku to discuss his career as a runner.

Ranger Dan: He shared Hopi's connections to running and how it's a significant aspect of Hopi culture.

Ranger Grace: Kyle grew up running at the Moenkopi Day School and is now competing in races like the Boston Marathon.

Ranger Dan: Take a listen as Kyle reflects on his journey and we hope you enjoy.

Meranden: Kyle, would you like to go ahead and introduce yourself?

Kyle Sumatzkuku: [Speaks Hopi] Hello, good evening, everyone. My name is Kyle Sumatzkuku. My Hopi name is Leetayo. It means Fox or Running Fox. That name was given to me when I was initiated. And that name was given by the Coyote clan, who are my ceremonial parents. I am of the Corn clan. I am from the village of Mishongnovi, generally known as Second Mesa. But I do live in the village of Moenkopi, generally known as Third Mesa.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: And pretty much, we are matriarchal and matrilineal tribe. So we always follow our mom's side of the family. So I am born from the Corn clan. And for my father's side is Sun clan, who is from the village of Moenkopi. Yeah, so it's a great honor and a good pleasure to be here to share our evening with you all. So I am 29 years old. I don't look like it. So yeah.

Meranden: Awesome. So I'm really happy to have you here, Kyle. Just really off the bat, have you been to the Grand Canyon before?

Kyle Sumatzkuku: Yes, I have been here since when I was going to school at the Moenkopi Day School. We used to come here for field trips and get on the train and just visit these sites here, especially the Watchtower. And it was, all in all, like a really good childhood memory of mine, even though it's just in our backyards of Hopi land and Diné land. So it's always a pleasure to come back. But then again, we just have to be careful when we visit this place, because it's just a very sacred place to us. We kind of treat this place very gentle and a gentle spirit that lies here. So it's always good to come back and be here near the canyon, near the sun and the skies. So yeah.

Meranden: Awesome. Yeah. And I know, like you mentioned, it's really, really sacred. And I mentioned in the beginning, it has a lot of different perspectives through these different tribes. They're not all the same. They all have different meanings, different stories, things like that.

Meranden: So we always mention to our guests, our visitors here, that you treat it as a living landscape. You treat it as your own home. You don't leave trash here. You take care of it just like anything else. So like I mentioned, it's very sacred to everybody here. A lot of tribes call the canyon home.

Meranden: So right off the bat, like I mentioned, this season for season three, we talked about it having a theme of Indigenous athletes. Something that you do is running. And that's something I would really, really like to highlight today. So how did you get started with your running?

Kyle Sumatzkuku: I started running when I was a little kid. Just running in the village at recess at the Moenkopi Day School. And, you know, just doing it during our free time and downtime. And just having fun with our childhood friends at the Moenkopi Day School. Because the Moenkopi Day School had like a big giant compound. And you can just absolutely just run a lot of miles on it.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: And, you know, it was definitely a childhood core to me. Because the Moenkopi Day School is literally in our backyard. And we can always just visit that little recess compound. And just be active and have fun with our friends. And, you know, yeah.

Meranden: Yeah, I remember that too. Because, I mean, we grew up in the same area. And we used to go there with my siblings too. And play in that same place. And, you know, like everywhere back home, there's a lot of different places you can go running. And we were always told not to be lazy. So we always went out and went running and things like that. So, you know, like I mentioned, running is very, very important. Not just for your health, much like the canyon as well. It's super important to the tribes here. But what importance does running have to Hopi?

Kyle Sumatzkuku: Ever since I started running as a kid. And just pretty much going through the journey as being born. And getting initiated. And getting older. And becoming more mature. I didn't start to take running seriously when I was between 6th to 7th grade.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: By that time frame, I was already pretty much being shared the knowledge of. That there was a ceremonial races going on at my home village. And it pretty much opened my eyes. It gave me a perspective about how truly Hopi running is not only just about this physical capability. But it has its spiritual, mental. And pretty much just running with your heart.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: And I have uncles who pretty much took me in. And showed me the whole Hopi art of running. And especially with my dad. My dad shared a lot of stories about why we do these ceremonial races. And these various races that we have on Hopi, it takes a lot of maturity. And to understand why we do it. And we have these various races. That we have snake dance race. We have the flute dance race. And we have the basket dance race. And we have clan races in our home village. And pretty much it represents all of walk of life.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: And it makes the connection back here to the canyon. So I didn't start doing those races when I started to understand and get much more older. Yeah, so it just took a lot of maturity. And clearly, what's the more important reason to carry on with those races until this day.

Meranden: Yeah, and when you run these races, are there a lot of other individuals who run with you as well?

Kyle Sumatzkuku: Yeah, so we have pretty much good runners back at home. But all throughout Hopi. So it's always good to see their faces again. And they're always eager to like pretty much show up. And just have a grand old time. And just place down some prayers for not only for ourselves. Not only for our families and our loved ones. But pretty much for all living things out there. And having it connect with the ceremony itself too as well. Because it brings the might of the earth not only to our earth. But to people's hearts too as well.

Meranden: Yeah, we've talked about how running is not just for your health. But it's also a form of prayer. We do it for moisture. We do it for a lot of cultural reasons. So that running aspect is very important to Hopi. You know, you mentioned these races. And you didn't really start getting serious with it at a younger age. Until, you know, you start going to school. What was running like for you as a student growing up? Like middle school or high school? What was that running experience like?

Kyle Sumatzkuku: Ever since I started running at the Moenkopi Day School, I didn't really take running that serious. Matter of fact, a true story here. When I started running at the Moenkopi Day School, I would always start leading out the runners. I would lead the runners. And then by then, probably halfway, I would see like one of my teammates or my good friends. My good buddies who are like hunched over or hurt.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: Or you know, my empathy. Me, I'm showing compassion to my fellow running mates. I would stop and I would go back and check on them while the other runners would pass. And I didn't know anything about competition back then. You know, I was just there just hanging out, having a good time with my friends and running with them. Because we always ran with each other during recess, clan runs, and even our training.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: So when it came to races, I was so compassionate to my fellow teammates. Even when they have a side ache or they're about to puke or anything. And I would stay behind and check up on them. And then by the time when the race is just about over, we'll still be in the back of the pack. And we'll still be like lollygagging, having a chat or just talking to each other. And while we just see the other runners by us, just past us.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: And then once we cross the finish line, my parents, my mom and dad will ask me like, hey, how come you weren't in front of the other runners? I was like, oh, I was just waiting for my friend.

Meranden: We talked about the races that you did growing up, or just running in general and being careful with the teammates that you had. I know you also did other kind of running such as community stuff, maybe like Just Move It, your own kind of races. What was that experience like doing those kind of bigger races rather than running for school?

Kyle Sumatzkuku: It was definitely like another realm for me to step in. Just maturing from elementary to junior high to high school races, running against schools, but stepping into bigger races, going to Australia Down Under to race an international race when I was a junior in high school, which was quite an experience and I loved it. But after that, I kind of dug deep and thought about it more like, wow, I actually went to Down Under to Australia to race there.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: But then again, maybe I want to go to the West Coast or to the East Coast to race. And then after all, racing against reservations, to reservations, to going from city to another country, always wanted to come back and race in the United States. But furthermore, racing at Shiprock Marathon in New Mexico, that was definitely a really good opener for me. And it pretty much prolonged to going to the East Coast to run the Boston Marathon.

Meranden: Awesome. Now that you mentioned the Boston Marathon, you ran that in 2021, correct?

Kyle Sumatzkuku: Yes, correct.

Meranden: Cool. Yeah. And could you talk a little bit more about that? What was the experience running in Boston? Did you have to qualify or what was the process like getting ready for the Boston Marathon?

Kyle Sumatzkuku: So the Boston Marathon itself, I did not know. I was kind of like, it was quite a long shot for me because I didn't know you have to qualify in your age category to hit a qualifying time or a Boston time qualifier, BTQ, as they say. And honestly, you had to run a marathon just to qualify for Boston.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: So when I started doing my research, I was kind of like a little bit hesitant and a little bit scared and a little bit anxious because I didn't know what I was walking into. And it all started from the spring of 2019 and then carried on to summer. So I did sign up for the Shiprock Marathon that is held in Shiprock, New Mexico.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: And that marathon is pretty much a big gig, says so in the newspaper. And so I did train for that. And I was training in Lancaster, California. I spent a semester out there at Valley. And my coach, Coach Clay, he was there and he did mention that, hey, you can be a marathon runner and you do have the endurance and you have the aerobic capacity. I was like, oh, OK, let's do it. So qualifying for the race, did the Shiprock Marathon. And I was 25 years old then. And I did have a time standard in mind, just hitting six flat pace, hoping to beat three hours, particularly in my age category.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: I was supposed to hit three hours even just to qualify for the Boston Marathon. But I was a little bit, probably 20 to 30 minutes ahead of three hours. So it was quite a shocker. I didn't know that the Shiprock Marathon was going to be a Boston qualifying course to time. And yeah, so.

Meranden: So when you ran the Shiprock Marathon, what was your time?

Kyle Sumatzkuku: It was 2:38:08. Yeah.

Meranden: Two hours and 38 minutes. Oh, my God. And your pace was like six?

Kyle Sumatzkuku: It was between six flat to 5:55 pace.

Meranden: And that's 26 miles, right?

Kyle Sumatzkuku: 26.2 miles.

Meranden: Oh, my God. That's crazy. And then when you did the Boston Marathon, how did that turn out? What was it like going from? I know you mentioned you went to a lot of different places to run. And this is one of the biggest races, biggest marathons that is out there for runners. What was that experience like?

Kyle Sumatzkuku: The build up to it, the lead up to it was something very monumental. And, you know, once I hit the qualifying standard for Boston, it was my first Boston Marathon ever. And, you know, the build up to it was just absolutely just nerve wracking.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: It was very nervous. And, you know, I try to keep my composure having my loved ones, my family, my mom and dad, you know, the whole community, the whole village, just to keep my composure while doing the training, not only the training, having the strong encouragement and the high spirits to lead up to the race like that. And, you know, I was getting absolutely just mighty prayers, some good encouragement from not only from my village, but, you know, from all over from different tribes and surrounding reservations.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: And, you know, it was definitely something worth thinking about to this day, because it was quite an experience and it was so heavy. And I still reflect about it to this day. And, you know, it was like, how are we going to get there? Of course, we need the money. Yeah, there was a checklist where, yeah, I did one check, check the box off was qualifying for Boston. What's next?

Kyle Sumatzkuku: Yeah, doing like a fundraiser and then getting the word out. And honestly, the Boston Marathon is annually held on the month of April. But during that time frame, it was kind of uncertain times.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: And it was kind of, you know, unwary because the president of the United States of the year of 2022 to 2021, you know, the pandemic happened. COVID hit, you know, all races were canceled, all races were postponed. But for Boston, it was pretty much postponed. And then it was pretty much canceled. And then it led on to virtual race during that time. And annually, it was held in April.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: And it was always held on Monday, Patriots Day. But it was a blessing in disguise for me that Boston during that time, went through all that segment. And then it came back, made the announcement saying that, oh, Boston is going to be held in the month of October, which was kind of surprising.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: And, you know, it was going to be kept at that date and postponed to October 20, October 11, 2021. But during that time, during that day, it was held, the race was held on Indigenous Peoples Day. So whatever, whatever natural occurrence was that, you know, it was definitely a journey for me to take on.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: And, you know, it was something that out there naturally, out there was, you're going to run this race, no matter what the setbacks are from the previous races, from qualifying, going through the trials and tribulations leading up to Boston. So it took me just about almost two years just to, you know, get ready for the Boston Marathon and race on the month of October 11, 2021. And, you know, it was something powerful and mighty.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: And knowing that it was going to be on Indigenous Peoples Day, normally the race would be on Patriots Day in the month of April during springtime. So it was something that I still think about to this day. And, you know, just trying to wrap my mind around it and to share with you all, it's something very mighty.

Meranden: Yeah, that's awesome. Because, you know, during this time you talked about, it was time of uncertainty with, you know, COVID happening. And then, like you mentioned, that blessing of the sky is happening now on October of Indigenous Peoples Day.

Meranden: That's really cool that you got to, you know, think about running not just for yourself, but your whole community, your whole, like all the cultures, all the traditions, things like that. It's really cool that you had that special honor of doing that and having a race like that. And then I know over time, you mentioned that through all this running, you have achieved a lot of goals. You've been able to check the list off the bucket list of, you know, running this Boston Marathon.

Meranden: As you continue, you know, you mentioned you're 29, still very young. What are some goals that you created for yourself that, as a runner, that you hope to achieve in the future?

Kyle Sumatzkuku: I pretty much have long-term goals and I have short-term goals. But sometimes goals can just be elusive. Sometimes you can make them achieve and fulfill them and be successful with them.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: But sometimes you just have to check back and, you know, reach those goals. And, you know, just enduring the journey of those trials and tribulations and going through the process, you know, it takes a lot where you have to go back and think about to yourself and being like, hey, I got this. What if you have these nagging doubts?

Kyle Sumatzkuku: You have these insecurities and whatnot. What if I'm not going to make it? Or what if I'm not going to get the Boston Marathon qualifying time? And, you know, just sticking to that plan, you know, it takes time. It takes effort. It takes a lot of, you know, all these little things just to make it happen, not only the physicality, but the spiritual-wise, the mental-wise.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: And, you know, just enduring the journey of running Shiprock Marathon was my goal of qualifying for Boston. I ran a 2:38:08 at the Shiprock Marathon back in 2019. And then once I fulfilled the Boston Marathon back in October 11, 2021, I ran a 2:26:17 at my first Boston Marathon debut. So there was a huge gap there. And running Boston twice was something very fulfilling that I had to relive and come back because the first time was very successful. But the second time I went back, you know, it was held in the month of April where it was kind of hot.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: So, you know, just reflecting back on the first Boston Marathon debut, going back again in 2022, always wanted to make a bigger margin of from 2:26:00 to the second Boston Marathon debut. But times during that time, I didn't get to fulfill it, you know. So I did have to step back and just to reflect on what possibly will happen during that time of the second debut.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: But yeah, so goals can be elusive. Sometimes you can stick to them. Sometimes there's some mishaps, hiccups, you know, things like that can happen and occur in a marathon race just like that.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: But, you know, I did the second marathon debut. I did have my trials and tribulations where I had tears. I had breakdowns and my spirits was a bit cracked and more so broken.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: But definitely, I will honestly want to go back and make another debut sometime, hopefully next year or the following year. But, you know, the future is bright. So we can always carry on this prayer of sticking to the goal and making a big impact and trying to overcome those fears, those nagging doubts and those insecurities as a runner.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: And, you know, it can definitely be pretty much a mental battle with yourself. But then again, you surround yourself with good people, with good teammates who definitely encourage you, not only they admire your running, admire yourself and the way you carry yourself. But, you know, they always love seeing people, seeing yourself out there running and continue to try and continue to push the envelope in and just give it all you got. But, you know, just don't give up. Don't relent, you know, don't be so hard on yourself about it because I had my times there and, you know, I still think about that time. It was kind of scary.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: Yeah, it was kind of finding myself alone during that time frame. But days passed by and, you know, having my loved ones and my family saying, it's OK, it's OK, you didn't get to hit the goal that you had in mind. But then again, I kind of thought about it like, yeah, I didn't get to hit it.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: But then again, you know, I still have more years ahead of me just to fulfill them. And, you know, it can be fun sometimes and, you know, you just can't get enough of it. But then again, just thinking about it, having the character, having the strong spirit to carry on and to carry forth and let people know that don't give up, don't relent. And don't be hard about yourself, about not achieving your goals and continue forward and have that strong will in your heart.

Meranden: Yeah, awesome. I do want to mention, based on everything that you just now said, it is very important to have that kind of mindset, you know, taking a step back, understanding that I have these goals, they are there. And, you know, sometimes there are going to be those times where it is going to be hard. But then you also understand, like, this is just part of the journey. This is what makes me stronger. And having that mindset is really good.

Meranden: And it's really nice to see you overcome them, accomplish them, and then just continue to have more goals. So it's really cool to see how you've really transformed throughout the years, throughout the different races that you've done. And, you know, with this running experience you had just as a runner, you've also been able to expand your knowledge to other individuals, such as coaching. So over time, you've been able, actually last year, coach back home in your own local community. What has that experience been like for you?

Kyle Sumatzkuku: It's been unique, definitely. It was something new for me. But then again, I wanted to take time and donate my time to the youth. And, you know, just to share my experiences with them, even though when they're young. Because it's always good to start out young for running. And, you know, you can see them blossom and see them grow and see them mature as a runner.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: Not only a runner, but, you know, they can mature as a student, and then a runner, and then a good person last. And, you know, it's always good to see them pretty much blossom like that. And, you know, sometimes it's always good to have them endure the trials and tribulations.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: And, you know, there's times where seeing them race, seeing them, it's not only about the training, but then again, it goes further more than more than the training. You know, you have the mentality state and you got your spiritual. And then, you know, just to have those things aligned and, you know, having them blossom into a mature runner. And, you know, I did take the time to share my experiences at the Tuba City boarding school. I did promote from there and then went on to high school. I ran there my seventh and eighth grade year.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: And, you know, it was definitely a unique experience for me because definitely I was looking at those kids. I was like, man, I was a seventh and eighth grade running those high temperatures where it's just so hot. And, you know, and it's always good to stop by and just share miles with them.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: And, you know, sometimes it's not only the running part, but showing them discipline and enthusiasm and optimism and just sharing all those good components about sometimes, yeah, the training's there. But when you get into a race, like, you know, it's always good to be there right by their side and encourage them and, you know, tell them not to give up and not to relent or be so hard about themselves. Because I did experience over a dozen times with runners and, you know, they sometimes come up to me and be like, Kyle, I can't do this.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: Why, like, how come I'm not hitting this pace? How come I'm not hitting this time? Or by the time my competitor, my running next to me, he does this.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: I'll be like, you gotta sometimes just not so be hard on yourself about it, you know. And it takes time, it takes effort, and it takes the maturity. And, you know, not only being a coach at Tuba City Boarding School, but I did spend some time with Wings of America.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: Wings of America is based out of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and they're all around indigenous Native American youth running base. And they do have some summer running camps out all over the reservation of the Four Corners area. And I was very fortunate to be a facilitator slash coach to donate my time with them and meeting other runners from Pueblo, from Diné, from youth all over, just 11 tribes, as they say.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: And, you know, taking on from there, I was pretty much had an opportunity to even coach on the Hopi Reservation, where we have Hopi Wellness Center. And we did have our two second annual Hopi Running Camp at the Hopi Civic Center. And they were kind enough for allowing me to coach them and have a three-day running camp with the youth.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: And so from Tuba City Boarding School to Wings of America to donating my time to Hopi Wellness Center for a running camp all in all, it was just a unique experience. And sometimes, you know, I do see all these kids. You'll be like, hey, you're the Tuba City Boarding School runner or the coach.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: And I'll be like, yeah, hey, how's it going? And, you know, and be like, oh, hey, I seen you at the Wings of America Running Camp. Or I seen you at the Just Move It. And I seen you at the Hopi Wellness Running Camp, the Hopi Running Camp. And, you know, just so on and so forth. And, you know, so I do take the time and I do take, you know, the time to talk to them. And, you know, just pretty much sharing my knowledge of running. And not only like the running, but the cultural and aspirations for them. And it's always open. I'm always willing to share. And yeah, so.

Meranden: Awesome. Yeah. And I know you mentioned talking about sharing your knowledge and, you know, yourself using that donation of your time to the youth, to your community, things like that. And over time, you've been able to show that as a coach. Since we have this platform here, and I know you actually want to show something here. Would you like to talk a little bit of what that is?

Kyle Sumatzkuku: Yes. So these are pretty much photographs from one of the traditional races that we have on Hopi. And it's a basket dance race. And these are one of the ceremonial races that we have during the time of fall. And, you know, I had a special honor and privilege that one of my uncles does who got to photograph the run. And, you know, it's definitely something so monumental. And I love those photos. It's definitely, I love physical copies. And it's something that I reflect on.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: And, you know, it's a constant reminder that, you know, this is what we do. And this is what we have on Hopi. And I want to share that with you all. And I want to share it with the youth and the young ones out there that, yeah, you are always welcome to run these races, the flute dance, the snake dance, the basket dance, and even the clan runs. So, yeah, so.

Meranden: For our audience listening online, what are some of the pictures that are on there? What are some of them on there?

Kyle Sumatzkuku: Oh, yeah, so.

Meranden: Okay, like there's some with your family.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: Oh, yeah, so I do have some with my family. Yeah, so this was here with my family. So I do have my uncle. And then I have my mom and my other mom. And then I have one of my good buddies from the village. And this was all taken post-race.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: And along with my uncle here, who had taught me the Hopi art of running. And, you know, I can't thank him enough of how much he blossomed and matured me into a Hopi runner and taught me about these Hopi ceremonial races. And, you know, and so, yeah, so.

Meranden: Yeah, those are some nice photos. I like seeing those. They remind me of, like, even my own, like seeing the one. Like you mentioned, having physical photos, physical copies is really, really nice. So, yeah, like you mentioned, the whole thing of the importance of it, passing it on to the youth, for anyone. This is also for anyone in the audience or those online listening. What are some advice that you would give to upcoming runners of any age, even youth, that would like to be upcoming runners or athletes?

Kyle Sumatzkuku: Yeah, so, you know, it's always good to start out. You know, you can start out small. And, you know, you don't need any fancy machines or anything. You just need a pair of running shoes and some good running attire and just run those trails. And, you know, I did start out when I was young, just from recess to having time with my friends. And, you know, it's definitely a journey to take on. And it's always good to share. And, you know, so it's always good to start out small. I did start out as a late bloomer, as they say.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: I wasn't fast back at the Moenkopi Day School. And I was quite of a chubby kid. I do have a photo. When I first started out running at a Hopi running camp back in 2007, and I was a bit heavy set. But then again, I kind of didn't. I just ran for fun. But then again, from fun, it kind of matured myself into. So, you know, you can always start out small. And, you know, you don't need any fancy machines, just a pair of good running sneakers. And then just have yourself, have your own solitude, have your good efforts and have, you know, finding that happy place in your heart where just running, having a jog, having a walk, having a brisk walk. Or, you know, it's always fun to take on a journey like that. And, you know, sometimes you're hooked.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: Sometimes you get the running bug, as they say. And, you know, it's always good to start out young as I have and start out slow. So it's always good to start out where you started. And it always starts from home. And, you know, I always thought about starting out when I was young and, you know, just evolving, maturing, taking on this like a stepping stone. And, you know, it's quite an experience when you get older and you think about these things.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: And you'd be like, wow, I actually had a slow start. And, you know, it was quite of a time of my life and, you know, something to reflect on. So out there, people who want to get into the sport of running, you know, it's good for your wellness. It's good for your health. It's good for your spirit. It's good for your mind. And it's just good all around your well-being. And yeah, so.

Meranden: Yeah, that's good advice. I actually have a half marathon coming up in October. So I'm taking it slow, definitely. Running those lower mileages and then also learning how to get a pretty good pace. And also like back home, there's a lot of places you can run. All the hills, all the different places to run. So throughout this interview, we actually have a fun question for our guests. The fun question is, if you could have any indigenous food right now, what would it be?

Kyle Sumatzkuku: I was always spoiled back at home, especially on Hopi. You know, we're farmers and, you know, everything is based around corn, beans and watermelon, squash. And we have heirloom seeds that we plant every summer.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: And, you know, based off those foods, everything famous about our Hopi food is probably piki known as. It's a bread. It's blue. It's made out of juniper ashes. And it comes off and it's baked on a stone that it's black and has animal fat brains to sheep brains. And it's casted with watermelon seeds. That's how it gets that really good ashy texture. Kyle Sumatzkuku: But probably it will be piki. And nöqwivi, of course, that is made from white corn. And it's very filling. And it has can be whatever whatever kind of meat, rabbit meat or even sheep meat. Also, somiviki, it's pretty much blue corn. And it has a really good texture of the ashy from the juniper ash taste. And yeah, and it's very sweet. So I would say those are my top three. And watermelon, of course. And, you know, I can go on about these special foods. And they're definitely a delicacy that we have on Hopi land. And also frybread and the notorious Indian taco.

Meranden: Yeah, those are all really good ones. And usually we say, I kind of say the same thing because I like to say my kind of food. I would say nöqwivi, piki is a good one because everyone's like, what is that? But we try to say like, sometimes we explain as like a piece of paper. And if you were to like, literally, if I wrote this paper, it kind of looks like that. It's like that thin. And you just eat it with like you dip it in a lot. You can dip it in tea, you can dip in coffee, dip it in your soup, things like that. But those are some good answers.

Meranden: As we are beginning to wrap up this interview, I have one last question for you. And what would you like to leave this audience here? And then our audience online, what would you like to leave them with today?

Kyle Sumatzkuku: Yeah, so all in all, take care of yourselves. You know, live a happy life. You know, it's always good to take care of your well-being, your mental state, your spiritual, even your heart. And, you know, Ronnie just taught me a lot. And to connect with not only with people, not only with humans, but along with in depth of connecting with the land, connecting with our animals out there, and the vegetation, the birds, and even the bugs out there that just roam around this earth. And, you know, it's always good to connect with Mother Earth herself.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: And, you know, it's always good to just take time out of your day to go out there and just to run or take a good morning walk or a good morning jog out there and think about what we have in this life. And, you know, we only have one life here on this earth. And, you know, it's always good to live it every day like it's your last, you know, sharing good memories, sharing good cheers, birthdays, weddings, you know, all those good things in life.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: And it's always good to have good pals, good mates, good buddies next to you and whatever purpose, whatever life that you're trying to fulfill with your spouse, a best friend and with your loved ones and family. And, you know, keep them close. And we always think about our loved ones back at home and especially, you know, around this world. Because, you know, we only have one life. We only live on one earth. We only have one life to give.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: And, you know, so just take care of yourselves out there wherever you go, whatever you're doing, whatever morning ritual you have, you know, the simple rituals, having a morning coffee, having morning tea with your family. And, you know, so take care of your well-being because you have a purpose here on this earth. And it's always good to check on one another even though you haven't seen them for a while, you haven't seen them for, you know, how many days out.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: So, yeah, and just be good to yourself. And, you know, there's some hard, rough patches, muddy patches out there that we endure, that we have not only, you know, at our home base or, you know, it could be at work or the daily life, the daily routines that you have, you know, just take time and take time for yourself to reflect and, you know, just to show yourself the loving, having that spoiled moment with yourself, you know, go out there and spoil yourself. It doesn't hurt to spoil yourself, to hang out with friends and, or even by your lonesome, to visit a canyon like this or to visit your favorite place that makes you happy. Not only by yourself, but with others that you want to spend time with.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: So life is good. Life can be breathtaking. Life can be heavy at times. Life can be all these sorts of emotions that can deliver to us, but we're only human. You know, we had these five senses of us and, you know, I never, we never take life for granted because, you know, we have our grandparents, we have my parents, we have our parents and, you know, we have our little ones to think about. So visitors who visit this special place, you know, it's always going to be here, whatever place that you have on your trip or wherever you want to go that you call your special place, you know, take care of it.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: Just give it back the blessings that you endured just to give it back to the place because it made you so happy and it made you feel composed and during those highs and lows, it made you so better. So all in all, look out for one another, love each other. You know, it doesn't matter where, who we are, where we come from, you know, we treat each other with respect and with the love that we want, the love and respect that we want to treat them and how they want to treat us.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: And in Hopi, we have these five principles and it's these principles that are endured for Hopi, but out there, not only for Hopi, but out there with the 11 tribes, they have their own principles. But in Hopi, we have [speaks Hopi] and I'm forgetting another one. Pretty sure my dad will let me know. But those five principles, those pretty much live around us Hopis. And, you know, if we fulfill those five principles, yeah, we are Hopi. But, you know, treating land, treating every little living being out there with respect, with harmony, with good intentions, with, you know, with what we have on this earth.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: And it follows back with walking this earth, running this earth, you know, having to see a good, a new day, a new sunrise, a new sunset. And, you know, so it's always good to give back to those elements out there and the bugs and the birds and all the living things out there that surround us, that we hear from the morning of the a.m. and even at the dusk until evening. So in Hopi, we say, [speaks Hopi] you know, just take care of yourself, live a strong, happy, loving, and a good-hearted life out there and remain strong out there, take care of your loved ones and, you know, take, be careful and look out for one another, especially wherever you go and wherever your destination will be.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: So thank you and yeah, take care.

Meranden: Owi, askwali for being here. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and we look forward to seeing you here again. So thank you.

Kyle Sumatzkuku: Owi, kwa’kwa. Thank you for having me.

Ranger Jonah: Grand Canyon Speaks is a program hosted by Grand Canyon National Park and the Grand Canyon Conservancy. A special thanks to Aaron White for the theme music. This recording reflects the personal lived experiences of tribal members and do not encompass the views of their tribal nation or that of the national park.

Ranger Jonah: To learn more about Grand Canyon First Voices, visit www.nps.gov/grca. Here at Grand Canyon National Park, we are on the ancestral homelands of the 11 associated tribes of the Grand Canyon. These being the Havasupai Tribe, the Hualapai Tribe, the Navajo Nation, the Hopi Tribe, the Pueblo of Zuni, the Yavapai Apache Nation, the Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians, the Las Vegas Paiute Tribe, the Moapa Band of Paiutes, the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, and the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe.

Welcome to the first episode of Season 3! This episode is about Kyle Sumatzkuku, a Hopi runner from Mishongnovi. ALCC intern, Meranden, talks with Kyle about his running journey and what it was like to qualify and run in the Boston Marathon. He also talks about his experiences becoming a cross-country coach and mentoring youth through Wings of America.

Episode 2

Ali Upshaw Speaks

Transcript

[Ali Upshaw]

And so I used to see like all the girls, all the women that went through the program and ran at nationals wear that turquoise jersey. And so in high school, when I had found out that they had offered me a spot on the team, I just kept writing down that whole summer, I want to wear the turquoise jersey, I want to wear the turquoise jersey, because I wanted it so bad. And so that's how things really kicked off.

[Meranden]

Hello, everyone. Welcome to Grand Canyon Speaks. This is Meranden.

[Lakin]

And this is Lakin.

[Meranden]

We hope you have been enjoying season three so far. We were very fortunate to speak with so many amazing athletes over the summer.

[Lakin]

On that note, this episode is about Ali Upshaw. She is Diné and from Fort Defiance on the Navajo Reservation.

[Meranden]

She spoke with Ranger Eliana about how running has been in her family for generations and is very important to her culture.

[Lakin]

Allie describes the self-discipline of the sport and how her hard work has helped her run for her dream school and even breaking school records at Northern Arizona University.

[Meranden]

Thank you all for tuning in and enjoy this episode with Ali Upshaw.

[Ali Upshaw]

Hello, everybody. (Introduces self in Navajo) My name is Ali Upshaw. I am from Fort Defiance, Arizona, and I currently go to school at Northern Arizona University where I also run cross-country and track, and I am studying public health.

[Ranger Eliana]

Wonderful. I want to ask you, have you been to Grand Canyon before?

[Ali Upshaw]

I've been here a couple of times.

My first time I've ever been to the Grand Canyon was in high school. And my stepdad, he lives pretty close to here. I grew up like in Flagstaff pretty much his whole life.

So he was the first one to ever bring me to the Grand Canyon. So that was my first experience, but it took me kind of a while to get here. But I've been here a couple of times with people in the past.

And the nice thing about Northern Arizona University's cross-country team is that we usually have our preseason out here. So sometimes in like the week before school starts, our coaches, they'll take us here to go for a four-mile run. So we do it along the ridge.

And so we all kind of like have our little team bonding moment with the team and getting to know each other here at the Grand Canyon. And we usually like sit out on the sunset in the first week of our preseason. So that's what we do.

So I've been here twice with the team before, so I have some good memories with the canyon.

[Ranger Eliana]

Wow, that's so awesome. What does it feel like to run along the rim of the canyon?

[Ali Upshaw]

Oh, it's a little scary. You gotta really watch your footing with a lot of the trails here because it's so rocky. But it's fun. It's definitely a lot different feel than a regular run where you're just focusing on training.

You can really relax and just focus on the view and being with teammates. So it's really fun.

[Ranger Eliana]

That's so awesome. That sounds like a great team-building activity. Also just coming out here, just for reference for you guys, where Ali is from is pretty far from here.

So the Navajo Nation is about the size of West Virginia. Now she lives closer in Flagstaff, but yeah, this is like a really big area. So I'm so glad that she's here.

I want to ask you, so we spent some time talking earlier today here. What was it like coming back today?

[Ali Upshaw]

It was really fun. I spent the day with you mostly and with Park Ranger Kelli Jones. So I had a really great time with you guys today and especially talking about the canyon and her perspective of everything and the tower.

So it was really, really interesting to just listen and walk around and just be out here for a different purpose than running and just training-wise or just sightseeing-wise. It really brought a different perspective for me. So it was really fun.

[Ranger Eliana]

That's so awesome. I feel like the canyon is so different every time you visit and for me, every single time I look at it, it's different. So talking about running, I'm curious, how did you get started with running?

[Ali Upshaw]

Yeah. So I got started with running kind of like in early age. My whole family, they ran.

So funny enough, my grandpa, he used to coach my mom in high school. And then when I got to high school, my mom ended up coaching me in high school. So all of my uncles, my aunties, they were runners.

And my grandpa used to talk about my mom all the time, all the time about being so fast. So just being a very fast runner in general and how much she used to run and how much races she won. And she also ran at the state meet and she has her own state championship title individually.

And I remember he used to talk about it all the time. And it used to like, I think the very competitive side of me kind of came out in that moment where he would continuously talk about her all the time, all the time. And I used to think to myself, I want to, I want to beat my mom, I want to run faster than her.

And I kept thinking that in my head and every time he would bring it up, I would always think like, I want to be faster than her, I want to be like her. And I want to be faster than my uncles and my aunties. So I really started to get into running when my grandpa told me those stories.

And so that's kind of like how it all began.

[Ranger Eliana]

That's so cool that it's like a family thing. Your mom sounds really, really awesome from some of the things you told me earlier today. Is she like a role model for you?

Can you tell me about like any role models that you have in your life?

[Ali Upshaw]

Yeah. So my mom definitely plays a big role model influence in my life. Not only is she, was she a good runner in high school, but you know, she was really smart and educationally, she went on to get her doctorate degree in veterinary science and has her own nonprofit on the Navajo Nation and her own clinic where she works out of with large animals and small animals.

And so she's one of like the only full time veterinarians on the Navajo Nation, which is also something she does. And so I find a lot of influence from her, not only athletically, but academically as well. And, you know, my grandpa used to keep in mind a lot of like the role models that have come through Navajo Nation and, you know, the way runners, you know, big name runners, you know, names like Alvina Begay, Billy Mills, all native runners that have run at such a high level.

And they've always, I guess, shown me that, like, if they can do it, I can do it too. So they definitely played a strong role in allowing me to pursue my dreams.

[Ranger Eliana]

That's so awesome. I was wondering if you could tell me a little bit about the importance that running has for your tribal community or for your culture.

[Ali Upshaw]

Yeah, so there's a lot of cultural ties that our community has to running. And, you know, not only is it viewed and very popular in competition, but it's also present in a lot of like our cultural ceremonies. And, you know, growing up, I was always taught that running was a form of prayer and a blessing.

And my grandpa used to get me up really early in the morning because they say that when you're up that early and you see like, if you've ever been like up really, really early and you see like the the blue hue of like the horizon and that light, they say that's like when the holy people are out and that's when you should be running and that's when you should be just out there running in general. And so that was a big piece he used to tell me growing up. And so, you know, growing up in high school, that was a big thing for me was the cultural ties and not only, you know, viewing running as a sport, but also as a cultural value in my life that has kept me grounded.

[Ranger Eliana]

That's so cool. OK, so I want to get into a little bit of the nitty gritty here. So can you tell me how you kicked off your collegiate career in running?

[Ali Upshaw]

Yeah, so it it pretty much all started in high school. I think when I really started to compete more and get better, I started to realize, you know what, maybe I am pretty good at this and it can, you know, I think not until like my first college offer, I really started to realize that, hey, I can go to college to do this and I can continue to doing to do what I love. And I wanted to run Division One, you know, when I had first gotten into my junior year.

And I made that a priority for myself that I wanted I wanted to be there on the big stage early on. I didn't have, now that I think about it, I didn't have a whole lot of offers to begin with, but I had like a sliver of a chance to run for the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. And so the coach gave me a partial scholarship to run out there, even though it wasn't a full one.

So but, you know, at the time, UNM was pretty good running school and they had just gotten like their first or one of like their national titles on the women's side in cross country. And they had big names like Wynnie Collotti and Edna Kurgat that all ran internationally and were really good runners. And I really wanted to be a part of that championship atmosphere, like so bad.

I remember when I first got the offer, I closed out every other offer that came my way. I was like, I'm going to the University of New Mexico. And if you've ever seen like UNM's national championship jerseys, they're different from like their regular season ones.

Cool thing about UNM is that they have very unique colored jerseys. They have the red and turquoise combo and not many schools actually have that colorway. So it ties back to like the Albuquerque culture, New Mexico culture and slivers of Native people and their cultural significance of just Albuquerque as a whole with the color of turquoise.

I want to wear the turquoise jersey because I wanted it so bad. And so that's how things really kicked off was like I had gotten a small offer from the University of New Mexico. And then when the coaching staff had changed like in 2023, everything kind of changed.

Everything took a shift. The coach that had recruited me had left. And so I was kind of left with a little bit of unknown.

And I decided that I wanted to go somewhere with a program still in place. And, you know, intact and still was like had a good foundation instead of one that was like shaky with the coaching change. So I decided to go to Northern Arizona University to run for Coach Mike Smith.

So that's where I've been for the last two years.

[Ranger Eliana]

That's so cool. I love that you say that you didn't get a ton of offers, but you got one that mattered the most. Yeah.

And then when you moved schools, like you continued to make the best of it. And it sounds like you've done a lot of really cool stuff at NAU, even outside of your running. Can you tell us a little bit about like your studies?

What did you major in?

[Ali Upshaw]

Yeah. So throughout my undergrad at the University of New Mexico, I was a community health education major. And then when I got to Northern Arizona University, I decided to enter into the public health program.

So that's what I've been doing for the last two years. And so I graduated with my bachelor's in public health. And so I'm currently enrolled into the master's of public health program at NAU.

And the nice thing about it is that there's a health promotion branch, so they have an emphasis in indigenous health. So that's one thing I'm going into this fall.

[Ranger Eliana]

That's so awesome. Okay. So you told me before about your capstone project, and I thought it was super, super cool.

So could you tell us a little bit more about that and how it connects with your running?

[Ali Upshaw]

Yeah. So this was a topic that came up earlier today, but with our capstone, we have a bunch of different organizations that come in and partner with NAU in creating a three-week intervention program that is in the health sector. So there's organizations like different local elementary schools, and the one that I was able to work with was Girls on the Run.

So I don't know if you're familiar with Girls on the Run, but it's a national nonprofit that works specifically with young girls in building self-esteem and confidence. So they have a bunch of different grades and age groups that they work with in their programs and really in the holistic side of running. And so it was actually a group of Native students that were able to design a three-week intervention program that centered on increasing Indigenous youth's presence within the program.

So one way we really did that was highlighting a Native student-athlete that runs for Coconino Community College, and her name is Amber Woody. And I actually went to high school with her, but we actually did a digital storytelling thread, and we did it primarily to kind of highlight her journey throughout her running career and more so trying to relate a lot of her stories and her values with a lot of the Native girls that do live in Northern Arizona. You know, there's a lot of Native population there, and we really wanted to try and get them involved with Girls on the Run and increase Indigenous presence within that way.

So that's the one thing we did. And then we also did an infographic and then a presentation at a local school. So it was really fun.

That was the highlight of my spring semester.

[Ranger Eliana]

That's so awesome. That's such an important goal to strive for, and you're doing such good work. Is working with Native youth like a passion of yours?

[Ali Upshaw]

Yeah, for sure. In the past, I've worked as a camp facilitator for Wings of America, and so that's been a really like a turning point for me in understanding what health strategies can look like for Native youth, especially in thinking about how it can be culturally relevant to them, to their cultural identity, because we have so many different prevention methods, strategies, but none that are really tailored towards Native people and considers a lot of like their backgrounds and their values. So that's one thing that I'm really have been interested in, in my studies is trying to figure out how to fit those programs into a more culturally relevant way for our people.

[Ranger Eliana]

Yeah, that's so cool. I love that you, you know, you're going to school and you're studying something that's so important, but you're tying it back to helping your community and helping young people succeed. I was wondering if you could tell me a little bit about like, you mentioned that you're going for your master's in public health as well.

What kind of like dream world, what would you want to do with that? Or like, what kind of impact would you like to have on the world with that?

[Ali Upshaw]

Wow, that's a good question. I think one thing for me, my dream world is that all Indigenous youth can have a high adequate access to resources to leverage their, I guess their pursuit of running collegiately or going to college or, you know, pursuing their athletic goals, because we center so much on education. And, you know, it would be such a dream to see a center that focuses on the athletic pursuits of Native kids because, you know, sports play so big of a role, like not in my life, but, you know, it's evident in the way that it provides a sense of belonging, identity, and gives a chance for Native kids to explore and connect back to their cultural identity, especially with running is so tied closely to our culture. And so, you know, sports play such a big role for Native youth. So that would be like my dream is like there's just a center, a health center that focuses on Native youth's athletic pursuit.

[Ranger Eliana]

Yes, that's so awesome. I love that. And I love that you want to help young people.

I feel like it's so, so beneficial if you can connect with your culture as well as with sports because they're so good for you, right? I want to ask you another like big question. If you could give any advice to Native youth when it comes to running or any pursuits they might want to go after, like what would you say to them?

[Ali Upshaw]

Yeah, I like that question too. Oh my gosh, I think I would just say that, you know, there's a lot of, I guess, doubt that comes with pursuing your athletic dreams, your educational dreams. But I guess the one thing that I would say that's really helped me in continuing my goals is that there's a calling and there's like there's a dream and there's a calling for a reason.

And that is literally like you have the capacity to go for that dream. And there's, you know, you're so capable of pursuing that. And so I think that's one thing I would like keep saying to young kids because there's very ambitious kids out there, there's very ambitious people that have a thought that lingers in their mind and it's there for a reason.

So I would just say that like it's there for a reason and that you should pursue it and you're so capable of doing it.

[Ranger Eliana]

Wow, that's so important to hear. I think a lot of a lot of people, not just kids, but everyone needs to hear that and feel empowered to reach their goals. I want to highlight one of your big wins here.

And that's the Big Sky Conference Championships from 2024. So I was wondering if you could just tell us like a little bit about that race, like what you won and how that impacted you or how that experience was for you.

[Ali Upshaw]

Yeah, so that was probably definitely one of my favorite races of the season. So if you don't know kind of like how race schedules work, so there's a there's a regular season and then you have your conference race and then your regional race and then the national race. So conference is kind of like the a lot of the people that are within the conference.

And so I run, so NAU is a part of like the Big Sky Conference. So, yeah, I don't know how much to say, but it was really fun because I've never, ever won a cross country race during my time in college. So that was actually my first ever like win in the college race like ever.

And it was really fun. It happened in my last my last season because college running is so hard. It's so tough.

There's so many, you know, it keeps getting better and better every year. So for me, it was a special moment because, you know, we had a race plan kind of like set in for that race. And so we my family got to be there to to see me have my first win.

So it was really fun. I really did enjoy that race.

[Ranger Eliana]

So, yeah, that's so awesome. That's a big win. And when you win something like that, does your team or your family or do you yourself treat yourself to anything?

Was there any like celebration?

[Ali Upshaw]

Some of those races, we some of them are just like very gritty. At the time it was in Idaho. So in the fall, so it was like kind of cold.

So the nice thing was that, you know, our team won and they let us go back to the hotel. They let us go back to the hotel. A lot of the times we don't get to go back to the hotel because it's same day trip back home to Flagstaff.

So we'll go straight from the race back to Flagstaff. And so you're sitting on the plane for like you're sitting down for a long time because we fly to Phoenix and then we have to drive back to Flagstaff. And we do that all after racing.

So, you know, we won that race and they let us go back to the hotel to take a shower and we left an hour after. But my grandma, she was really happy for me. She brought me like a bag of pinons.

So she's like, go ahead and take it with you. And I was like, OK, thank you. So that was what we did after.

[Ranger Eliana]

That's so nice. And can you for the audience, let us know what are pinons?

[Ali Upshaw]

Oh, so those are a lot of the trees that you see. Let's see. So there's a pinon tree there.

So a lot of the times, like around, would you say August, September is a lot of times when the pinon nuts, they'll fall down from the tree. And so the way you kind of like prepare that is a lot of people prepare it very differently. But my family, we use a lot of salt.

And we stir it like in a skillet. So we go pinon picking like during around that time. So yeah, they just fall from the pinon tree.

And a lot of times people will sell them. But yeah, they're pretty good. So you would eat them as like regular sunflower seeds.

[Ranger Eliana]

It sounds so good. And I love that we have the trees right here. If you guys could see them to anyone listening to this podcast, they're like our short little pine trees here.

But this actually segues perfectly into my next question. So when we do these interviews, we like to ask a fun question. So I want to ask you, what is your favorite native food?

[Ali Upshaw]

My favorite native food. Wow. So there's a lot.

But I would say my favorite is it's called Neeshjizhii stew. So a lot of times it's like steamed corn. And then you'll have like with mutton with like sheep's meat.

And so it's that's like my favorite meal like ever. So like stew, all the stews that my grandma makes. That's my favorite.

I'm not big on like, I mean, I do love a navajo taco here and there. But stew, that's yeah. Sometimes I go back like home and I'm like, Grandma, like I'm coming back home and she'll be like cooking away and I'll be like, okay, thanks.

[Ranger Eliana]

That sounds so good right now. And you mentioned sheep. I saw that you grew up on a ranch.

So can you tell us like about what it's like where you're from? Like growing up on a ranch?

[Ali Upshaw]

Yeah. So I yeah, I grew up on a small ranch. We have like sheep, cows, horses.

My sister's really involved with barrel racing. So she does that with rodeo. But yeah, growing up, I used to remember this.

I was so busy in high school, like two times busier than I was in college, honestly, because it would be like, go to school at 8am. And then you spend all day three o'clock. And then you have practice from like three to six.

And then 6pm, you go back home, let's feed the horses, chase the sheep back in, chase the cows back in. And it would be done like when it's dark outside at that point. And that was like literally a weekday for me was like doing that consecutively.

And I always remember it. And I think about it sometimes and I'm like, dang. I was really, really busy.

And even when I go back home, I still get put to work. So yeah, so sometimes there's my grandma, she does not believe in rest days, honestly. She does not believe in rest days.

And sometimes we joke around with her like, dang, like, how are you like still going like sit down? And she's just still going. And but yeah, growing up on a ranch was like, definitely a part of myself that I guess, that I kind of, not many people, I guess, know.

So every time I'm, yeah, I guess in the city, it's so different. That life is so different, like urban life and res life. And going up on a ranch, they're different.

So every time I get to go home, I get kind of a little humble awakening of like, just going, going, going. And then I'm in this city where I'm like this urban kid and I get to, you know, take, lay down without getting yelled at.

[Ranger Eliana]

That's so funny. And it's so funny that you say that life was harder in high school than in college when you were running. Yeah.

Also, because you mentioned like, being able to rest at the hotel as your reward for winning. I can tell you work really, really hard. I want to ask you, so like, you mentioned this summer, you're not running.

What is it like to not be running for a summer? Because you're such a hard worker. Like, is that weird?

[Ali Upshaw]

Yeah, it is a little weird. Like, kind of, you know, I've taken the summers a lot more seriously in the past in terms of training. You know, I do run like consecutively still, but like not on the level in which like I've done past summers because I don't have a cross country season anymore.

So I've run out of all of my cross country eligibility. So for five consecutive years, I've done like my summers have just been filled with training and like focusing on the fall. And so it's really weird for me.

Like, I've been really trying to step out of like my comfort zone and like do new things and like kind of step away from training. But it's definitely a new period of my life where I'm trying to get used to it with like not having a cross country season. So yeah, it's a shift for sure.

[Ranger Eliana]

Yeah, I can definitely speak to that as well. I'm not a runner, but having graduated college recently, you know, it's like such a pivotable time for our identities as well. You kind of told me a little bit before about like what your future with running might look like.

I was wondering if you were interested in speaking about that at all, because like there's actually, she told me there's a lot of business that goes into a running career. And I think that's so interesting.

[Ali Upshaw]

Yeah, I know the business side of running is so, it's so complicated in different ways. It's definitely something that I don't really, I'm not fully knowledgeable in. But, you know, there are some, you know, post collegiate opportunities to run professionally and insights for me, which I really do want to do.

And that's been like a goal ever since, you know, halfway through my college career. And, you know, that's been a goal for me. And that's something I really want to do.

But there's a lot of logistics that go behind it. And yeah, the business world is a little scary with, you know, a lot of things. There's a lot of language that's used differently in the business world of running that I kind of got to get used to.

So yeah, I have a couple of opportunities, insights, but I also might pursue a half year to run my outdoor season, because I don't have any more cross country or indoor. So if you don't know, a lot of like collegiate athletes, they run all year. So it's cross country, then they have indoor in the wintertime.

And then in the spring, it's straight into outdoor season. On the outdoor track, you get all three seasons throughout the year. Whereas like basketball, it's just that season in, you know, starting from winter all the way to spring.

So I only have outdoor left. And so I'm still working that whole thing out of should I go back to finish that? Or should I work with what I have now in terms of like value?

So, you know, the last, they say in the business world of running that, you know, you're as good as your last race, which kind of sucks with the kind of like the credibility you build throughout your college career that kind of like sets you up for post collegiate opportunities, which is a little hard and comes with a little bit of pressure to do well. But I would say that like, you know, talking with other people that I did set myself up pretty good to explore different avenues, but it's it's very still kind of like in the unknown.

[Ranger Eliana]

Yeah, that definitely sounds stressful. Like there could be a lot of pressure on you. But you're also so talented and you have so much going on in your life, like with your studies as well.

Going back for your master's is such a big deal. And I'm so, so impressed. I'm like, I don't know, no matter what you do, I know it's going to be great.

Thank you. Oh, of course. Okay, so I'm going to kind of wrap it up here before we open it up if the audience has any questions.

But I just want to ask, like, is there anything else you want to leave us with or leave like all the people listening to this with? That's a big question.

[Ali Upshaw]

No, I'm really glad everybody came. I really appreciate that. And this is really such a unique experience for me being at the Canyon is like in for a podcast that I guess I would never thought I'd be a part of is something.

Yeah, just so new to me. And it brings a different perspective of what the Canyon means, you know, you know, Kelli had mentioned a lot about like, you know, the whole purpose for the podcast. And why it's called Grand Canyon speaks is, you know, letting the Canyon know that we as native people are still here.

And we're speaking into the Canyon and letting it know that we're still here. And so that something that has really resonated with me during my time here and just a whole different approach to what I usually come to the Canyon for.

[Ranger Eliana]

That's so awesome. Thank you so much for coming here and, and sharing your voice with us. This is a big day for me to my first interview.

And Ali is so, so wonderful. She's so talented. And she's so easy to talk to.

So I really, really appreciate you coming here and speaking to the Canyon with us.

[Ali Upshaw]

Thank you so much. And you did really good for your first interview too. So yeah.

[Ranger Eliana]

Oh, thank you. Okay, our work is not done yet. I want to see if anybody here in our audience has any questions for Ali before the sun sets.

[Audience]

I was just curious to know, did you end up being faster than your mom? Since I know that was a goal.

[Ali Upshaw]

Yes. Yeah, no, I joke about it with her because my grandpa used to just talk nonstop about her and I was like, I made it a mission to just be faster. But yeah, no, I appreciate that question.

[Meranden]

What has the difference been from running on the rez? And then running in a place where there's not a lot of indigenous runners?

[Ali Upshaw]

Yeah, no, that was a really big shift for me. And when I first left the res, it's so different. I feel like especially because, you know, running on for all native high school, you run with a lot of other Navajo kids and you train with a lot of Navajo kids.

And you're so used to that environment. And you're taken from one place that you've known for so long and you've been around the people for so long. And then you go to a completely urban area where all the runners are non-native and even some international.

In my first year running, we had girls from Norway, Germany, and all different places that I wasn't used to. And I think the main difference was just the culture shock of just getting used to an urban environment and kind of like almost feeling lonely, in a sense, being the only one that's going through this. So we had a Native student-athlete summit in Indiana like two, three weeks ago.

And that was a conversation that a lot of Native student-athletes had at that summit where it was like, sometimes you do feel lonely. And it's really hard to connect with some other non-native athletes that don't know your background. But that's the one thing about sports and running is that it really keeps you grounded in goal setting and your personal identity of kind of like almost in a way like running has a very cultural significance to me.

And it's like when I'm running, I can always know. I always know that I'm still connected to my culture. I'm still doing the same thing that I'm doing that I would be doing at home.

So I guess, yeah, just that culture shock of everything was the main difference.

[Audience]

I have a question. There's been a big theme in this talk of like working hard and glimmers of rest. And I'm curious as to what rest does look like for you.

How do you take care of yourself as a runner? And almost going all the way to like what's advice you would give to other runners of how to take care of themselves?

[Ali Upshaw]

Yeah, that's a good question. I think rest for me, especially with, I guess, higher level running competition. That's one thing our coaches like really stress upon is like rest and recovery.

But I would say like with training, I usually leave a day where I'm completely off. I don't keep going consecutively every day throughout the week. And I guess one thing is you have to like really listen to your body.

It's not bad to take a rest day and it's not bad to like miss a day or so. And I think that's one thing that I would give advice about. But in those heavier mileage week for me, it's like completely off of my feet like and making sure that I have like a lot of food throughout the day, I guess I would say.

So, yeah.

[Ranger Eliana]

Well, thank you so much, Ali. Again, I do want to say that I feel like you're such a great role model for young people. And yeah, all that you do is really so, so amazing.

So, thank you for being here. And thank you to our audience as well. And we will be here if you guys have any questions for us.

So, thanks, guys. Have a good night.

[Ranger Jonah]

Grand Canyon Speaks is a program hosted by Grand Canyon National Park and the Grand Canyon Conservancy. A special thanks to Aaron White for the theme music. This recording reflects the personal lived experiences of tribal members and do not encompass the views of their tribal nation or that of the National Park.

To learn more about Grand Canyon First Voices, visit www.nps.gov/grca. Here at Grand Canyon National Park, we're on the ancestral homelands of the 11 associated tribes of the Grand Canyon. These being the Havasupai Tribe, the Hualapai Tribe, the Navajo Nation, the Hopi Tribe, the Pueblo of Zuni, the Yavapai Apache Nation, the Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians, the Las Vegas Paiute Tribe, the Moapa Band of Paiutes, the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, and the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe.

In this episode, Ranger Eliana speaks with collegiate runner, Ali Upshaw, who is Diné from Fort Defiance on the Navajo reservation. She talks about how she started her athletic career with family who are also runners and made it to her dream college team through some intense training along the way. Through the hard work of it all, she describes how running keeps her grounded, accomplish big goals, and stay connected to her culture.

Episode 3

Jason Amador Speaks

Transcript

[Jason Amador]

Still the fact that, you know, playing in front of 12,000, 14,000 people, all the media coverage, seeing all the celebrities walk by, seeing, you know, where you came from at NEI, a school you never heard about. To now, Grand Canyon [University] playing against Maryland, and, you know, we're in the same venue spot as Oregon, U of A, Colorado State, and all these big time schools. It was just such an awesome and amazing season looking back at it now.

[Lakin]

Hello and welcome back to Grand Canyon Speaks. This is Lakin.

[Dan]

And I'm Ranger Dan.

[Lakin]

This episode features Jason Amador, a member of the Colorado River Indian Tribe, who is an athlete at Grand Canyon University.

[Dan]

He takes us through his basketball journey, where he faced injuries, the shutting down of his college, and family hardships.

[Lakin]

Through these difficulties, he was reminded by many support systems of how determination and discipline will strengthen him to better days.

[Dan]

Jason shares the triumphs of his career, going from his small hometown to D1 basketball, and how he uses his story to inspire Native youth of different tribal communities.

[Lakin]

And here is Jason Amador.

[Jason Amador]

Before I introduce myself, I just want to say thank you to the Grand Canyon National Park and the staff and Meranden for allowing me to come out here and speak to you guys today. So my name is Jason Amador. I'm a member of the Colorado River Indian Tribes, which is located in Parker, Arizona.

It is the western side of Arizona, close to Lake Havasu. On my mom's side, I'm Navajo. My clans are Coyotes Pass Clan and Two Came to the Water.

And on my dad's side, I'm Mojave and Quechan. I went to Parker High School, where I graduated. And then from there, I got a scholarship to go play basketball at the University of St. Catherine, which is an NEI school located in San Marcos, California, which is San Diego County. And from there, I got a chance to go play over at Grand Canyon, where now I'm studying for my Master of Science in Leadership.

[Meranden]

Awesome. Okay, and a quick question. Have you been to the Grand Canyon before?

[Jason Amador]

I have been to the Grand Canyon before when I was young with my family and a couple years ago. And it feels like every time when I visit the Grand Canyon, it looks like a perfect picture. For me, I'm not too fond of heights, so I kind of stay away from the rim.

But every time I come, it's just super beautiful, and it just always takes my breath away when I look at it.

[Meranden]

We're really interested in just understanding how you got into basketball and what really kicked off your basketball journey.

[Jason Amador]

So for me, growing up, I had a best friend. His name was Damian, and I consider him a brother now. So when I was in kindergarten, it was a funny story.

I had no friends the first day, and I remember Damian was sitting on the bench outside of our class. I didn't know him at the time. I sat on the bench with him, waiting for class to start, and he had a Pop-Tart.

And any other Pop-Tart comes with two pieces, so he gave me one, I gave him one. And that's kind of how our friendship started. So from there, like any other brother, you want to be close with them and spend time with them.

So for me, I was always into football, but he loved basketball so much, he got me into basketball. So we created a local reservation team called the Arizona Outlaws, and Damian's mom and my dad actually worked together at the Special Diabetes Project on a reservation. So we made an AAU team called the Arizona Outlaws, and we played in all these local tournaments all over.

And me and Damian every day always were brothers. We pushed each other every day. We worked out, played basketball all the time, spent the night at each other's houses, did Halloween together.

We did everything together. But unfortunately, the day before sixth grade starts, me and my dad were out in Vegas getting hats made for the whole team to surprise them. And I remember sitting in the store, and I remember my dad gets a phone call, goes outside, and I'd never seen him act this way.

So I was kind of surprised and kind of like, what's happening? So I just remember he told me, came to the side and said, hey, Damian and his family, they got in a car accident. And unfortunately, they didn't make it.

So for me, from that moment and that day on, I knew I wasn't playing for myself no more. I was playing for something bigger than myself. And that's what made me and kicked off my journey to go do what I do now.

So for every day, whenever I wake up, that was something that instilled a spark in me. And for me, whenever we played a tournament from that day moving on, it rained. And for us in Native American culture, when it rains, it means something sacred.

It means they're kind of watching over you. And literally for like two, two and a half years, every time we had a tournament, it always rained. And for me, that's something that always kicked off my basketball journey.

And that's where it got me in today. And just kind of knowing that he's up there and his family and he's watching over me. And I know he's proud of me.

And I'm trying to do my best to make him proud.

[Meranden]

Yeah. Wow. That's a really great way to keep you inspired.

You know, and I know that this started really young and you made your way to high school. And how did you go? How did your basketball journey continue after high school?

[Jason Amador]

Yeah. So after high school, you know, growing up in Parker High School, I'm pretty sure a lot of you guys haven't heard of Parker. So knowing that when I was going into my sophomore, junior and senior seasons, I wasn't getting recruited a lot.

I had all these accolades. I was Player of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year, First Team All-State. I was a McDonald's All-American nominee.

I had all these thousand points, club, had all these accolades, first team, everything. I wasn't getting looked at. No schools were reaching out to me.

And looking back at it now, what I know now is that a lot of these recruiters and a lot of these college coaches, they don't go out to the reservations to seek and recruit kids. They go to the big cities like Phoenix, Las Vegas, California, all these big-time cities. So for me, going into it, I was like, why am I not being recruited?

And I just remember going into my senior season, reaching out to all these schools, sending out my tapes and everything like that. I got reached out to by a coach, Kevin Williamson, at a D2 camp called Cal State San Marcos in San Diego County. This camp was the day after my graduation from high school.

And this was my last chance to go play college basketball. So we woke up at 4 in the morning, took off to the camp, drove there. And getting there, I always think about it, too, because it's always crazy to look back and think about the journey along the way.

And I know when I got there, I had my best performance. I knew that this was my last chance to go try to make the college basketball team, pursue my dream. This was my last chance.

Going through all the drills, I couldn't miss a single shot. My family came up to me, like, have you missed? I'm like, I have not missed, you know, going off screens, you know, like dunking the basketball, like everything like that.

I was doing everything I could to stand out. And I remember it came down to the All-Star game. A lot of these college coaches and camps host an All-Star game where the seniors and juniors play against each other, and they see who they want to recruit, and the freshmen and the sophomores.

And I remember when it was time to get picked, I was going into it. And I remember the coach looked at me, and he put me with the freshmen and the sophomores. And for me in that moment, it was really, like, looked upon like that was the first time I ever had my confidence taken away from me, because I worked so hard.

I had all these accolades. I knew I was a good basketball player. But for a coach to look at me and to say, hey, you're going to be the freshmen and the sophomores, I remember my family saying, like, yeah, go out there, you know, make sure you kill it.

But for me in that moment, it was a lot of hard. It was really hard for me to do that, because that was the first time I ever had anything taken away from me like that. So I just remember, like, I didn't want to, like, play my hardest.

I was like, this is it. And then after the camp, I talked to the head coach, and he was like, yeah, like, we could try to make something work, enroll into school, and come to me on the first day, and we could see what we can do. So it didn't work out, and I remember I was in the parking lot.

The assistant coach that invited me out, he was walking away, and my dad told me, he was like, I did everything I could for you up to this point. You know, I can't talk for you anymore. Like, you're a grown man now.

Like, it's time for you to go speak up for yourself, and this is your dream. You have to go chase it. And for me, I was always a shy kid.

I never liked talking to people. I always shied away. So for me in that moment, I knew my dream was walking out the door.

So I chased after him, said everything I could in a minute, and I got his contact information. He actually knew a former player of mine that came out from Parker. His name was Vegas Davis, and we made that connection really well.

He ended up leaving Cal State San Marcos, and he became the head coach at the University of St. Catherine. And going into the summer, I remember getting a phone call from him, and he said, yeah, Jason, I want you to be my first recruit. So he gave me a scholarship, and that's where I ended up going after high school.

[Meranden]

Wow. So all the determination, all that work, it really paid off, right? Yeah.

And then, like, after that, you were able to go to something greater, like going from that to now GCU. What made you choose GCU?

[Jason Amador]

So what made me go to GCU, I wish I could say, you know, it was as simple as they reached out to me. They got my film. They reached out to my coach, and it was simple as that.

They wanted me. It was not the case. So I ended up going to the University of St. Catherine, which was an NEI school, and it was the smallest Orthodox Christianity school in the country. And when you think of university, you think of, like, tens of thousands of students, all these big resources, everything. So I ended up going there. It was about 150 kids, and they were 90 to 95 percent all athletes.

It was an all-athlete school. So when I went there, it was literally like a two-story building when I first got there. So going there, you know, I was just so grateful for the opportunity to go play another four years.

So I had a great time doing that. Played against a lot of great D1 schools, San Diego State, Long Beach State, Utah State, Cal State Fullerton, Arizona State. But along the way, I noticed I had some pain in my hips.

So at the age of 20, after my first year of college basketball, everyone was telling me, oh, like, you probably got tight hips, keep stretching. So I kept doing that. I kept playing through it.

And I got to a point where I noticed I couldn't play defense no more. I couldn't sit in the car for too long. Like, it just started hurting.

So finally, I go get an MRI, and they tell me that I need double hip surgery and that all my ligaments, most of them, have been torn. So for me, I had to get double hip surgery at the age of 20. And trust me, that's not any way how you want to spend your summer is when you get double hip surgery, you're in a bed for two months.

You can't walk. You're in a wheelchair having to have your parents, you know, wheel you around the house and help you shower and help you go to the bathroom. I won't go too far into that because I don't want to think about that anymore.

But it was just a lot of adversity along the way. We don't have the resources as the big schools, you know, like our coach had a saying, and it was FIO. It was figure it out.

And that came to, like, rooming, being cramped in, like, little small vans, going to away games, only getting one meal a day. So going into that, you know, after my surgery, I was out for a year and a half. A year and a half is a long time in college basketball.

It's like dog years. Like, you have a certain clock when it comes to basketball and college basketball. So for me, I was out for a year and a half.

The first day I came back, I was rushing to get back. I was telling the doctors, like, I'm good. My hips are good.

Like, I'm ready to play. So the first day I come back and the first practice, literally five minutes into our first drill, we're doing a post-up drill. And I remember I'm guarding my defender, and I had my hand on his back.

As soon as I moved to put my hand away, he backed up into my hand, and I ended up breaking my finger. So after a year and a half of being out, first day I come back, I break my finger. So now I'm out, like, two more months.

And for me in that moment, it's like I developed, like, a why me attitude. Like, why did this happen to me? Like, why do I have to go through all this stuff?

And later I learned, like, God will humble you before he elevates you. And these are all tests along the way to make sure that you're capable and strong for it. So going into it, I go into my senior season.

You know, I play. I had a great season. I had my career high on senior night.

And a month before graduation, I knew I wanted to play. I had an extra grad year. I wanted to get my master's and play another year.

I remember a month before graduation, I'm working on my senior thesis, and I get an e-mail from the school, and it's from the president of the school. And it says the University of St. Catharines has shut down effective immediately. And I'm looking at that.

It looks like spam. Spam e-mail. So then all of a sudden my phone starts blowing up, and I look at my phone, my coaches.

It's my teammates. It's my classmates. And I'm looking at it, and literally it's this e-mail right here, and that's how I found out my school shut down.

Literally the grades were posted the same day. And I'm looking at it like, I've got to find a new school to play at. And I'm like, this doesn't seem real.

Like, how did your school just shut down? So at that point, I'm wondering, like, if I'm going to get my credits, if I'm going to get my diploma. Like, what's going to happen to all the guys?

Like, all my coaches, everyone's got to find a new school, a new home to play at. So going into it, I had to find a new home. And for me, I reached out to a lot of schools.

I had a dream of playing Division I. And for me, I was fortunate enough to reach out to all these schools. And looking back on it now, it's pretty cool.

As a kid from a reservation, talking to schools like San Diego State, Long Beach State, Washington State. GCU, you know, it didn't really cross my mind. But looking back at it, I knew I wanted to play in front of my family.

And the year before GCU, I spoke to Bryce Drew, who's the head coach at a summer camp. And a fast-forward a year later, you know, my head coach has his number. We reach out.

Nothing comes back yet. All the e-mails I sent to all the assistant coaches, the athletic trainer, everyone at GCU, it's not working. There's no response coming to it.

So in my head, I knew I was going to try to go play at San Diego State. Going into the summer, it's crunch time. I got to choose a school.

So I send out a last-minute e-mail to Jamie Boggs, who is the athletic director at GCU. And when you look up e-mails at GCU, like on the staff website, they don't have them. The higher you go up, they don't have the e-mails.

So I literally guessed her e-mail, and I sent out an e-mail as a last resort. The next day, I look over my phone, and she responds. And she's from San Diego, and she heard about my school's closure.

So she got me in contact with Coach Drew and Coach Shaw over at GCU. And from there, you know, I was able to go out there, do a visit, see some of the guys, meet the coaches. And fast-forward a couple weeks later, didn't hear nothing from them.

And I'm out coaching at a high school tournament in Phoenix. I get a call from Coach Shaw, brings me into his office, and he said, you know, we heard nothing but great things about you, and we'd love to have you, and welcome to GCU men's basketball. So that's why I chose GCU.

[Meranden]

Wow. That's a long process. I think, everyone, we should give him a hand for, like, that.

That's insane. Yeah, you've come a long way. That's exactly what we need to hear is, like, these people like you, they don't get that kind of recognition.

They don't know these kind of pathways that our indigenous athletes are going through. And, like you mentioned, not a lot of recruiters or people like that go to the reservation for this kind of talent, and it's there. So, yeah, you went from res to getting, unfortunately, those injuries to your school shutting down to now at GCU to having a very successful season.

So, you know, with Grand Canyon University, I've just seen how they've excelled in the championships that they won over the past few years and then winning again this year. I'm just curious of, with this very exciting season that you had with them, what are some of the highlights that you've had while being at Grand Canyon University?

[Jason Amador]

So some of the highlights I had is, one, I've seen it from NEI to D1 is the resources. I mean, the facilities of a 24-7 access to the gym. We have a chef that makes food after every practice, every game.

So, like, having a limited food, being able to go in there and get any Gatorade, protein drink, smoothie. You know, one day it could be, like, spaghetti, chicken parm, chicken alfredo, spaghetti meatballs. Like, this was so surreal.

I've never had this at my old school. So just that and just the amount of fans and, you know, the amount of love that we get, that's one of the highlights I had. Just, you know, going, transitioning from NEI to D1.

But moving forward into this season, I actually got baptized by Coach Shaw. He's the one that actually kind of recruited me. And for me, the reason I got baptized is just a blessing in the journey that it took for me to get here.

It made me realize of how blessed and, you know, how God's always been by my side. I was warming up before a game. Kids came from spiraling in, filling up the student section.

And I'm sitting there, and I'm like, you know, it hit me. Like, I wanted to dedicate and, you know, devote my life to Christ. So I told Coach Shaw before warm-ups.

And the next day, we brought the team out, and I got baptized in the pool. And it was such a surreal feeling, and I'm glad my brothers got to witness. And it was such an awesome moment.

Anytime I win in the game, they always chant it for me. The Havocs is our student section. So imagine you have an arena of 7,000 people chanting, like, we want Jason.

So for me, like, that was such a surreal feeling. You know, I love them for that. And we have an amazing student section.

We have amazing fans. You know, we have amazing coaching staff and an amazing team with it. So I remember this particular shot right here was against Utah Valley, and they were number one in our conference.

And that game was special to me because my family came down all the way from Gallup and Navajo Nation and had a lot of friends come down. And just seeing them in the stands when I made the three, you know, they were all jumping up and down, so excited. So just being able to see that, my family in the stands, you know, celebrating and all the sacrifice they did for me and all the love and support they've shown over me, it just made it, like, worthwhile.

And just seeing them jump up and down, that's what I do it for. And then we actually won the WAC conference, and that was probably the most amazing feeling. You know, we were second in our conference, and we played Utah Valley in the championship in Las Vegas at the New Orleans Casino.

And I just remember the feeling of, you know, just the confetti dropping down, all the cameras, all the media came up, and it was just such an awesome feeling being able to cut down a net and being able to get a ring and just knowing that you're going to have a banner up in the GC arena for life. And that's something that I loved. And from there, you know, we got a chance to go play in the March Madness tournament.

And that was such an amazing, you know, amazing time. You know, the 64 teams, the best teams all in college basketball, being able to go out there. We played against Maryland over in Seattle, Washington.

Unfortunately, we didn't come out with the outcome that we wanted. But just still the fact that, you know, playing in front of 12,000, 14,000 people, all the media coverage, seeing all the celebrities walk by, seeing, you know, where you came from at NEI, a school you never heard about. So now Grand Canyon playing against Maryland, and, you know, we're in the same venue spot as Oregon, U of A, Colorado State, and all these big-time schools.

It was just such an awesome and amazing season looking back at it now.

[Meranden]

Yeah, that's crazy. Once again, I'm, like, shocked at everything that's been going on. And, you know, like with the celebrations and everything that's going on at GCU, it's amazing.

The support is there. Like, you know, that student section to the coaches, to everyone that's in the stands. You are a really big inspiration to the tribal communities, more specifically the youth.

Your basketball journey has come a really long way, and you're an inspiration to the community. What does it mean to you, and how has that overwhelming support made you feel?

[Jason Amador]

It means everything to me. Just seeing the youth and just seeing how much they support you, I just remember looking at them like I was in your shoes, and that was me growing up. I had dreams.

I wanted to play college basketball. I wanted to play professionally. So, for me, it just means the absolute world to me, you know, the amount of support, the amount of love, you know, that they've given me.

And this photo right here, they actually came out to one of my games, and they had the best time. The Havocs, the student section, were all dancing with them. They were jumping up and down.

They were singing songs, you know. They showed a lot of love. And after the game, they all came up to me and were giving me hugs and just telling me how proud of me they were, you know.

And it was just an awesome feeling, you know, just knowing that that was once me in their shoes, and I wanted to look up to someone, you know. But they've shown me the most amount of love and support, and I couldn't thank them enough for it.

[Meranden]

Yeah, that's amazing. And, you know, that representation is there. And personally, I don't see a lot of that indigenous representation, especially in the D1 community and, like, those kind of higher-ups.

Have you played against any other indigenous players or seen any indigenous representation, you know, with GCU or any college experience or games you've been in?

[Jason Amador]

Yeah. So at the NEI level, I played against SAGU, which is an American Indian college. So I played against them.

But at the D1 level, I can't say that I've played against anyone at the D1 level. But I know there's a lot of great athletes, a lot of great coaches, and, you know, at the Division I NCAA level, Houston just played Florida in a national championship. The head coach for Houston, he's Lumbee.

He's Native American, so seeing him and seeing how far he took his team to the national championship was amazing. Trayson Eagle Staff, he plays over at North Dakota, I believe. He's, like, going off and doing amazing things.

But, you know, there's a lot of great athletes, you know, Kyrie Irving, Lindy Waters, Marjan, there's a lot of great athletes out there. And it's just amazing to see.

[Meranden]

Yeah, that representation is very small, but those people who are there make a huge impact, like yourself. It's been a lot right here, like, rollercoaster, just hearing everything that you've done and where you've gotten to right now. Where do you see your basketball journey going from this point on?

[Jason Amador]

So I played my graduate year. My last year, I had a senior night. And for me, that was an awesome, awesome game.

They actually made a new rule where it's a non-NCAA rule where if you play at a non-NCAA institute, you get a year back. So my coach and coaching staff informed me that I have an extra year back. So hopefully I get to go back and play at GCU this upcoming season as we go into the Mountain West Conference.

But after, you know, I plan on getting into coaching. But also, too, like, I just love giving back to communities. I love doing the speaking engagements.

And it's just such an awesome feeling just to, you know, to speak to the youth and just to help motivate them and help push them in a way that they can achieve their dreams. So I know definitely I want to stay in the coaching world, whether that's actually in basketball or whether that's strength conditioning or if I want to play professionally after my collegiate season. Wow.

[Meranden]

Well, we wish you well on that journey. And, you know, just hearing from what you've been doing, we see a really bright future for you. And, you know, like you mentioned again, your tribal communities and how important that means to you.

You're part of the Colorado River Indian Tribes. And along with your tribal community and the 11 tribes here, the Grand Canyon means a lot to us. And you are, once again, it's in the title of your tribal community, the Colorado River.

What importance does the Colorado River have to yourself and your tribal community?

[Jason Amador]

Yeah, it means a lot to us. It means everything to us. You know, we believe the water is sacred.

It's a healing source for us. And, you know, the Grand Canyon, just looking at it now, like it's just something that you don't really think too much about. But when you come visit, it's like, why am I not here more often?

You know, it takes your breath away. It's a place of healing. And for me, you know, it means everything to me.

It takes my breath away, and I just love it.

[Meranden]

Awesome. So we have a little fun question that we like to ask for our podcast here. If you were to have any indigenous food right now, what would it be?

[Jason Amador]

That's a good question. So for me, like in the season, I can't really have anything like that. So now that I'm in the off season, I am actually craving a Navajo burger.

I just love it. I don't know what it is. It's the fried bread with the burger patty in between.

It's the best thing in the world. If you haven't tried it, I highly recommend for you guys to go try it. It's the most amazing thing.

[Meranden]

Is there a specific place you get yours?

[Jason Amador]

I just go to Pow Wows, and whenever I see it. The last one I had was over in Morongo. And it was from, I believe, somewhere up in Navajo Nation.

And it was the best thing ever. I had like three of them. It was amazing.

[Meranden]

Thank you so much for getting right here where we are and hearing so much about your journey. As we are wrapping up here, is there anything that you would like to leave the audience with?

[Jason Amador]

I would always say just dream big. And for me, what I always tell kids and what I always tell people is that every person in this room has their own journey in life. A lot of you guys are going to have different roads of high points of adversity, high points of success.

Each and every one of you guys is different. One of the biggest things that I could always say is just to never give up. Keep going.

And God will humble you before he elevates you. And I always go back to a quote, John 13, 7. You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.

And for me, I always take that a lot because I always go through stuff in my life where I'm like, why does this have to happen? Why do I have to go through this? And later on, I realize it had to happen for me in order for me to achieve the next part of my life.

So I would always say to never give up, keep going, and chase your dreams. Because for me, I was a kid in the stands from a small reservation. Now I'm a six-foot guard playing at Grand Canyon.

And at any Division I level, all the guards are 6'3", 6'4", 6'5". I have a teammate, his name is Dennis Evans, and he is 7'3". So for me, you can achieve anything you want.

Don't let anyone tell you anything different, whether you want to play in sports, academics, doctor, lawyer, whatever the case may be. You can achieve anything you want. But just know it comes with dedication and sacrifice and everything in between.

To get what you want, anything worthwhile in this life that you want is not going to be easy. And I won't be the last person to tell you that. Just know that there's going to be high points and low points in life.

And just to keep your head on straight and just to never give up.

[Meranden]

Good. A round of applause right now. Thank you guys so much.

Thank you, Jason. So we have a little section right here at the end if anyone has any questions.

[Audience Member]

Your story was very inspirational, amazing to hear. How do we have 100 more of you?

[Jason Amador]

Thank you for that. That's the million-dollar question. I just feel like in life you have to find something that motivates you and that makes you want to do what you want to do at the level you want to do it.

And for me, unfortunately, losing my brother early on, that kind of instilled a spark in for me. And that's something I use every single day when I'm on the court, off the court, trying to be a better son, be a better student, be a better teammate, be a better friend, be a better person. That's the question for everyone.

Just find ways to motivate you to help you get to where you want to be.

[Audience Member]

Go Lopes!

[Jason Amador]

Yeah, go Lopes, go Lopes, yep.

[Audience Member]

Who did you look up to?

[Jason Amador]

Who did I look up to? That is a great question. Growing up, I would look up to Damien.

He inspired me a lot. But now that I look back at it, I look up to my dad. He did so much for me, and he was the first person to believe in me and believe in my dreams.

He took me from my reservation, he took me to all these camps, the Pangos All-American Camp, he took me to the Michael Jordan Camp, he took me to all these tournaments in Phoenix, Vegas, Oklahoma, California. He gave up all of his time, all of his money, all of his energy, and best believe, he lets me know every single day that he could have been on a weekend, going on a vacation, buying a new truck or whatever. Just looking back at it, he was always in my corner.

Anytime I had a bad game, anytime I went through something in life, I knew I could always call him. He is my biggest fan. Just looking back on it, he's someone that I look up to every single day.

I hope I made him proud, and he's the best father I could have asked for.

[Audience Member]

I've heard you mention coaching before. I was wondering if you had any teams in mind. Would you go to Navajo Nation, Flagstaff?

Where would you want to coach?

[Jason Amador]

I definitely want to stay. I've done high school tournaments, I've done local rez tournaments. I did NABI, I did the national Native American tournaments, all of those.

But for me, just seeing the level of play at the Division I level, at the collegiate level, I love being around those type of people. They just have such a work ethic about them. My teammates, my coaching staff, they're always working, they're always recruiting, always trying to find ways to improve their game and their coaching game.

I definitely want to stay in that realm. And just kind of being an outlet, and just kind of having an outlet to speak, and to represent Native American culture at the highest level. I would definitely stay either at the collegiate level or professional.

Great question, though.

[Audience Member]

When were you at your lowest points, what made you keep going?

[Jason Amador]

What made me keep going, that is an absolutely amazing question. So in those moments of adversity, in those moments when you feel like nothing could come good out of the situation, just knowing that God has a plan for everyone, and for me that really kind of instilled in me that he's always going to be there for me when I fall, my high and low points in life, and just my family. But also, too, just my brother Damien.

I just knew I wasn't playing for myself no more, I was playing for him. And he gave me signs that he was watching over me, and his family too. I just knew my journey ahead was all for him.

So in those moments of adversity, just knowing that God was there, and I had people, my ancestors looking over me, watching over me, and I had a strong support system that really helped me get through all those low points in my life. But that was an amazing question. Thank you.

[Dan]

I'm getting my workout.

[Audience Member]

Did you have a pump-up song before every game? Like something to pump you up?

[Jason Amador]

That is a great question. So before every game, it's always like there's a stigma for athletes to have pump-up songs, rap, rock, whatever the case may be, to pump you up. For me, it was always just clearing my head, just turning off the lights, taking a pregame nap, and just kind of envisioning what was going to happen before the game.

That kind of really got me psyched. But I can't sit here and lie. There's a lot of great rappers that I listened to before the game.

This year, our team loved Boss Man D-Lo. That was like everyone loves Boss Man D-Lo. We play on the speaker and we walk out before the tunnel.

I would say it's definitely rap. Rap was like the one thing that really pumped me up before games.

[Audience Member]

What would you consider your highest moment, your highest point so far?

[Jason Amador]

My highest point, you know, there's a lot of stuff I could say. Going to March Madness, scoring my first point at the Division I level, going from NAI to D1. But I would probably say the highest point of my life was just being baptized and just dedicating and serving my life to Christ.

That was a moment in my life where I knew I could, out of all the things that I've achieved in life, that it wouldn't be possible if it wasn't for Him. Just being baptized and having my teammates out there, my brothers, my coach baptize me, it was such a surreal and amazing feeling for me. That's something I'll never forget.

So without God, for Him, I wouldn't be where I am today. So that was definitely probably the highest point in my life.

[Meranden]

Thank you, Dan, for running around.

[Jason Amador]

Thank you, Dan.

[Meranden]

We'll have one more round of applause.

Thank you so much, Jason, for being here today. Jason has something if you want to talk about it.

[Jason Amador]

Yeah, before we end off, I just want to say thank you to Grand Canyon National Park and the staff and Meranden for allowing me to come out here to speak to you guys. Thank you for you guys who stayed and asked questions. You guys are awesome, and I really appreciate you guys listening in on my journey.

But, yeah, I actually have autographs, cards. I would love it if you guys could take one. Just thank you to you guys for allowing me to come and speak to you guys here today.

Thank you.

[Ranger Jonah]

Grand Canyon Speaks is a program hosted by Grand Canyon National Park and the Grand Canyon Conservancy. A special thanks to Aaron White for the theme music. This recording reflects the personal, lived experiences of Tribal members and do not encompass the views of their Tribal Nation or that of the National Park.

To learn more about Grand Canyon First Voices, visit www.nps.gov/GRCA. Here at Grand Canyon National Park, we are on the ancestral homelands of the 11 associated Tribes of the Grand Canyon, these being the Havasupai Tribe, the Hualapai Tribe, the Navajo Nation, the Hopi Tribe, the Pueblo of Zuni, the Yavapai Apache Nation, the Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians, the Las Vegas Paiute Tribe, the Moapa Band of Paiutes, the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, and the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe.

This episode features Jason Amador, a member of the Colorado River Indian Tribes. ALCC Intern, Meranden, interviews Jason about his basketball career filled with highs and lows. Making his first appearance at March Madness was only one of the many accomplishments of his journey. With these experiences, he explains how he shares his story with native youth to provide them with motivation to go after their dreams, just like he did.

Episode 4

Kyle Awelagte Speaks

Transcript

Kyle Awelagte: I want to be able to teach the younger generation more about like the traditional and spiritual aspect of running and different art forms. I think that's my way of giving back to my community and keeping it thriving and living for as long as it goes

Lakin: Hello everyone, welcome back to season three of Grand Canyon Speaks.

My name is Lakin.

Meranden: And this is Meranden.

Lakin: In this episode, Ranger Grace interviewed Kyle Awelagte from Zuni Pueblo.

Meranden: Kyle, who runs cross-country at Fort Lewis College, has centered his focus on passing down traditional teachings revolving around athletics and art.

Lakin: From hosting a running event in his community to providing Zuni artists with business resources, Kyle looks forward to expanding on these endeavors in the future.

Meranden: Take a listen to this episode and we hope you enjoy.

Kyle Awelagte: Keshi, ko' don la:k'yadik'yana:we. Ho' Kyle Awelagte le'shinna. Hom annodi:we Dowa:kwe deyan K'yak'yali:kwe a:wan cha'le.

Kyle Awelagte: Good afternoon, my name is Kyle Awelagte. My clans are Corn and Child of the Eagle, and I am from the Zuni Pueblo. And this is my first time here, so it's exciting.

Kyle Awelagte: Thank you guys for all coming out and listening.

Ranger Grace: Yeah, and thank you so much, Kyle, for being here. It's really cool to have you out here.

Ranger Grace: And it's kind of hard to ignore the setting we're at. We are at the canyon, and the canyon's right behind us for those of you who are listening and not in the audience right now. And I do want to ask, just to get started, how does it feel to be at the canyon?

Kyle Awelagte: When I first got here, me and Shanoah were driving late at night, and we happened to see cloud storms like this, and a thunderstorm really hit. And at one point, I was kind of scared, but I knew that my ancestors were looking down on me. That was kind of like a signal that I'm back where we emerged from.

Kyle Awelagte: So I feel really connected to this place. It feels good to be here. Yeah, that's great.

Ranger Grace: That's a good example of how sneaky those thunderstorms can be when they show up, but a good sign at the same time. We like rain out here a lot. So part of the reason you're at the canyon is not just for the Grand Canyon Speaks.

Ranger Grace: Earlier today, you were demonstrating in the [Desert View] Watchtower as part of our cultural demonstration program, and there you were doing some, had some of your Zuni fetish carvings there. And to kind of let people who don't know, know about that, what is Zuni fetish carving? What were you doing at the time?

Kyle Awelagte: Zuni fetish carving is a form of art and also a way of expressing Zuni storytelling and tradition. It's typically used from natural stones and seashells and sometimes some elk antlers. So what Zuni fetish carving is, is an artist creates an animal or a spiritual, so what I like to make is called corn maidens.

Kyle Awelagte: So they have significance within our culture and the Zuni religion. A lot of it's used for some ceremonial practices and religious practices. And a lot of those pieces are for good omen.

Kyle Awelagte: A lot of them hold significant power in them. And a lot of people back home say that they're alive and which they are alive. They're living creatures, or not living creatures, but like a living spirit within that rock in that stone.

Kyle Awelagte: So that's why I do it just because of my culture and historical background on Zuni carving.

Ranger Grace: Yeah. And what got you into Zuni carving?

Like what was the moment you were like, I'm going to do this. And when did you start?

Kyle Awelagte: I remember when I was like 11 years old, my dad, he had his little motor set up inside the house and he was blasting music at one point while I was taking a nap.

And I went to go check in on him on what he was doing. And I saw that he had a piece of stone. It was angelite.

Kyle Awelagte: It was a really bright blue, kind of like a baby blue stone. And he was creating something out of it. And I asked like, “what are you doing?” And he said, “just watch this.” And he made a bear in like 20 minutes, 10 minutes. And I thought that was like the coolest thing ever.

Kyle Awelagte: So just from him explaining over the years, like what the purpose is and what like Zuni carving is, I saw that as like opportunity to learn and also opportunity to grow in my culture. So yeah, that's when I started really learning about Zuni fetish carving at age 11. And ever since then, he's brought me to trips like Santa Fe and different places. Just like, I just love the environment, like being able to be creative and have deeper meaning behind the art we make.

Ranger Grace: Yeah. And when you say trips like Santa Fe, what do you mean with that?

Kyle Awelagte: So usually in Santa Fe, New Mexico, they have like a big open like Indian market and a bunch of shops over there that sell like a bunch of Native American, different like jewelry, fetishes, just different stuff. And just being surrounded in that environment and looking what a lot of artists produce is something to be proud of. Just having that symbolism and different craftsmanship in like a big city is pretty cool to see.

Ranger Grace: Yeah, it sounds like a really inspiring environment to be in, especially with those crafts. And speaking of environment, I feel like you really set the scene with the story of your dad kind of with the loud music waking you up. And you mentioned like having the tools for fetish carving.

Ranger Grace: What is that process like? What goes into making a fetish?

Kyle Awelagte: So they tell you to have good thoughts and good spirit when you're doing fetish carving, because that's what you ultimately want to put into the rock. Just good, good spirit into it. So you start off by getting your raw materials, like your rock you find. So it can be like turquoise, serpentine, marble, just whatever you have.

Kyle Awelagte: And with that, we have a motor set up. So it's like, imagine like a motor that's in the middle, and that's the battery. And on the sides, there's a grinding stone.

And with that grinding stone, what I do is I like to look at the rock and visualize what I want. Because if you force it, it's not going to want to go that way. You kind of just have to work with the rock and like the shape and what you see in it.

Kyle Awelagte: So that's my second process. And I like to turn on music to like, make my spirit more happy. So I'll turn on like reggae or whatever I liked on the radio.

And yeah, I'll just get like getting like good vibes going. And having like the people around me that I love, just watching me create something. But other than that, you create the stone using the grinding wheel.

Kyle Awelagte: And my dad taught me to always like round it first and see what it comes out to. And a lot of the times it usually comes out to eagles. So I think eagles really speak out to me, and even bears. And with that, you kind of, you make the face for it. And you make the eyes because at the end of the product, it's living. So you want it to see.

Kyle Awelagte: And you create these bundles. So I use like wax to wrap it around and put little pieces of turquoise or coral. It's a offering to it. Or you can either sprinkle cornmeal on it, just to give appreciation for what you created. Yeah, so it's really just working with the stone and using your grinding wheel to create what you want, or what it wants to become. That's why I always say because you can't force it.

Kyle Awelagte: It's kind of a simple but kind of like a kind of joyful experience with it. It's also very dangerous too. Because you can like, sometimes I clip my finger with the grinding stone. And that's not too fun. But the music part is fun. And having my family and my dad teach me, that's the fun part. Yeah.

Ranger Grace: Yeah, it feels better to focus on the fun than the dangerous part.

Kyle Awelagte: Yeah.

Ranger Grace: And you've been doing that for a long time then. Because you said you started at 11. You're 21. So about 10 years.

Kyle Awelagte: Yeah.

Ranger Grace: Which is a long time to be doing a craft like that. So how have you seen that process change over time?

Kyle Awelagte: When I was 11, it took me like, probably like two weeks to like a month to even like, create something. Just because I didn't know what I was doing and how to work like the wheel and motor.

Kyle Awelagte: But ever since like, just watching my dad and him telling me stories about like, you can't force what you want to make. Because that's what I would do at a young age, I would try to force it and the rock would just crumble and not go the way I want it and make me frustrated and not want to do it. But he just told me to have that patience and time and always come in with good spirits and listen to what the rock wants to have you make out of it.

Kyle Awelagte: So just using those tellings from my father. So it really helped me develop as an artist and just a person in general, just life lessons and how I go about my heart and yeah, just my approach on it. So over the years, I've gotten better.

Kyle Awelagte: I've never had like opportunities like this where I've been able to demonstrate to people like around the world or anything. I've always just did it just out of like habit, because it was always fun to me, just growing up, not really having anything to do besides sports. So when I have like, any like something on my mind, and I just want to take it off my mind, I just like to turn on the music and just go to work on my craft.

Kyle Awelagte: So yeah, so over the years, it's really developed. Now I can like carve like with it like 30 minutes to an hour, depending on the stone. So I've gotten really better.

Ranger Grace: Yeah, yeah, it's cool to be able to kind of give yourself to the process.

Kyle Awelagte: Yeah.

Ranger Grace: And really bring that energy to it and the intention. You mentioned there, sports as well. So not only do you do this craft and this art, but you're in sports as well. What sports do you do?

Kyle Awelagte: Yeah, so ever since I was in elementary school, I've ran for the public school district for Zuni. And I started off when I was nine years old, is when I really started running.

Kyle Awelagte: I started, yeah, I started to just run out of like, because my mom told me to, to get out of the house and do something. So I just started running. I thought I was going to be a basketball player. I mean, I was a basketball player, but I'm not, I'm not good. And then my direction was mainly towards running just because over the years I've learned that Zunis and other Native American tribes are really good in running. And they've always used that way, even back then, to get to places.

Kyle Awelagte: They would travel long distances on their feet or even have like moccasins if they're lucky to run with. But I think just having that background in running is what really inspired me to go further and beyond than what I thought I could be capable of. So running's my, running's my thing.

Ranger Grace: Yeah, and with running, you kind of lean towards this a little bit with what you just said. Like fetish carving, that also has really big cultural significance. So what is the cultural significance in the historical context of running for Zuni?

Kyle Awelagte: So running is like just a way of life. I say it's a way of life of being able to, well, this is my perspective on running, being able to spiritually connect and mentally being able to get through things. So when I'm running, I usually pray in the morning to ask Sun Father for strength and guidance during like my runs.

Kyle Awelagte: And yeah, so I would say that's like a cultural teaching I've put into running. So it's just, it's more than, I feel it's more than running, like just, you know, getting hyped for a race and being like, let's go, let's go run, like in that competitive era. But I see it more as like a way of healing, like being able to know I work for something and work for a group of people that are known, like being able to just to represent something bigger than myself through running.

Kyle Awelagte: So like having that, having that background is something special and amazing. So yeah.

Ranger Grace: Yeah, I've heard other interviewees use the phrase running with purpose.

Kyle Awelagte: Yeah.

Ranger Grace: That same thing of like having it be meaningful.

Ranger Grace: And for you both running and the art you do, you started doing very young. And you've mentioned to me your kind of involvement and passion for Indigenous youth getting involved in cultural tradition. So what's the importance of that involvement for youth and cultural tradition?

Kyle Awelagte: Just being able to continue the tradition through the younger generation, I think is important because grandparents and those with knowledge tend to pass down those teachings to younger people. And just having that ability to do that is what keeps your people alive and your way of living, I would say. Yeah, just that's, that's really important because in ancient times, that's all anyone had.

Kyle Awelagte: We didn't have like a phone or text messages or like files or like, you know, iPads to like record anything. It was just orally taught, verbally or shown, like demonstrated towards the younger audience. So I really think it's important that our youth get involved with their ways of living or their traditional practices.

Kyle Awelagte: Because when I was little, my mom and like my grandparents and just community members would just tell me these random stories and like what to do and what not to do. And I think that's the most important thing that someone can do to the younger generation. So with that, I want to be able to teach the younger generation more about like the traditional and spiritual aspect of running and different art forms.

Kyle Awelagte: I think that's my way of like giving back to my community and keeping it thriving and living for as long as it goes. Yeah.

Ranger Grace: Yeah. And on that note, like with all you've already been doing and with starting both your art and your running so young, you kind of already have implied in a way you are, but like, do you see yourself as a role model for Indigenous youth?

Kyle Awelagte: Sometimes, sometimes I can be like, not really like a role model. I mean, I'm still like a, I'm like a young adult still living in this world and it's kind of hard to, but I try to be, when I go back home and the things I do, I'm careful with how I represent myself because I was, I was also that like little, little kid, like check, like looking at like the stars of like running and like the hardest, like I want to be like them.

Kyle Awelagte: So sometimes I feel like a role model and sometimes I don't, but a lot of times I, I look back at my community and I think I've become a role model, a pretty good role model for the youth. Yeah.

Ranger Grace: You make a good point. You're still young, but yeah, and you can still be a role model in that way. And were there people that were kind of role models for you to get involved with the things you're involved in?

Kyle Awelagte: Yeah. So a lot of my role models came with like in my community. And then of course for like my family members and out of my family, like some of my middle school coaches, their last names are Chopito, like Albert Chopito and them. They're my middle school coaches and my elementary coaches.

Kyle Awelagte: And they're really good at marathons and long distances. So I've always looked up to them and even people outside my community that also work within my community, like Eisinga and Coach Carroll and coaches I've had from high school all the way to college, like the Kyle Masterson, Laura Masterson, Coach Graham, Don Graham at Fort Lewis, which I go to now. Yeah.

Kyle Awelagte: Just having those different role models, something special to have, just having them being able to have them talk to, have gained their knowledge and being able to just have them work with me and what my purpose is as a runner and how I want to represent myself and my people. So having those role models makes everything 10 times easier.

Ranger Grace: Yeah. Adds to the community.

Kyle Awelagte: Yeah.

Ranger Grace: It sounds like school was important for you in that way of like having those opportunities.

Ranger Grace: What are the ways you connect with running outside of school?

Kyle Awelagte: So a lot of my running I like to do back home. I love running back home just because it's really like flat and that's really beneficial to runners just because of the soft sand and the properties of it. And like we can literally like run like two miles and you'll be like up a mountain and you can work hard for that.

Kyle Awelagte: And I respect both aspects because I look towards one for like a easy, relaxed day. And I look towards one to, for like knowing I can work hard and push myself and still having that view of like what I'm trying to represent, having the view of like Zuni and the Pueblo and the mountains, like just reminding myself of where I come from, having that ability to overcome challenges like within my running and having like those easy days, just running around in the village, like just seeing everyone walking and seeing the community members, like going, doing their jobs, having people sell outside the tribal building, their arts. It's just the coolest thing ever.

Kyle Awelagte: And being able to go up to the mountains and just look down, knowing that maybe I can be something big and represent them, knowing that I came from this small little Pueblo. Yeah.

Ranger Grace: Yeah. Representation feels really important. And with those like challenges in running, it sounds like running is ever evolving. And how have you seen that relationship change over time?

Kyle Awelagte: When I was younger, I really didn't know too much about like, like my culture and everything. And once I started like running and like I would always hear these stories of runners just within the community. I know we have like this, we used to have a thing happen in the, in our middle village where runners would, it's called a stick run. So runners would put their valuables in and race against other runners and run around the village.

Kyle Awelagte: And whoever was like the fastest basically collected everything. So that having that history and my dad telling me that our last name was a part of that and we were pretty fast as those runners. So having that knowledge and having, knowing that my people can do longer distances is, makes everything pretty much easier.

Kyle Awelagte: And not having like the knowledge of that before I started to develop my spirituality and my culture was hard at first because I didn't know who to like turn to. So once I started learning those different practices and languages to speak to our Gods and stuff, it life, it became life and running became so much easier in a way because I felt like my prayers were answered and they were hearing me up above. So being able to learn over the years and having that involved with my running and just school in general, it's a, it's a good trait to have and a good feeling that I'm able to continue that even as of right now.

Kyle Awelagte: I still do it to this day. Yeah.

Ranger Grace: That is really cool to hear just the way it has changed over time and the importance that you still hold and the involvement you still have with it.

And if you're willing, we talked earlier that you're actually hosting a running event for Zuni as well, which is a really cool way that you're developing that relationship continuously. If you want to speak to that a little bit. Kyle Awelagte: Yeah, for sure.

Yeah. So I created this run, it's called Corn Maiden Classic. It's in the heart, well not heart in the Zuni, but it's at our mountain called Dowa Yalanne.

Kyle Awelagte: So kind of like the history behind it or the stories told about it is our people use that mountain to get away from a major flood that was happening. And there was this sea serpent called the Kolo:wisi that was underneath swimming through. And the only way that that flood could stop was these two individuals, a boy and a girl were brave enough to put on all their traditional regalia and float all the way to the bottom and do a prayer for the flood to go away.

Kyle Awelagte: And on the mountain, there's these two stones that stick up. So that's a representation of those two who were able to do that. And I think that's so cool because it takes a lot of courage and sacrifice to do those things.

And a lot of people have their own challenges and they sacrifice a lot in their daily lives. So being able to kind of tell those stories about Dowa Yalanne and where I come from and having running incorporated, I think is so cool. It'll consist of a kid's fruit scrabble.

Kyle Awelagte: So that's basically line up some kids and they'll run like a couple meters and they'll be like little baskets of like fruit they can collect and just giving back to the little kids in a way I can. And having people gain health and fitness and just a way of getting out. Just promoting health in general is what I want to do and go further beyond with this event because this is just the beginning stages of some pretty big stuff I want to do later in the future.

Kyle Awelagte: Yeah, so with this I want to start and then create a competitive, kind of like a pro team for Zuni. And then build off of that and create a little center where these different types of athletes in any sport can have access to what a lot of these people have that we don't have. So being able just to raise funds and having accessibility to these different stuff to help young athletes and student-athletes flourish in this new world because technology's growing and growing and helping people adapt.

Kyle Awelagte: And having our cultural ways and having that new technology I think is gonna really be beneficial to our people, yeah. Ranger Grace: And it's an important kind of future and passion to have. .

And how are you like pursuing that? Kyle Awelagte: So I'm pursuing that in like different ways. Like just really starting to put myself out there because I was always like a shy person, never including myself into events or anything.

So I'm going to Fort Lewis College as of right now for a business administration, so bachelor's degree. And I want to use that business degree to help expand my passion running in art. So I want to help artists turn their art and their image into something much bigger than what they could imagine.

Kyle Awelagte: And having these different resources like in the village and not having to go seek out other resources. So just making that accessible at home while having that authentic credibility towards the artists themselves. Ranger Grace: Yeah, I think you're so well spoken about and it's really neat to hear kind of how much thought you've put into it and all these different elements at play.

And with that kind of train of thought, I think that's a good time to kind of take a break from these bigger questions we're talking about. And with this podcast, we always do kind of a lighter question. We call it our fun question that we ask.

Ranger Grace: So that question is, what is your favorite food? Kyle Awelagte: Oh, okay. I like cherry wood smoked barbecue ribs.

That's what I like with potato salad and roasted corn and green chili and tortillas. That's like my favorite thing ever. But I also like just chicken alfredo.

So I like everything honestly. I like desserts. I ain't even gonna lie.

Kyle Awelagte: I ate a cake. Ranger Grace: I mean, as a runner, yeah, it's pretty important to you. Kyle Awelagte: Yeah, they say that, but I just be eating anything honestly.

Ranger Grace: Well, they both sound like good meals. On that note, like as a runner, we had another runner on the podcast and I had been curious with her of like, running can be really demanding and can be pretty hard on the body. So like, do you do to take care of yourself as a runner?

Kyle Awelagte: Physically, I do what any other runner does is stretch because you really need to like let your, you need to really rest your body and just let your blood flow. So that being like sleeping more than eight hours, taking electrolytes, being able to stretch, roll out, going to trainers, have them work with you. But on the mental side, I like to pray before my runs and after and just thank like my ancestors and my gods for the gifts they give me and the new day that and just being thankful that I'm able to run because I know there's not a lot of people who can do the things I do.

Kyle Awelagte: And I'm really appreciative of what's been given to me. And my hard work that I've built over the years and just being able to really enjoy it and having just using prayer as a way to mentally take care of myself and having my family too, is I say a good recovery method to just having their good energy. So in physical and mental and spiritual, it's how I take care of myself.

Ranger Grace: Yeah, you earlier, this reminded me you mentioned how with your fetish carving, it can kind of be a space you go to, to kind of get away from other things. Does running feel like that too, just from the process you just talked about of how you? Kyle Awelagte: Yeah, so running, and I say any other sports you have so much passion in can be so demanding.

And that can like really mess like with your mental and even your physical. So being able to have like different outlets and the things you love to do, like just say, like spending time or creating art, listening to music, taking walks or enjoying nature is something that every person should do just for their well-being. And having that takes the workload off of the thing you may find hard, like your passion, because our passions are, they're going to be hard at points, and sometimes you're going to enjoy them.

Kyle Awelagte: But having those different outlets is what makes you miss it again, and being able to take it on for another day. Ranger Grace: Would you say, because it sounds like, you know, you've mentioned challenges with running, and I suppose you could find challenges in carving as well, like clipping a finger. So you touched on that a little bit, but how do you, what advice would you give to overcome challenges?

Kyle Awelagte: I say just take it day by day and have, have faith in yourself that you'll be able to overcome those challenges, and that you have people or friends or family that you can depend on to take that workload off of your, weight off your shoulders, and just go and, just go into the next day knowing that it's a new opportunity for growth, rather than dwelling on it for like a whole week or a whole month. Just take that appreciation that, yeah, okay, I failed.

Kyle Awelagte: Let's try again tomorrow and see if I can do something better and overcome that challenge. And it's, it's good to fail because you learn from those moments, and you adapt because that's who we are as a people. You, you adapt to overcome challenges naturally, and so just take it day by day.

Kyle Awelagte: Don't stress about long-term, just put yourself in the now and live in the moment.

Ranger Grace: Yeah, pushing forward.

Kyle Awelagte: Yeah.

Ranger Grace: Community. You mentioned like the importance of failing. We have a big phrase with our staff of failing forward and how that can be really important to just keep moving past things and learning from them.

Ranger Grace: And as the sun is starting to set, before we open up to audience questions, is there anything else that you really want to leave the audience with? Like anything important you want them to know? Just be thankful that you're here on this earth today experiencing the things you are.

Kyle Awelagte: Enjoy nature, enjoy what you can see, enjoy what you can hear, enjoy what you can feel, enjoy what you can eat, because I love eating. And just live in the present of today and know that everything happens for a reason.

Kyle Awelagte: So, keep being creative, keep being cool, keep being friendly, keep being loving, and yeah, that's what I'm going to leave you guys with.

Ranger Grace: I think those are good words to leave people with. So now I kind of turn to you guys in the audience. Is there anything you'd like to ask Kyle about? Any questions?

Audience Member: Hi, I'd like to know what type of footwear you prefer to run in?

Kyle Awelagte: Okay, so, um, I like to be comfortable in my runs, and I love New Balance. I think New Balance has, like, really squishy foam in it, and I think that, like, takes the ease off of, like, knee pain and, like, your bones and your muscles.

Kyle Awelagte: So having that New Balance shoe, I think, is, like, the best thing ever. But race-wise, I like to race in Nike. I'm a Nike guy.

Audience Member: What's your favorite type of stone to carve on?

Kyle Awelagte: Oh, okay, um, I love sandstone, just, um, because it's really, really soft, and that's good, but what makes it hard is you have to be, like, really delicate with it, or you'll shave everything off. And the only reason I love it is because when you get it wet, it smells like it rained outside, so you can smell, like, that earthy, like, um, smell. So that's the, that's my favorite stone, sandstone.

Audience Member: Do you plan on running down the canyon or from rim to rim one day?

Kyle Awelagte: Rim to rim one day, that's, how long is that, like, 24 miles? Almost a marathon. Is that a marathon? I plan on doing it. I'm, I'm, like, I've run in the mountains, like, back home, so I'm slowly training for it, but it's going to happen. It's going to happen one day, and we'll record it.

Audience Member: How do you run on sand?

Kyle Awelagte: How do I run on sand? So what I like to do is, what my coach taught me was, um, you want to take, like, baby steps and pump your arms, and what I like to do in that moment when, you know, you're struggling and you feel like, oh my god, this sand really is a killer, I, I like to focus on my breathing and take two deep breaths and just, like, remind myself that, um, I'm stronger than, um, this sand and I'm capable of doing, doing it. So it's a physical and mental thing.

Kyle Awelagte: So physically, I like to go on my toes and lean forward and use my arms, but use baby steps, and mentally, I like to tell myself, um, that I'm capable of doing this, even though it's hard. Always just have a good mindset and you'll get through things, yeah.

Audience Member: Um, throughout your running career, what is one of your most memorable races?

Kyle Awelagte: Okay, I think the most memorable race was, it was, I think it always had to be the Zuni invite, um, where I'm doing my run at, so Dowa Yalanne. I think just having, like, the community there, like, everyone comes out for that, and I think that's, like, the coolest thing ever, because you see, like, Zuni, Zuni runners that haven't ran or anything, you know, you don't get to really see them, and the community finally, like, come out to, like, see you run, and the other runners.

Kyle Awelagte: Like, other Native American runners just run and run up our, run their sacred mountain, so I think just that, having, like, the community and your loved ones and even having, like, your ancestors there watching down on you, um, I think that has to be, like, the most memorable one that I've enjoyed so far, yeah.

Ranger Grace: Alright, well, Kyle, thank you so much for coming out here and being a part of the podcast.

Kyle Awelagte: Thank you. I want to thank everyone for just sitting patiently and listening. Um, safe travels back to wherever you come from, and, uh, blessings towards you guys, so thank you guys.

Kyle Awelagte: Elahkwa.

Ranger Jonah: Grand Canyon Speaks is a program hosted by Grand Canyon National Park and the Grand Canyon Conservancy. A special thanks to Aaron White for the theme music.

Ranger Jonah: This recording reflects the personal lived experiences of tribal members and do not encompass the views of their tribal nation or that of the National Park. To learn more about Grand Canyon First Voices, visit www.nps.gov/grca. Here at Grand Canyon National Park, we are on the ancestral homelands of the 11 associated tribes of the Grand Canyon, these being the Havasupai Tribe, the Hualapai Tribe, the Navajo Nation, the Hopi Tribe, the Pueblo of Zuni, the Yavapai Apache Nation, the Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians, the Las Vegas Paiute Tribe, the Moapa Band of Paiutes, the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, and the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe.

In this episode, Ranger Grace interviewed Kyle Awelagte to discuss his cross country and track experience as a collegiate athlete. As Kyle is from the Zuni Pueblo, he describes the cultural significance of running and shares that his family has a multi-generational history of running in Zuni. Not only is he an athlete, but he is an artist: Kyle shares his work as a fetish carver and the spiritual connections that revolve around this ancestral form of creativity. Tune in to this episode and enjoy!

Episode 5

Wendi Lewis Speaks

Transcript

[Wendi Lewis]

The whole point of me starting the apparel company was that I wanted to do things for the community. I wanted to help, you know, people, like she said, kids need to go somewhere to run. I'll try to fundraise for them through the apparel, hosting races, with the apparel being, you know, the prizes that people tend to really like.

And I finally was able to establish my own nonprofit based on the experiences that, you know, I was given when I was little.

[Lakin]

Hello everyone. Welcome back to Grand Canyon Speaks. This is Lakin.

[Meranden]

And this is Meranden.

[Lakin]

We really appreciate you all for tuning in to this podcast, especially this season.

[Meranden]

Today's episode is about Wendy Lewis. She is Hopi and from the village of Kikotsmovi, who is the boys cross-country and track coach at Tuba City High School.

[Lakin]

She talks about her business and how she uses it to help fundraise for her runners, how time culture into running is part of her coaching philosophy, and tells us about what you may experience if you ever run a race at one of the Hopi villages.

[Meranden]

It was a pleasure to speak with Wendi this past summer, and I'm excited for all of you to hear her story.

[Lakin]

Here is Wendi Lewis.

[Wendi Lewis]

Good evening, everybody. My name is Wendi Lewis, and I am from the village of Kikotsmovi. I'm Hopi.

I'm Tawawungwa. My Hopi name is Kuwanhaysi That was given to me by the Coyote Clan.

I'm very honored to be here, so.

[Meranden]

Awesome.

[Wendi Lewis]

Yeah. Thank you for inviting me.

[Meranden]

Of course. And in similarity, I am also Hopi as well. My clans are Piikyaswungwa and Tsuwungwa.

Those are my Hopi clan, so both corn and snake. And then my Hopi name is Siikyatsumana, which means yellow snake girl. So those are some of our relations here with our tribes, and I'm very welcome to be joined here with Wendi because she's actually someone that a lot of people in our community look up to.

But first of all, have you been to the Grand Canyon before?

[Wendi Lewis]

I've actually lived in the Grand Canyon for a brief period of time. I went to school here for part of my fourth grade year. Yeah, so my family has all of my grandma and grandpa raised their kids here.

So I still have family that live here in the village.

[Meranden]

Nice. Yeah, and then you reside in Tuba City, which is also where I'm from. But you are a coach at Tuba City High School, and I just wanted to ask, how did you start your running journey?

[Wendi Lewis]

I've been running for as long as I can remember. I feel like my running journey started when I got entered into a race and won it when I was like six years old. My mom married a coach for the Hopi High girls cross country team, and I had no choice.

I just ran with them all the time, and that's been my life. That's how it started. And then you ran in school throughout high school?

[Meranden]

How far did you run?

[Wendi Lewis]

I ran all the way through junior college, Paradise Valley Community College.

[Meranden]

I ran two years there. Nice, and then that running seemed to have stuck with you to where you are now a coach. But what made you decide to coach high school cross country and track?

[Wendi Lewis]

I had a rocky journey trying to attain my bachelor's degree. In between all of that, I did coach at Hopi High School. I was an assistant coach for the junior high track team, high school girls cross country team, the team I used to run for, and then took a very long break.

About four years ago, I started volunteering at Tuba City High School. The last couple of years, or I want to say last year, I finally got hired as the head coach for the for the boys program, and I just recently got approved to be their coach again this fall.

[Meranden]

Nice, and I know through this school, it's on the reservation, and you've been able to coach a lot of indigenous students. Through running, has it helped connect your runners to their culture?

[Wendi Lewis]

Yes, that's a big part of my coaching philosophy because that's how I was coached. And I just had this conversation. I was just volunteer coaching at a Hopi running camp out home, and you know, talking to them about how I was coached by my stepfather.

I didn't realize until way later how important it was, the connection between life, between our culture as Hopi people, and the underlying reward of being a good runner. Like, you know, the emphasis was not on winning trophies. It was always about being respectful of tying in our culture into what we did at practice, and that's what I try to do now.

As a head coach, it's a little bit tricky because I was raised traditionally at home, and coming into this this new community where there's a village right across the street from Tuba City, or two villages I should say, and so we have a mix of Hopi and Navajo, and it's, you know, I have to pay attention. You also have people who go to church, you know. Out home on Hopi, it was just Hopi, and it was easy, you know, but now it's about like finding a balance and trying to learn about their culture too, and trying to, you know, make those connections between how I coach the Hopi kids.

I mean, and I try not to single them out, but I try to make that connection with all of them. It's a little tricky, but I'm trying.

[Meranden]

Yeah, and I know you said there's emphasis on the culture, and you were able to do that with the kids in Hopi. What is the importance of running to Hopi?

[Wendi Lewis]

The importance of running for Hopi is just getting our kids, our youth, our people to understand that we don't run for ourselves. We run for life. We run for rain.

It's an interesting cycle of, you know, land farmers, and we rely on the rain to grow our corn. Our corn is very important for us in ceremony. Like all of the things we do, we rely on those things, and then just the respect for life, all living things.

These are all like key things that we try to emphasize to our people on, you know, when we go out to run. It's a form of prayer. It's not physical activity, and so I think that's what makes it so important and special to us.

There's so much more that we want to get out of it, and we recognize that just in general, and Hopi, I mean, you could be running down, just going for a run, and you know, we thank, we always thank. You ever run on Hopi, they'll thank you in our language, because we recognize that as prayer. So, Askwali is the version for a female, and Kwa’kwa is the version for a male.

Anytime, you could, you don't even have to be racing. They'll see you, and somebody will yell that out to you, because that is what we believe running is about.

[Meranden]

Yeah, we see that really often when we have like any kind of race that's happening back home in Tuba, or pretty much, yeah, also there's another race that happens out more in the Hopi villages, whether it's the Lewis Tewanima race, there's people scattered all over thanking you for running. So, like she mentioned, it's prayer, and it's, we tried to continue explaining the importance of running, and what it means to us, and I know that you also are a business owner, and it does incorporate a lot of the importance of running, and what running means to us. Would you be able to explain a little bit more of what your business entails?

[Wendi Lewis]

Yeah, so I started a long time ago, and I have to give credit to, you know, someone who I know, I think I have to mention a little bit later, but I grew up running with her from high school on, and one of the comments one time was that, you know, I wish, you know, because we're so prideful in our running, and what we run for, and when we make it to another level of running, it was like, I wish we had something that we could, you know, that would show that we're Hopi, if we're running in California, or in the Boston Marathon, or, you know, anything like that, and it was, it was just something that stuck in my head, and then one year, my daughter was running high school, Hopi High, and they wanted me to design a shirt for them, so that they could wear it at state, and I really wanted that shirt to be something that, if any Hopi could see that shirt, they would know without words that it was Hopi, so, and I wanted to symbolize the strength of females, because females have this really strong role in our culture, especially our youth, you know, we consider them at their purest, in their youth ages, so I wanted to incorporate all of that. I came up with a shirt with some Hopi girls, all in the position of, like, holding hands, their eyes closed, and that was just based on my upbringing from my coach. Prayer was a big part of, in, in running, and so it's supposed to, like, symbolize that she's in prayer, and there's seven of them all in a circle, because seven compete in a race at the state meet, and so I just kind of put them all in the circle, and that's kind of what started it, and you guys can pass that around, that's her right there, just call her the mana, and so that kind of started everything, and from then, I just kept trying to figure out ways to make different types of designs that reflected our culture, trying to explain, you know, the importance, there's the shirt there that, you know, talks about prayer, or running is prayer, and so it's in the formation of a rain cloud using feet and heart, because there's a word of encouragement that you'll also hear people yell out to you, it's, you know, Nahongvita, it's a, it's a word of self-encouragement and strength, and so the heart, it talks about, you know, digging deep with your heart, and so that's why I wanted to incorporate feet and heart in that design, as a symbol of prayer that we hope would bring the rain, so that's my company now, it turned, I try really hard to keep it going, I do also have a little boy, so I wanted the female to represent Hopi, certain aspects of Hopi female strength, and it took me a few years to do a boy, to figure out how I wanted to represent the boy, and like I said, you know, farming is so important to us, it is our culture, and I wanted the boy to reflect that, I hear, listen to stories about the history of our, the strength of our men, back when they used to run to the fields instead of drive their trucks, back when they ran from village to village, but ultimately highlighting the importance of farming, so the little boy there is, you can see him, he is represented carrying a soya, which is a planting stick, and then in his hand is posume, it's a bag of seeds that is used for planting, so I shared this with my boys cross-country team this past year, and I explained to them the importance of, you know, even the Navajo, my Navajo boys, I don't think I have, I think I just have Hopi and Navajo boys running for me, but, you know, explaining the importance of the strength of what you believe in, and the things that you're taught and raised, giving them that to use as a reminder for what they're running for, more than just time and medals, yeah, but that's the business, I have little accessories and stuff that, I have a, I opened up a shop in Tuba City across, at the Tuuvi Travel Center, and when I'm able to open it, it's open, but yeah, so that's my business in a nutshell.

[Meranden]

Yeah, and I noticed that you have a couple different things in there, you sell shirts, leggings, what are some other things that you sell?

[Wendi Lewis]

Stickers, everybody loves stickers, I have running tops, some lightweight jackets, pullovers, girl pullovers, I do have running shorts that just have the design, whether it's the logo, or if it's a little boy, with the word run on it. A funny story, I forgot my running shoes a few years ago when I was running, registered to run a 10k in Sedona, and I had to run in my Crocs that I was wearing, and it was not an easy course either, it was very technical, but I just decided to make Croc charms, you know, if I, in case I ever have to run in my Crocs again, I will represent my apparel through, with the Croc charm, so I have those two, just keychains, little accessories, and things like that, yeah.

[Meranden]

I actually do own one of your leggings, because you do a lot of fundraisers for the students too, like that you're athletes, and I ran one, I wasn't supposed to, I wasn't going to, and then my mom's like, you should just go run, it was the morning of, and it's, my sister, I was supporting my sister, and then my mom's like, you should just go run, so I was like, okay, I'll pay the, I paid the fee, and then I was like, I don't have any shoes, and then my mom's like, I looked at my mom and she had tennis shoes, I was like, let me use your shoes, so I used her shoes and I ran, and then I did pretty good to where I got one of the prizes, which was one of her leggings, so yeah, I have something that's hers, but yeah, there's a lot of inspiration behind your business, and the clothing that you make, and running all together, who are some runners, or people that you look up to?

[Wendi Lewis]

Well, like I said, I, you know, my, my friend, her name is Caroline Sekaquaptewa, she's been running for, I mean, like, I met her in junior high, because, like I said, my stepdad dragged me to all his practices, and she, she had graduated already, but she started helping him, and I really connected with her at that young age, and she would take me everywhere to run with her. She runs to this day, I think she was, this past year was her 14th consecutive qualification for Boston. She's done three Ironman triathlons, and she's just, like, you know, she's just such a hard worker, so she's a big inspiration to everything I do, like, everything I want to make, I think of her, like, will she wear this, you know, would she wear this when she's running?

Yeah, I have to say, like, I have to give her credit as, you know, my biggest inspiration for the apparel line, and things that I come out with. I run ideas by her. I have brothers who are artists.

I really value their artistic skills, so I, you know, reach out to them, and then my coaches, you know, my coaches that have supported me for as long as I can remember. Every time I do anything associated with running, I think of them, and hope that I'm making them proud.

[Meranden]

It's good that you have those people that you look up to, and then also, like you mentioned, she's helping you figure out items that you want to have included in your business, which is really nice. Much like how running is very important to Hopi, what importance does the Grand Canyon have to Hopi?

[Wendi Lewis]

The Grand Canyon is, it's very important to us. For me and, I mean, for Hopi, of course, but there was a lot of Hopis that grew up here, here in the village. I remember looking at my mom's yearbooks, and I see all these Hopi last names in there.

I don't know what made them, you know, settle in this area, but I feel like, you know, they kind of were taking care of the area, and I, my grandpa was kind of like my father figure, and he raised me, but, you know, I feel like when I come here, I'm kind of connected with them, like all of my family that all lived here, but I don't feel like I'm the greatest expert in, you know, I don't know too much details about the very, very, I know basics, but I just don't feel comfortable talking about it, because I'm not, you know, well-versed in it, or I guess there's also, like, a part of me that doesn't want to, you know, really ask those questions.

There's images sometimes that are shared from sacred points in the village that, you know, it scares me. I don't, I don't like to look at them. I don't feel like we should be looking at them, so it's, that's how, that's how sacred this, this place is to us.

[Meranden]

Yeah, there's a lot of importance, like, like I mentioned, there's eleven tribes here that call the Grand Canyon home, and Hopi is one of them, and as you can tell, there's a lot of importance to us, so make sure, like, we always mention to people to take care of it like it's your own home, and yeah. But usually, in this interview, we like to ask a fun question, and the fun question is, if you could have any indigenous food right now, what would it be? That's a tough question.

Do people answer their own foods? No, well, they answer, a lot of them, like, choose food from the flea market, so.

[Wendi Lewis]

Okay, I wasn't sure if that was indigenous, but the first thing that came to my head was a mutton sandwich.

[Meranden]

It's either that one, it's almost always mutton, or like steamed corn stew, so that's like the same thing. Okay, yeah, I love mutton sandwiches. Yeah, that's so good.

Can you explain what mutton is? Some people don't know what it is.

[Wendi Lewis]

Okay, mutton is sheep, grilled sheep, right? They just fillet it, I guess, and then put it on a frybread, preferably for me. They usually add corn, potato, and green chili.

I have my own way of, like, so they put, like, a halved potato in there, which does not make sense to me, so every time I get my sandwich, I'm, like, crumbling the potato, so, like, it's evenly distributed through my sandwich, and yeah, so, but I really like that, and I add cheese, which people think is weird, but it's just me, yeah, and onions. If they don't put onions in it, I put onions in it.

[Meranden]

Interesting.

[Wendi Lewis]

Yeah, I never had it like that.

[Meranden]

I just eat it as it is. Okay, cool. So, yeah, as we are getting to the end of this interview, which we will open up questions to the audience if anyone has any, I just want to pose one last question.

Is there anything that you would like to leave the audience with?

[Wendi Lewis]

Just, you know, to emphasize how important Hopi running is to us as people, and, you know, we just had this conversation at the running camp that a local wellness center hosted for our kids, and, you know, there are certain things that we're open to sharing, but there are certain things that, you know, we're still protective of, but, you know, always welcoming you to come and experience a run out there on Hopi.

There's a lot of local organizations that host runs. I've actually evolved, so a funny story about the, it's not a funny story, but the whole point of me starting the apparel company was that I wanted to do things for the community. I wanted to help, you know, people, like she said, kids need to go somewhere to run.

I'll try to fundraise for them through the apparel, hosting races, with the apparel being, you know, the prizes that people tend to really like, and I finally was able to establish my own nonprofit based on the experiences that, you know, I was given when I was little for running, and, you know, trying to share as much as I can, but also being respectful of what I shouldn't share. I think it's always great to invite, you know, people who aren't from Hopi to keep an eye out for a race out there, because, you know, it could even be a small free race. It's an experience.

You do feel the sense of gratitude that our people have when you're out there running, so if you're ever having a chance, go check it out.

[Meranden]

Yeah, and if you're not familiar, Tuba is about, like, an hour away, so it's not that far if you guys want to go visit. Okay, does anyone have any questions?

[Audience Member]

So, it is my understanding that Meranden, and maybe Lakin, and maybe some other people, are running a race or a marathon this fall. I'm curious if you have any words of encouragement for these folks.

[Wendi Lewis]

Yeah, Meranden actually reached out to me, and I failed at, you know, getting back with her in terms of her, but I'm really excited for her, and are you also training? Okay, yeah, I wish you the best, and you are welcome to reach out. I will come run with you if guys come to Tuba.

I'll go on a training run with you, so yeah.

[Meranden]

I'm kind of glad you mentioned that. Yeah, me and Lakin, we signed up for a half marathon that's happening here at Grand Canyon. It's at the end of October, so we have some time, but we kind of just were like, we should do it, pulled up the website, paid for it, and then we just left it, so yeah.

The best way to get started. Yeah, so we've been running around here. It's nice.

My biggest fear is like snakes now, so I'm kind of scared of them.

[Wendi Lewis]

Yeah.

[Meranden]

But I do have some running in me. My mom ran really good in high school. They were like good state champs.

My mom, her brother, and then my grandpa, they're really good runners, and then my little, my two little sisters, they ran cross-country and track, so it's kind of in my blood. I always played volleyball, so I didn't do running, but I can do running if I need to.

[Wendi Lewis]

Yeah. Yeah, I think did you actually come in first at that race that we had for the girls, females?

[Meranden]

No, I did third. I barely made it, but yeah.

[Wendi Lewis]

All right. I just wanted to add one thing, since this is, you know, and I feel really bad I didn't mention them earlier. They're also heroes to me.

I just mentioned Caroline, because she's, you know, I've known her the longest, but we have, I have another really good friend. They're all so supportive of all the work that I do. Steven Ovah is Hopi from the village of Sitsomovi, and he actually got in for the Western States 100, which he'll be competing in at the end of this month, which is huge.

He went through a lot. He, you know, he was earning his tickets, and then I don't remember what happened, and he had to start all over again, and he was so frustrated, and I just remember the excitement when he announced that he got drawn for Western States this year, so we're gonna be cheering him on. Look up Western States Endurance Run 100, and then the other is Kellen Lomayestewa.

Two years ago, he finished a Cocodona 250, and that really brought a lot of our community together, really excited everybody. He didn't do it this year, but he did register under a charity bib. He'll be fundraising for the Hopi Foundation, and he'll be competing in Cocodona 250 in 2026, so I, you know, I do what I can.

Like I said, you know, the apparel, I try to help them, you know, fundraise for them. I've seen the work that it takes to crew for ultras, and it's a lot of money. It's, you know, so especially for Steve trying to travel out to Olympic Valley, California, so, you know, I just wanted to give them a shout out and thank them for always, always supporting everything that I do, whether it's the apparel, the nonprofit work, all of that.

They're also big heroes to me, too.

[Meranden]

All right, we're gonna be ending our sunset talk now. Askwali to Wendi for being here today, and yeah, thank you guys for being here. Thank you.

[Speaker 3]

Grand Canyon Speaks is a program hosted by Grand Canyon National Park and the Grand Canyon Conservancy. A special thanks to Aaron White for the theme music. This recording reflects the personal, lived experiences of tribal members and do not encompass the views of their tribal nation or that of the National Park.

To learn more about Grand Canyon First Voices, visit www.nps.gov/GRCA. Here at Grand Canyon National Park, we are on the ancestral homelands of the 11 associated tribes of the Grand Canyon, these being the Havasupai tribe, the Hualapai tribe, the Navajo Nation, the Hopi tribe, the Pueblo of Zuni, the Yavapai Apache Nation, the Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians, the Las Vegas Paiute tribe, the Moapa Band of Paiutes, the Paiute Indian tribe of Utah, and the San Juan Southern Paiute tribe.

Nahongvita! Askwali! Kwa’kwa! Just some of the words you may hear if you ever run a race at one of the Hopi villages. Wendi Lewis describes her running journey which ultimately influenced her to become a cross country and track coach. Now a head coach at Tuba City High School, she incorporates the cultural aspects of running for her team. She also tells us about her apparel business and how she uses it to help the community through fundraisers.

Season 2

Season 2 Trailer

Season Two Trailer

Transcript

(0:02) I feel like every day begins with land acknowledgement; you know. (0:05) I mean, you're encouraged to rise up every day when the sun comes up to greet the sun. (0:11) We need to go back to our roots, the kind that you eat, you know, and really embrace (0:16) it and start revitalizing that food as medicine. (0:21) All kind of indigenous people accepted the term as two-spirit, but our culture has lived with this since the beginning of time. (0:32) Welcome to season two of Grand Canyon Speaks, where we interview members of the 11 associated tribes who call the Grand Canyon home. This online podcast series brings our in-the-park programming right to your ears and into your homes. This season, we're excited to introduce more stories, more voices, and more lived experiences. Stay tuned. (0:52) You know, when I'm weaving, it's like I'm communicating with my ancestors. (1:00) We come down here to get inspiration, to get the power to take back home. (1:08) We have a strong connection to the Grand Canyon, and Grand Canyon is very important to our (1:15) soul. (1:17) It's important to love who you are. (1:20) There's no one like you. (1:21) You're unique, special, just love yourself.

Welcome to season two of Grand Canyon Speaks! We are airing live interviews that park rangers conducted with artists and representatives from the 11 associated tribes of Grand Canyon National Park. This series explores the lives and perspectives of people who call Grand Canyon home. Sit back and enjoy!

Episode 1

Zane Jacobs Speaks

Transcript

[Zane Jacobs]

I like to play with gender roles. I will put some eyelashes on, some highlighter, and a full beat on my face and go out. I've gone out in heels, I've gone out in corsets, I've played both roles, and I've never felt uncomfortable in my skin, and I wish I had that confidence back then.

[Meranden]

Hey y'all, welcome to Grand Canyon Speaks. This is Meranden, and I'm an intern here at Grand Canyon National Park.

[Ranger Melissa]

And this is Ranger Melissa.

[Meranden]

Before we jump into this episode, we are so excited to welcome you to season two of the podcast. Oh yeah!

[Ranger Melissa]

Yes, our team has been able to have some amazing stories and conversations with more voices, more lived experiences, and more fun.

[Meranden]

We hope you are just as excited as we are to venture through season two and get to hear some amazing stories.

[Ranger Melissa]

Speaking of amazing stories, let's start off with Zane Jacobs. He is Diné and the first traditional indigenous and local president of Flagstaff Pride.

[Meranden]

Yeah, and it was so exciting to hear his connections to the Grand Canyon, his experiences with Flagstaff Pride, going from a volunteer to now president, and what it means to live in Hozho. Once again, welcome to season two. And without further ado, here is Zane.

[Ranger Annie]

I'll let you introduce yourself, Zane.

[Zane Jacobs]

Hi everybody. My name is Zane Jacobs (Introduces self in Navajo) I go by pronouns he/him. I am also the president of Flagstaff Pride. And yeah, I live in Flagstaff, Arizona. So yeah, I'm excited to be here.

[Ranger Annie]

Cool. And so I do like too that you mentioned your pronouns. So he/him. I go by pronouns, or I use pronouns they/them. Do you want to talk a bit about why those are important?

[Zane Jacobs]

Yeah, I think pronouns are extremely important, not just our community, talking about the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, but in all communities, it's an easy way to reaffirm someone's identity. It's, you know, it's validate who we are. And it's simple.

It's just, it's an easy way to do it. And I think it's, yeah, why not? Yeah.

[Ranger Annie]

And so how do you identify?

[Zane Jacobs]

I am actually a gay Diné man. So I am a Navajo male that is gay. Yeah.

[Ranger Annie]

And so what is some of the history of queerness in Diné and Indigenous cultures?

[Zane Jacobs]

So quite a bit. So I wrote some talking points down, so I didn't forget them because I'm horrible on a mic and a stage, which is kind of crazy because you see me on a stage a lot. So in Indigenous cultures, queer identities were actually just part of the community in the past.

They've always been recognized. They've always been appreciated, especially in Diné culture. We have had, I forget the word.

I mean, my mom's in the audience here, so she may actually know the word, but it means special people. So where we are all genders and no gender at the same time. So our two-spirit, which we go by nowadays, has always been recognized by the Diné people here.

[Ranger Annie]

And did you ever notice like a change, like when people started using the terminology two-spirit in your community?

[Zane Jacobs]

I did. So two-spirit comes from the mostly Plains tribes. It started in the 1990s and then all kind of Indigenous people kind of accepted the term as two-spirit.

There has been a little bit of change with the Diné people who go by two-spirit, but our culture has lived with this since the beginning of time. So I say two-spirit because it's easier for some other communities to relate to that, but I identify in my culture as I am who I am. I've always been that person.

I've never had to say that I'm two-spirit in my Diné culture. So there is a little bit of a change, I guess, just to have everyone kind of have a common space, but I've never actually had to do it in my actual family.

[Ranger Annie]

So yes. And so what was your journey to learning about your identity?

[Zane Jacobs]

It's a long, important journey, and I think it's an important journey for everybody, you know, for some self-reflecting and knowing who you are and actually being able to speak who you are. My journey was very simple because I come from an amazing family. So I have an amazing foundation.

I have a very traditional Diné family, but I'm also half-white, so a very supportive family on my white side as well. I've actually never come out of the closet, and I joke about it all the time. I've always just been myself.

So nowadays you hear these kids having these elaborate coming out parties, so maybe I'll have one soon. But right, I've actually, I've always been so comfortable in my own self. I've never had to do it. I've never questioned about bringing a boyfriend home. It was just, "Zane's gonna bring someone", you know? I've just always been myself, and they've always accepted me.

[Ranger Annie]

Yeah.

[Zane Jacobs]

Yeah.

[Ranger Annie]

And do you want to talk too more about your experiences like outside of your family too?

[Zane Jacobs]

Yes. So I'm very, and I'm very outspoken. I am very who I am and will tell you to your face if you don't like it, get over it, or I'll leave. I don't have to be there, and I don't like confrontation.

I don't, you know? But more and more, I feel like this generation especially has been so accepting and just open to more things that it's kind of easier now. Growing up, maybe not so much.

We had to fight a lot. I'm 42, so in my generation we had to fight for gay marriage. It was a big thing, you know?

This generation didn't have to do that. I have been part of, like I said, I'm president of Flagstaff Pride. I have been on the board of directors for 17 years in volunteering ways on the executive committee and now president, and pride has changed.

Before it was more of an adult community that would come to our events, and now I'm seeing more kids. We tend to focus our festival as a family-friendly festival, which means we don't allow any adult kind of geared vendors at all. We don't have an adult area.

We don't allow any lube or condom vendors or sponsors. We have a kids area. We have a dry area with no alcohol.

We have an area specifically focused on health and wellness, which is in a dry area, and now this indigenous market that we've started for the first time for this year has made Pride so successful. It's changed. The community's changed, and I give credit to this generation for it.

[Ranger Annie]

Nice. You talked a little bit about indigenous market and stuff, but do you want to talk about being the first traditional indigenous president of Flagstaff Pride?

[Zane Jacobs]

Yeah. I'm actually the first local too. I'm from Flagstaff.

Northern Arizona is my home. I was born in Tuba City, raised my whole life in Flagstaff, Arizona, came back to Arizona after college. I started out as a volunteer at Flagstaff Pride and then have seen these kind of waves of presidents and people come in. They're amazing people, but we have never had a local president speak from our community, be the president of our organization. This year, it was probably the first time that we've really given indigenous people a voice at our festival, and it is speaking volumes. This is the largest festival Flagstaff Pride has ever had, which makes us now the largest festival in Northern Arizona, which is amazing.

This year, we had the first indigenous market, which we had 32 Indigenous queer-focused indigenous artists at the festival, which we let in, and it was so successful. I don't see us ever turning back or changing it now. It's good to see that indigenous people are actually having a voice and using it, and people are seeing it now.

I'm fortunate just to be lucky to say that I'm indigenous and to be part of it. I knew it was going to happen. I knew there was going to be a first indigenous president, first local traditional president sometime.

I didn't think it was going to be me, but it happened to me, and I'm really fortunate, and I'm really lucky to be able to be part of it.

[Ranger Annie]

You said you volunteered too. How long did it take to get to the position you're in now?

[Zane Jacobs]

17 years. Off and on, I say 17 years. I started as a volunteer.

I've been part of several different organizations, Jerry's Kids, American Cancer Society, most recently the Shadows Foundation in Flagstaff, I was on the board of directors of, and now Flagstaff Pride, I've always been a part of, but I started as a volunteer, worked my way up to the volunteer coordinator, and then soon after that became the vice president of Flagstaff Pride, and then I kind of just stayed in the back seat for Flagstaff Pride probably for a good 10 years, and then I stepped away for a little bit, and then came back and saw a need where our president emeritus, Deb Taylor, who is just phenomenal, she's changed Flagstaff Pride in so many ways and given us a foundation to do what I'm doing now, and I couldn't be more grateful for her.

To become the first president, she was terming out, and they needed a president, and I accepted the position last September, so this is going on two years now.

[Ranger Annie]

Cool, nice, and so we've talked a lot about, you know, these pride festivals and everything, but what does pride mean to you?

[Zane Jacobs]

It means the celebration, being seen, being who your authentic self is. I wrote all these notes down, and I'm not even looking at them, but I think it's being who you are and having people see your authentic self, and when you're your authentic self, you can truly live, and I think that's what all humans should do. We should be living, and in Navajo, they say hozho, which is living in the hozho way, which is the beauty way, and being in sync with nature, with life, the universe, the land, you know, the animals, living in this spirit kind of way has always been my goal, I guess. It's what I seek. It's what I reach for, and I could never do that if I didn't think I was living my authentic self, so yeah.

[Ranger Annie]

Nice, I love that, yeah, and so you said you were born in Tuba City, live in Flagstaff. Why is the Grand Canyon important to you?

[Zane Jacobs]

So personally, I mean, I'm from Tuba City. If you, if we look over these trees right over here, my cheii, my shimasani is buried right over there. My ancestors are from this land.

Me and my mom were talking on the drive here. This land has provided for our family, personally, for generations. We're from here.

This dirt is in my blood. We still hold cattle over there, branding yearly. My uncles still hunt this land, you know.

The Grand Canyon has always been part of who we are, and the Diné people, our ancestors are from this land. You can just look around over my shoulder here, like you cannot look there and not feel something internally and be like, wow, that's bigger than what we are. That's our ancestors.

That's our people. That's our connection to the earth here, yeah.

[Ranger Annie]

So is this your first time coming to the Grand Canyon, like in the park section?

[Zane Jacobs]

So I grew up, like we were saying, we have a ranch right over there, actually. It's called Big Canyon Ranch. So I actually grew up taking trips and going chasing cattle, finding horses, run off the edge of the canyon.

So we, I've grown up on this land. This is not my first time. This is my second time to the park, but growing up, I've been part of this canyon forever, so yeah.

[Ranger Annie]

Nice. So where do you see the intersection between your identity as a gay man and as a Diné man?

[Zane Jacobs]

So this one I'm definitely going to look at my notes for. So because I really wanted to make sure that I knew that I was hitting this point because I really, I think it's important because they are, okay, so I did say I find strength and purpose. My identity as a Diné man informs my activism in the community, and my experience as a gay man gives me a unique insight how to create more inclusive spaces in our culture.

[Ranger Annie]

This wasn't something we had talked about beforehand, but what, how do you kind of define activism like in this context?

[Zane Jacobs]

That's a hard one. So I feel like I am an activist by just being my authentic self, honestly. I mean, being who I am has put me into an activist position.

Being indigenous today makes me an activist. Speaking up for our people and just putting a light on indigenous people makes me an activist. So just being who I am has already done that.

I can tell you that I've gone to a million protests. I've helped create protests. I've walked them.

I've been at the White House, speaking at the White House. I've been protesting the White House. I've done marches and, you know, I have done all of that, but I don't think that necessarily makes me the activist.

Being my authentic self has made me an activist in this community.

[Ranger Annie]

Nice.

[Zane Jacobs]

Yeah.

[Ranger Annie]

Yeah. What, you know, gives you hope, especially in terms of like pride and everything kind of going on in the world? Yeah. What's your kind of like source of hope?

[Zane Jacobs]

I hope by being myself and being vocal and being seen gives that opportunity to these young people and these young leaders that they can do it too. I'm fortunate. I came from a very strong foundation.

Thank you, mom. And I've come from this, you know, this accepting world where I didn't have to fight so hard, but as president, I've seen the coming out stories. I've taken in kids who have literally been kicked out of their houses for just coming out. I've helped parents take their trans kids to go see doctors, to talk to counselors, to introduce them to people who are part of this community. I've seen that struggle. I've had friends commit suicide because of it.

I've had family commit suicide over it. I hope by being myself, my hope would be to have these other young people, parents, kids, family members, everybody, see that it's okay to be yourself. It does get better.

As cheesy as that sounds nowadays, it does get better. And there's a space for you in this community and hopefully all communities.

[Ranger Annie]

So what would you tell your younger self if you had a chance?

[Zane Jacobs]

A lot. I think I wish I had this confidence that I had it back then. I mean, I came from a very supportive family.

I keep saying it, but I don't think I've ever been as confident as I am now. I will walk into a sporting event in any way, in glitter, in sequins, in a mesh shirt, and feel super confident and not let anyone give me kind of a stare or I'm right there with them. You know?

I wish I had this confidence that I did as a younger person. I like to play with gender roles. I will put some eyelashes on, some highlighter, and a full beat on my face.

And go out. I've gone out in heels. I've gone out in corsets.

I've played both roles, and I've never felt uncomfortable in my skin. And I wish I had that confidence back then. Yeah.

[Ranger Annie]

And so you've worked a lot with kids, like you were talking about. Do you have any advice for younger people who might be listening to this later and maybe are kind of lacking that confidence that you just talked about?

[Zane Jacobs]

It comes. It comes. It might not be here yet, but it comes.

It will be here. And find yourself in a community. There's a community out here, the LGBTQI+.

It's a long alphabet. . But there, we, I can speak for myself, and I can speak for our board of directors.

We are here to support. We can give you outlets. We can give you what you need if you can't find that space.

But we like to call it our chosen family, because people kind of get kicked out, or people lose some of those people who don't necessarily get it yet. They come around. They do.

And I hope that young people know that there's a community there for them. And maybe it's hard now, but hopefully you will get there. And if not, I'm here to help.

I'm a phone call away. So yeah. And there's not just me.

A whole community.

[Ranger Annie]

Yeah. And so what are, you've already done so much as president of Flagstaff Pride. Like, what are you hoping to achieve in the future in this role?

[Zane Jacobs]

Well, I mean, as a, you know, a president of an organization, growth is always my number one. I always want to see us do bigger and better. Sometimes bigger and better doesn't mean numbers though to me.

So I, right now we're the biggest festival in Northern Arizona. Makes us the second largest right now LGBTQI+ festival in Arizona. I believe Phoenix Pride is number one.

Then it goes Flagstaff Pride, then Phoenix Pride's Rainbow Festival, and then Tucson Pride. This year we had 126 vendors at our festival, which is unheard of and stressful. But it is like, I'm thinking about maybe turning it down a notch.

Maybe we're losing that sense of self and maybe growing in numbers is not where we should be, but maybe growing in community is where we need to be more. So I'm reflecting. I'm going to take what I've learned so far in my first year as president.

And I want to see, I want to do more. I want to do more free events. I want to do, you know, I want to see us not just stuck in a park throwing a great festival with great music, but I want to see events happening all year round.

I mean, we do do other events in town, but I want to see them just as big as Flagstaff Pride is right now. So yeah.

[Ranger Annie]

Do you have kind of like a favorite memory from working in this role or, you know, with Flagstaff Pride for so long?

[Zane Jacobs]

Yes. But I'm going to keep that for myself. There are some things in life that you should keep to yourself and enjoy them for you only.

There are amazing memories that I have, but those favorite ones are for me only. I, and I have cherished them and I have been truly thankful to be a part of where I am today because of them. And those, those, those are for me.

Yeah.

[Ranger Annie]

I love that.

[Zane Jacobs]

Yeah.

[Ranger Annie]

Yeah. And so what is kind of coming up next for you? I know you've got a lot going on.

[Zane Jacobs]

So this has been a big year. So, so being, I became, I took over as president in September. Flagstaff Pride happened in June.

I knew a month before our festival that Jill, Dr. Jill Biden was going to come to our festival and we were able to bring her out. I was 72 hours before I could tell the public that we were bringing Jill Biden to our festival. And then after that, the White House actually flew me out to the White House and I was able to go to the White House Pride, um, which was amazing because also the American Voices of Indigenous People Festival was going on and the whole, the whole, um, National Mall was just full of indigenous people.

It was unreal. Like it was just, it was so, it was just so crazy that I could talk 45 minutes on that because like I, flying into DC was hard for me because there's, I have a lot of, there's a lot of torn America, you know, white people, a lot of rich white old men making rules about our country. And I didn't see my place going there and it didn't feel right until I saw that festival.

And I go, I belong here. I should be seen and I should be part of this. And I wasn't even at the, I wasn't even part of that festival.

I was going to the White House. So that all happened. Um, you guys called me to come out here and speak.

Next month I am doing the, uh, Aaron White's Tribal Stomp, who was on this podcast, um, at the beginning. I'm emceeing that with Zahn McClarnon from Reservation Dogs and all these amazing artists. Like, you know, if I could keep doing all these events and giving a voice to this community and showing that Flagstaff is, you know, they didn't make a wrong decision in making me president, then I'm happy to be the face of it.

So, yeah.

[Ranger Annie]

Yeah. So how can people here get involved both, you know, with Flagstaff Pride and your organizations as well as, you know, in their own hometowns?

[Zane Jacobs]

So this, this one I'm definitely going to read to you because this one I want to make sure that you all hear because I think it's important. I think being, so there's many ways to get involved. From volunteering with Flagstaff Pride to participating in events, whether they're drag shows, parades.

Our parade was the second one this year. We had over 42, 42 floats in this place and almost 1,200, um, attendees just watching. And it was, like, it was chilling.

Like, it was so, we came around the corner and the whole square was just full of rainbow flags and trans flags and non-binary flags. And it was just like, wow, this community sees us. Like, it was really, really cool.

But being part of these events, supporting other, other local queens and local talent, being part of, you know, a queer collective or a gay straight alliance, supporting these kind of clubs and letting other families know, like, there's a community here to keep people safe and creating a safe place. And, you know, it's, we're always looking for passionate people. We have board seats open.

If you're interested in being part of the board, volunteer. Come see what we do. If you want to be part of it, we want you to be part of it.

So come. Yeah. You can always come.

You can reach out to me at zane at flagstaffpride.org. You can go to our website at flagstaffpride.org, list all of our events, follow us on social media, Facebook, Instagram.

[Ranger Annie]

Nice. And so before we kind of open it up to the audience, I have kind of two more questions. One, is there anything that I haven't asked you yet that you were wanting to talk about?

[Zane Jacobs]

No, I think we covered a lot.

[Ranger Annie]

What do you want the audience here today and those listening to take away from our conversation?

[Zane Jacobs]

I think honestly, and I can't repeat it enough, create a safe space. Let the youth know that we're here to create an environment and a community that people should be who they are and enjoy being their authentic selves. I think it's important for everyone.

If you don't agree with it, maybe you need to learn more about it. And if you did not learn more about it, then maybe that's not for you. Some things aren't for me and I don't let it bug me.

Let it go. So I think if I can let someone take something away, let people be themselves. And if you have questions and as long as you have no ill intentions towards someone, ask those questions.

Let's spread this knowledge and let people be who they are.

[Ranger Annie]

Thank you so much. And I also really appreciate that you were like, "ask me anything". And I was like, oh, the possibilities. So now, yeah, if anyone in the audience has a question. Feel free

[Zane Jacobs]

Yeah.

[Guest #1]

I just want to start though, but my second clan is Kiyaa'aanii and I'm also from Tuba.

[Zane Jacobs]

Oh, yay!

[Guest #1]

But my question is, well, actually, you're really inspirational and like so much confidence and there's a lot of motivation. I'm just curious of who your mentor is?

[Zane Jacobs]

You're sitting right next to her. You really are. My mom has come from a world that not many would survive.

And to see my mom do it is all the motivation I know that I need to do it in this world. Stay close to your traditional ways because that's all you really need to. Navajo and Diné people, traditional ways, it's beauty.

It's the hozho way. So living this lifestyle, being close to your culture, be close to your mothers and your grandmothers and your aunts. That's my foundation.

I come from a line of strong women. I'm getting chills. I love you, mom.

I am so fortunate just to see these women be like strong indigenous women. Take it in. Soak it.

When I lost my grandmother, it was one of the hardest things because she was just, she was a woman that you were like, you never wanted to cross, but you wanted to be everything that she was. I see that in my mom. You'll see it in your family.

Diné women are special. Take it in, especially Kiyaa'aanii You know that.

Yeah, of course.

[Ranger Annie]

Any other questions?

[Zane Jacobs]

Yeah.

[Guest #2]

We're from Australia, so I don't know a lot about, I guess, the indigenous people of here. You mentioned that being homosexual men in that community, it's not really a thing. It's just part of the culture. Can you speak a bit more about that?

[Zane Jacobs]

Yeah. So actually, so being two-spirit in indigenous communities, not all, there are some indigenous communities where it wasn't accepted. And I don't want to speak for all indigenous communities, but a lot of indigenous communities have kind of come together and accepted this term as two-spirit.

Someone who's lived in both of these gender roles. There is no masculine feminine in this two-spirit world. And actually, in Australia, the indigenous people there have the same thing.

So, you know, Souksavanh, who's on our board of directors, actually has his PhD and just came back from Australia. He actually teaches at NAU. He's doing this amazing class on sexual identity.

He speaks about it all the time. He's amazing. Look him up.

He's on our board of directors. Flagstaffpride.org. For me, it's just a life.

I don't go preaching it. I don't go around practicing. I have no awards about being a two-spirit of the world.

I don't. I just, this is who I am and this is what I live. So it's hard to kind of just, yeah, "what do you want to know?" Because it's just my life. And I can say that for the two-spirit people that I know, it's just them being themselves and living their life. And we never really been saying, you have to do it this way.

You have to do it that way. We're just who we are. Well, thank you.

[Ranger Annie]

Yeah. Thank you so much. This has been great. Thank y'all for coming out. Looks like it's also going to be a beautiful sunset. *fades out*

[Ranger Jonah]

[Ranger Annie]

Here at Grand Canyon National Park, we're on the ancestral homelands of the 11 associated tribes of the Grand Canyon. These being the Havasupai Tribe, the Hualapai Tribe, the Navajo Nation, the Hopi Tribe, the Pueblo of Zuni, the Yavapai-Apache Nation, the Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians, the Las Vegas Paiute Tribe, the Moapa Band of Paiutes, the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, and the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe.

In this episode, Ranger Annie speaks with Zane Jacobs (he/him), who is Diné and the first traditional, local president of Flagstaff Pride! The conversation revolves around his experiences with Flagstaff Pride starting as a volunteer to now president, along with how he grew up with the Grand Canyon in his backyard.

Episode 2

Ciara Minjarez and Shalitha Peaches Speaks - Native American Heritage Month Special

Transcript

Ciara and Salitha GRCA Speaks Episode 2 Season 2

[Ciara]

So when we think about it, we have really still been eating like we're on rations. So now with the younger generation, we're starting to realize and acknowledge that, yeah, we need to make that change. We need to go back to our roots, the kind that you eat, you know, and really embrace it and start revitalizing that food as medicine, really.

[Ranger Lizzy]

Welcome, I'm Ranger Lizzy.

[Ranger Melissa]

And I'm Ranger Melissa.

[Ranger Lizzy]

We are so excited to share this episode with y'all.

We sat down with Shalitha and Ciara from White Mountain Apache Tribe to talk about food sovereignty. I really love the way that they're decolonizing their relationship with food.

[Ranger Melissa]

Yeah, they're really doing amazing work. Listening to this episode, I love the way they refer to themselves as women of change because they're breaking the norms, like not just for themselves and their community, but for the global community and the next generation.

[Ranger Lizzy]

These women are truly amazing. So without further ado, Shalitha and Ciara.

[Shalitha]

Hi, everyone. My name is Salitha. I am coming from the White Mountain Apache Tribe.

Also, just to kind of identify myself with the land. So I come from a, Ciara and I both come from a band [band name in Apache]. So this is the connection that we associate when we're introducing ourselves to the community or to another indigenous tribe.

But basically, in our language, that it just basically means two hills that cut into each other. So on a reservation, it explains a certain location. So I work in four different job areas.

One is actually my own personal one. It's a, I'm hoping to be a business, which is fostering young Apache gatherers. Elderlies in training is one of the one things that I really like to say.

And it's basically working with youth and teaching them the Apache foodways within our reservation. Another one that I'm a part of is a non-profit in coordinating with people that want to come to our reservation and help local projects that are happening, especially with the agriculture area. And then also working at a tribal farm called Ndée Bikíyaa, the people's farm, as a farmer's market coordinator and marketing a lot of the produce that's growing at the farm. And what was my fourth one? There's another one. I just tend to like my mind right now.

But yeah, so that's who I am and kind of where I come from.

[Ciara]

Awesome. Yes. Thank you, Shai.

So hello, everyone. My name is Ciara Minjarez, and I come from the Fort Apache Indian Reservation. A lot of my background work is in our background work is in farming.

We really try to get with our roots back into we say like it's we need to return back to our roots, the kind that you eat, you know. So when we talk about our work and in terms of food sovereignty and resiliency, we have a lot of programs that are dedicated to to working with those those food systems and really tweaking them to be self-sufficient so that we don't have to really rely on that many people. So for me, I work with Local First Arizona as the Indigenous Foodways Program Manager.

And with through that job, they allow me to work with all the Indigenous tribes in southeastern Arizona, mainly farmers, ranchers, gardeners and growers, providing technical service, technical support and resources throughout our our entire nonprofit. I'm also a part of different community committees. One of them is called Chaghashe Bidan Siine, and that's the White Mountain Apache Child Food Security Program. And what we did was we tried to come up with out of the box ideas on how to get children fed on the reservation. So we can talk more about that later. But another one, that's how me and Shai really kind of got together and had a partnership with what she's doing and and coming out here and talking about teaching the kids and expanding their knowledge.

Because like when COVID came, gosh, you know, we lost a lot of knowledge there. So it's up to us to keep keep it going. And then I'm also part of a nonprofit called Spring to Action, which we we like to, we're in the process of really becoming a physical sponsor.

We want to be able to provide funds through our tribe without getting through the whole paperwork process. We want to make it easier to access that not just for our tribes, but for all tribes. And we started just building this alliance with our partner tribes.

And it's just been a wonderful experience because, you know, there's one thing that we always all have in common, food. You know, we always all need food. So we're excited to talk to you guys today about food sovereignty.

[Ranger Dawn]

Yeah, I'm so excited. This is like so my jam too. So I kind of wanted to yeah, just get a background on y'all.

What was your relationship to food and farming like growing up? Like, how did you get into this work? Like, where did that curiosity spark from?

[Shalitha]

Oh, my gosh. So for me, I was your average res kid running around in the summer, like by down by the river getting all tshie and everything. But when I say tshie, I mean, like all dry skin and very dark. So but for me, food has always been a connection I had, especially within the Grand Canyon area, we have so much similarities with food. And we were able to do some walks here and see some of the food that are familiar back home. And one of them was the sumac berries, and it's very sweet and tart.

And we had a walk this morning, between 11 and one. And so we're able to do a share that taste testing. And so for me, I've always remember having that food and not really knowing the importance of it.

And so it's always been something that I felt connected with, especially with a lot of the jobs that I have currently, and currently work with and network with. So there's, I feel like for me, food has always been a vast connection. I'm actually looking at being an ethnobotanist, which is basically the study of plants within a certain region.

I mainly geared towards the White Mountain Apache region and highlighting what our Apache foods are and hopefully being able to share it with the world and networking with other indigenous tribes and trying to help them create that and decolonizing our way of food and revitalizing a lot of those teachings back into the indigenous communities.

[Ciara]

So awesome. I love that. Yeah.

So for me, I had growing up on the reservation, you know, we're always, always looking forward to that time of the month, when they would give you different commodities, they gave you a box of commodities, they had all different types of food. And it wasn't until I got older, that I realized these foods are really high in preservatives. There's a reason why our people are dying from diet related diseases.

And it's because of this, this food that we get so excited over, you know, there's this brick of cheese, we call Apache gold, you know, and it's commodity cheese. But it's, it was stuff like that, that I always used to identify, like even fry bread, you know, everybody loves fry bread, but they don't know the reason why it's that we started making fry bread, that is not an indigenous food, but it was more like a culinary creation out of what we were given. And they talk about buggy flour, and rancid lard.

And that was kind of where we, that was kind of where I started my journey and looking into that. And when I started working at the farm, they were able to teach me like, did, did you know that this food that we used to eat, and then that food pyramid that they have that they're giving us now, it's not for our indigenous bodies. That's not how we used to eat, we never used to sit around all the time, we were always out getting our food.

So when I started looking into different ways of like, even my body, myself, I had was like, diagnosed with prediabetes. And I started freaking out, like, why I try to like, you know, I've been eating the food that has we've all been eating. And then it made sense, because a lot of people I knew had it, my grandma had it and just going back to the farm and for them teaching me like, well, you know what, it's because it's traveling all these ways, and they're trying to make it last forever.

And when they do that, it lasts forever, inside your belly, inside your gut, inside your your body. And so, yeah, there's a lot of food that we like to share when it comes to each other. So when we think about it, we have really still been eating like we're on rations.

So now with the younger generation, we're starting to realize and acknowledge that, yeah, we need to make that change. We need to go back to our roots, the kind that you eat, you know, and, and really embrace it and start revitalizing that food as medicine, really. So that's where I kind of like built it was really when I came to the farm, and I met Shai and all the cool farmers from Ndée Bikíyaa.

[Shalitha]

And just to let you guys know, I've actually been doing this for about going on eight years. And a lot of the team teachings that I have currently and was able to share with Ciara and do demos with I have learned from my elders, I do not go to school for this. It's something that I was able to learn from my elders, but also learn in my language first, which is Apache, or also known as an Athabascan language.

And so being able to walk in what seems like two or three worlds, because I have to know the plant's name in my language, and then also know the scientific name, and then also identify it in the common name. So for me, learning about foods is not just one world. It's also my people's world in a larger scale of other teachings.

[Ranger Dawn]

So yeah, I love how you give a lot of credit to your elders. And I like what you say, elders in training, like that's what you're trying to do to become to to teach the younger generation. I also know you wanted to talk about like women of change.

So what does it mean for you as like women to be in this role of like elders in training?

[Ciara]

You want to start?

[Shalitha]

Oh, yeah. Okay. So we're one of the main things that we definitely want a lot of people to take away from this podcast is definitely, Ciara, Sometimes I view both of us as women of change, because a lot of the projects that we have came from a simple idea that we wanted to introduce to the community. And so for us women, we are women of change within our community. And we hope to network on a larger scale with other people, with other indigenous people within Indian territory, and then also within the world, you know, because a lot of people, I feel like don't really know indigenous people or their history.

And so and I hope to share that in a way that educates people and understands that we're all the same, regardless. If one of us gets cut, it's going to bleed red. So knowing that we're all equal, we're all the same, but we're also women are people that are very rooted in our beliefs, especially with women, I feel like women, usually the men are the ones who are the head of the house.

At the end of the day, I feel like it's the women who runs the household because they have to make sure all the dishes is washed, make sure supper is on at the time at the same time, make sure the kids are all good to go. And so the man is just a moral support. [giggles] So but that, but then again, they're the protector of the home.

So it's a yin and yang dance for me.

[Ciara]

Yeah. And so like, for us, when we say women of change, I feel like we're the ones who are breaking those change, changing those norms. I know I like to use the reference, well, you know, now we have WiFi in our wiki ups, you know, and it's something new. We're embracing that technology, especially when it comes to really fighting the norms of what it used to be. And like I said, we're used to having rations, we're used to relying on the government. And that's where we come in, because we don't want to be like that no more.

We want to be able to take care of ourselves. We want to be able to grow our food the way we want to healthy. We want to be able to go out there and find our medicine because now we can.

When I look back at our reservation, there's so many things that need to change, really need to change. And I feel like in order for us to make an impact, we have to be the ones to put together these events. We have to be the ones to learn about them and make these connections because it's not really for us.

It was never really for us. And I was telling Shai this too, that when we were coming here, we're saying, how can we make this better, the earth better? How can we make sure there's food better?

Not just for us, not for our kids, but for their kids. Make sure this place is still there for them. Make sure they're able to just be healthy, you know, and live long lives.

And I want to be able to see that day, you know, where we can all get along, we can all be healthy together, we can share things. And when I say this, I see it. I see it.

And that's when I say we are women of change, because a lot of people recognize tribes as we always fight. They always fought with each other. They just always just, they're territorial.

But now we say, no, we don't fight no more. We're trying to unite. We're trying to learn from each other and heal with each other.

We've all have this connection. Like even when we talk to different people, we can joke around and it feels good. It feels normal.

And there's trust. Yeah, it feels like trust. Yeah, there's that trust there.

So that's where we said, we see it and we can feel it. You know, that's the change. And we're the women that help try and bring that, you know, to the, not just our community, but to all the tribal communities, to even the surrounding communities.

Because like Shai said, we're all one person. We all deserve to eat and live together in peace, you know.

[Ranger Dawn]

Yeah, we were chatting on the phone like earlier in the week. I loved how you're talking about like collaboration between the tribes and how that meant a lot to you. And I also appreciate how much you value education and like teaching younger people.

Did you want to talk about like the programs with, where you're at when you're teaching younger people these things?

[Ciara]

Yeah. All right. So yeah, one of the things we did back on our tribe in the White Mountains, and that's Fort Apache Indian Reservation, we were out there, we were able to, well, it all started off with a simple survey.

We asked the tribe, what do you want when it comes to your food systems? How can we support you? And unanimously, hands down, everyone said, we're tired of seeing our kids hungry.

You know, we don't want any of the kids to be hungry. And it wasn't just our reservation. It was Hualapai.

It was Hopi. It was CRIT. You know, it was all of these different tribal nations.

And so we came together and with our tribe and we had to ask ourselves, how can we get these kids fed? How can we get them sustenance when they don't have a ride? They don't have money, you know, and they just are miles away from the nearest food source.

And so we talked to our elders, how can we, how can we feed the kids? And they said, are you crazy? Do you see all this food around you?

You know, and so we were like, oh, wow, okay. And we learned how to make a yucca blossom soup. It's like a wild cabbage where we come from.

And it's a really sweet wild cabbage. And so through that, we were able to invite different tribes to come and share this meal with us. And just having them share that meal and that conversation, that laugh, that bond we had, they started coming up with their own ideas.

And we just, we recently visited Hualapai's community garden and they're able to feed their tribe for four days, their whole tribe. And that's big on a scale that we are at, you know, like where we still have hungry kids. So that's where we really, we're learning from them and we're partnering with them to build these resources and connect in that way.

And like I said, we're all about uniting each other now and we're done fighting each other. We're ready to heal together and grow together. And that's just like one of the many projects that we work on together.

And I know like, there's just so much going on and there's so many, and I feel like one of the reasons why we like to do this, like we all know what happened with COVID, but that really took a lot of our elders. And I think it really put a fire under all of us to start learning and writing our own books and learning how to pass that knowledge onto the kids, like metaphorically, because we don't really write our own books, you know, like we don't really do it like that. We have to go observe, touch the plant, smell the plant, see the colors, and even just looking at it, you know, is it spiky?

Where is it growing at? What's next to it? What eats it even?

So in just identifying those few things, it was super important to our survival. It was like, and it was something that we were told was detrimental. You cannot leave the reservation.

And so now we encourage everyone. There's nobody telling you, no, you know, you don't have to eat like this no more. I can show you, you know, I can show you how to get it, how to clean it, how to cook it, how to eat it, and how to preserve it.

And that's how, and I always tell myself, it's nothing that we didn't know already.

[Shalitha]

So for me, having to like really find out where my starting point was in my community is really just like, I wanted to hear from the community what they wanted, what was impacting them and making it harder for them to have access to healthier foods. And so we did a survey and I really just reached out to the community and hearing from them in that way. And then on a larger scale, we also reached out to farmers and getting ideas from them and really working with them and making them, they really became a family.

And so within these territories, I'm actually pretty familiar with a lot of the farmers in the area. And there was one that we really met with, his name is Tyrone Thompson, and he just recently passed, but he was a really good friend that really connected me with these areas and networking with them. So for me, it's always been just being able to have a casual conversation with whoever and finding out what is it that we can do to make this work, whether whatever project it may have been.

[Ranger Dawn]

Yeah, I like how you're empowering the youth. I agree, it's so important. You also said you wanted to mention avoiding exploiting plants.

So did you want to expand on that?

[Ciara]

Yes, yes. Oh my gosh. So we like to talk about a lot of our plants and share a lot of traditional foods, but there's a lot of things that we get scared of.

If we show you this plant, will you harvest it to extinction? But we don't want to be selective about who gets to learn this because it should be common knowledge to eat climate smart and acclimated to where your environment is. So we try to teach, but at the same time, we want to teach that don't leave things worse than when you found it.

Don't overharvest these plants. Don't sell them for your own benefit to where we can't buy them no more. And it's easy to do that.

And we always try to expand on really making sure you know how to sow the seeds, even though you take some. Don't take the whole plant. Don't rip it out from its roots.

There's some ways that you can harvest things. There's safe ways to make sure that they will keep growing, that there will be plants for the next generation and the next generation. There's times when we had, for example, the century plant, and that's how long it takes for it to be full maturity.

A century, you know, that's a hundred years. And for us to be cutting it down and eating it like sugar cane, I know it's delicious, but I mean, if you cut all of them down, then there's no more for anybody to enjoy sugar cane no more. So we really wanted to get out there and say, you know, be careful of how you take things and only take what you need.

That's a big lesson on where we come from. You don't really need too much. And when we think about the value of things, we don't measure our wealth in what we have and what we're saving up. We measure our wealth in what we give. And it's always like that. It's always been like that.

And that's why we want to really get out there, that there is a way to work together and make it healthy in a healthy way.

[Shalitha]

Yeah. A lot of the times when we do a lot of wild food walk, hopefully we'll be able to do one tomorrow. So if you guys want to come back and check it out, we'll be here.

But usually a lot of the times when I do wild food walks within the community or within other areas, I tend to do like a little small introduction on safety food practices. And so there's different levels of that. And for me, it's just basically respecting the land and leaving it better than what it is.

And basically trying to teach that with the kids to a level that they understand. And what does that look like in making it a lot healthier? Because within Indian country, a lot of kids or a lot of parents tend to yell or spank or do something in that concept.

So I'm trying to do it in a more healthier manner and trying to break that trauma that was instilled in a lot of our communities with boarding schools. So trying to break that trauma and making sure that what we teach is not exploited, especially for the indigenous communities, because a lot of the wild foods are vastly grown from California coast all the way to within Arizona, all the way leading up to New Mexico. So that's a lot of the harvesting areas that I know of, but also I know it because I network with multiple people within agriculture fields, especially with farming, because that's one of the main things that I do outside of my life.

So I'm a full time farmer, eight hours for work, and then the rest is outside of life in my little garden with my family. So really a lot of the teachings that I instill is also something that I do at home. I'm the oldest, and so I teach my oldest to seven siblings.

So I carry the responsibility of teaching a lot of our Apache teachings. And what I teach them is what I use to teach the kids within the outer communities and learning how to handle certain situations. And so for me, just introducing that to a kid and at their level, and as it gets to adults, it's a lot more easier.

And I feel like it's a lot more fun because you get the actual questions, the hard questions. And I love it when they ask me questions, it keeps me on my toes. And it also lets me know, okay, I need to learn about this topic because they're asking about it.

If I do not know the answer, I'm going to go find it and I'll get back to you. So that's a lot of the things that for me, I fairly enjoy with the kids and teaching those ways, but making it in a healthier environment for them.

[Ciara]

Yeah. And then one last thing that I wanted to really share with you guys was that a Hopi elder had talked to us. And when she had joined us in our wild foods walk, she had told us that all these plants that you see out here, they're not just plants.

And when you think about your family and your history, you got to remember that all these plants have their own families. They have ancestors and roots that have been here way longer than we've been here. Our families probably ate these same plants.

So when you're out there and looking at things to eat, always remember to just treat them with respect and let them know that, you know, I'm here, I'm here with you guys. And thank you for letting me be here. Because a lot of the times you don't know what's poisonous.

When we were doing our demo earlier, we were talking about the [Tree name in Apache]. And there's a tree over here. It's right over here.

And it looks just like it. And so when our elders teach us, we walk with them and they tell you, you can drink this one. But that one right there, that one will kill you.

[Shalitha]

And they go right next to each other.

[Ciara]

Yeah. And they go right next to each other. So it's really, and they will only tell you one time.

So you really have to pay attention. And so that's always embedded into my psyche when I come go and teach the kids like, that one will kill you, you know, and that really wakes them up. Like, yeah, these plants, they're very powerful.

And then there's ways you can eat them. There's ways that they can be used for medicine. There's all kinds of things.

Just with the sumac drink that we had, it had been researched by different nutritionists that came and tested it. And there was different beneficial things that had come out of that plant. And they had tried to take it off the reservation and domesticate it for medicine.

But when they did that, it completely depleted it of all its nutrition. And so it's like the land is telling you, leave it alone. You know, it stays there.

And there's a reason why. And I feel like for us being able to share that with you guys and that drink and all of that stuff, it was because you're friends, you're our visitors, and we're happy to have you here and even show you guys like, if God forbid, you know, you're ever out there on your own, at least you know there's a sumac berry out here that can help me. And then there's also like wild tea, yucca blossoms, yucca bananas, juniper, juniper berries, there's so much going on.

So yeah, I think, yeah, that's all you have. So much, so much there for, for all of you guys to just look at and explore. And even just if you have to, there's ways to survive.

[Ranger Dawn]

Yeah, I love that ending statement. That was great. Yeah, just like, walking with reverence on the land and with reciprocity too. I guess, well, I don't know. Yeah.

So I guess, how can people strengthen their relationship to the land?

[Shalitha]

That's a good question. Hmm. Well, it all depends on the individual. I feel like it depends on how connected do they want to feel grounded.

And also, where is your connection to the land? Where do you come from? So for me, as a White Mountain Apache, I identify myself from a certain landscape on our reservation.

And so for some of you guys, I identify myself as a [Apache Tribe Name] and on the reservation. So that's Apache language. And it translates to the two hills that cut.

And on the reservation, that's actually an area called Diamond Creek. And that's where Ciara and I identify ourselves, or know our connection to the land. And when you know the connection to the land, you know where you're from.

It grounds you. So for us, for me, if you wanted to get connected to the land, get to know yourself. Because at the end of the day, I feel like a lot of people don't do that or take the time to.

Even at the moment, this view, you know, like, look at this view, I would have never thought to see it. So at the end of the day, get to know yourself, connect yourself, know where you come from. So you can have that feeling, that sense of groundedness to the connection to the land.

[Ciara]

And I feel like for me, being able to really reconnect is just helping out, you know, doing your part when it comes to recycling. I cannot stress this enough, composting, you know, a lot of that waste and that trash, it's very detrimental to our environment. And as farmers, we know this.

Every year, we see the berries going further and further in their lifespan, getting shorter and shorter. And we can see these changes and even just preserving water, learning about groundwater and where it comes from. And I feel like for one, being self-sufficient.

If you're able to rely on yourself and grow your own food, I can honestly say like growing your own food, eating your own produce, that is the reward. It's such a reward, but it's hard work. And I feel like that's a lot of things people take for granted.

We all eat, but do you know who or where your food came from? You know, like not, and I don't mean the store, you know, like we all know you went to the store, but like how many miles did it take for your food to get there when you could just like, let's go walk right there and go get that, you know? And that is just saying like all of those different organisms that live inside that one little plant that's right there, those are healthier than anything you can buy at the store.

And I feel like even just trying to learn how to revive your soil and even reintroduce nutrients in the soil, anywhere you go, you know, that's, it's always a little help, a little push in the right direction can get you there. Even if you, you need resources, you know, we, the farm has great ones on the website. We can even, I'm pretty sure the park has a bunch of stuff that we can look to.

I see that they're recycling and that's just, it really, it brings joy to my heart because like we said, we would be nothing without the land. You know, we literally wouldn't have no clothes, no shelter, no food to eat if it wasn't for this land. And look at how we're treating it.

Look at what we eat. Why do we need all these preservatives? Why do we need this fake meat?

You know, we have healthy stuff. Food is medicine. And when we think about what we put in our bodies, we should think about the stuff that's growing around us.

That doesn't really hurt society in a way that alfalfa and cotton has because can we eat that? Why are we growing so much of it? You know, it's just thinking of it that way.

[Ranger Dawn]

Yeah. Thank you so much for sharing. I also want to open it up to questions if anyone has any too.

He asked, what are their favorite foods to harvest?

[Shalitha]

Yeah, for me, I feel like one of the ones that always takes me home is always the sumac berries. I remember when I was a little kid, like seven, eight, I would run around in my backyard and just grab it off the bush or the shrub and just eat it like it was candy. So for me, I say sumac berries is one of my favorite ones.

I love it when we make it a drink. But for me, when sharing a drink with a visitor that's not from my area, it's a way of welcoming you into our home or into our land or into our area. So for at that sense, for us, that's kind of what sharing a drink for us looks like, especially back in the day before we had transportation, we walk or ride horses.

For us, our people, our relatives would travel over the mountain or into the canyon just to go visit us. And so when they got to us, we would say, you've you traveled such a long distance over the mountain to come see me. Here's a drink, refresh yourself.

And this is also considered a seasonal drink. So sumac berries is one of the ones that I fairly enjoy. Another one is actually wild onions.

So in our area, we have seven different varieties. And I enjoy the ones that are pretty rare, but they're pretty sweet. They're considered a part of the potato family, but they are they are considered onion.

So so those are probably one of my two favorite, favorite ones to eat.

[Ciara]

I know this is gonna sound funny, but I like nuts. So if you can see, yeah, if you can see this, this tree, this is a pinyon tree or that one. That's a pinyon tree.

And you can pick those pinyons in November. And they're so good. They're addictive.

You can't just get one bag and say you're going to eat a couple. No, you'll eat the whole thing. So and then where we come from, specifically, we have the emery oak tree and it grows golden acorn, which we harvest like right before monsoon season and we grind it up.

Yeah, we we call it Apache gold. And it's got a bitter taste to it. You know, it's an acquired taste.

But oh, my gosh, I can eat that by the handful. You know, it's just and then there's so many where we come from. We even have black walnuts.

We harvested them one year and we all look like demons with black fingers for like two weeks. Yeah, it was.

[Ranger Dawn]

Yeah.

[Ciara]

And so it's also used as a dye. And so there's so many different plants out there and nuts that we can eat that have just been around since time immemorial. You know, and our ancestors just needed a little bit of them to get by.

So we're excited to even just have them and the ability to harvest them. And and we want to there's really, if anything, acknowledge our elders and our ancestors, because if they didn't fight hard to keep these food ways for even just us to be able to listen to them and still learn about them like that's that that was hard, you know, for them. And even just going back to what they came through and and even for them to teach us and for my generation, for me personally, I don't speak my language, but I'm trying to learn.

I'm trying to learn as much as I can through translation. I'm always asking, "what'd they say?" "What they say?" You know, and that's my barrier. My parents thought, oh, don't don't teach her Apache, because if she knows English, she'll be able to get a good education. She'll be able to get farther in life and better work skills.

But here I am like now I'm trying to learn Apache so I could be a tribal chairwoman. You know, but it just it's just things like that, that we that's why we call ourselves women of change. And that's why we like to do what we do today.

[Shalitha]

And so the main reason why we really talk about the things that we're really experts in in our community is because it introduces the whole concept of food sovereignty. And what does that look like in your communities?

And so for those of you guys who do not know what food sovereignty is or or sovereignty, sovereignty is okay. Oh, okay. So, so food sovereignty, basically, basically means to be able to feed yourself and not rely on outside resources to feed yourself.

And so for me, when we talk about this to you guys is to introduce that concept. And what does that look like in your community? How like from so when I did the farmers market coordinating, I had to research and figure out why I was doing certain calls, why I wanted to do certain things.

And one of the main thing was to educate people about food sovereignty, being able to feed themselves, being able to support travel owned businesses, and and leave the money on the reservation so it doesn't go off the reservation. So that's what we really want to introduce when we're talking about a lot of things that we do within our communities is just to let you guys know, like, hey, this is what food sovereignty looks like. And it doesn't matter where you come from, in the world that looks different in wherever you come from.

So definitely think about that concept when we talk about these things is what is food sovereignty? And what does that look like in your community? In 2016, we didn't have a White Mountain Apache co op.

Now we do we have six members. This is our first year in it. We're hoping to go another year but add members as we go and support farmers that are on the reservation who need that help.

And so it's a slow change. It may be something that we might see when we're elders, or see some of our children, children might see that change. But knowing that I was a part of that to create that for them.

is definitely still going to be a win regardless of I'm here or not. But I know that my work carried on.

[Ciara]

So and like we were told before, by the teachers who taught us, we're not trying to teach you this because we want you to stay at our level. We're trying to teach you this so you can run past us and, and show me how to get there, you know, or even just help us work out run with me, you know, let's run together. And let's let's learn.

Let's trailblaze through this, this resilient society called food sovereignty and learn how to do that for ourselves.

[Ranger Jonah]

Grand Canyon speaks is a program hosted by Grand Canyon National Park and the Grand Canyon Conservancy. A special thanks to Aaron White for the theme music. This recording reflects the personal lived experiences of tribal members and do not encompass the views of their tribal nation or that of the National Park.

To learn more about Grand Canyon first voices visit www.nps.gov/GRCA. Here at Grand Canyon National Park, we're on the ancestral homelands of the 11 associated tribes of the Grand Canyon. These being the Havasupai tribe, the Hualapai tribe, the Navajo Nation, the Hopi tribe, the Pueblo of Zuni, the Yavapai Apache Nation, the Kaibab band of Paiute Indians, the Las Vegas Paiute tribe, the Moapa band of Paiutes, the Paiute Indian tribe of Utah, and the San Juan Southern Paiute tribe.

In this episode, Ciara and Shalitha sit down with Ranger Dawn to explore their inspiring journey of connecting indigenous communities to food sovereignty. Together, they share insights into how this work has deepened their understanding of stewardship, culture, and what it means to be "elders in training."

Episode 3

Zuni Royalty Speaks

Transcript

Keia Gasper: It just makes me happy seeing the younger generation get involved with culture and religious activities and wanting to know about who they are and where they come from and it's just very important for our culture.

Lakin: Welcome back everyone, my name is Lakin and I'm an intern at the Grand Canyon National Park.

Ranger Melissa: And this is Ranger Melissa.

Lakin: It's always inspiring to see youth from the Zuni Pueblo, where I'm from, grow into leaders and take action for our community. Ranger Melissa: Yeah, what's cool is this episode is with Zuni royalty who served in 2023 and 2024.

Lakin: So both Keia Gasper and Jaynie Lalio walked us through their experiences and how they become role models for the Zuni people.

Ranger Melissa: Yeah, it's really inspiring to hear from them and hear about, you know, what are their aspirations, how they're connected to the Zuni history and culture, as well as maybe even learning some cool delicious recipes.

Lakin: Yeah, so sit back, relax, and without further ado, here is Keia and Jaynie.

Keia Gasper: Keshi, ko' don sunhapk'yanapkya. Ho' Keia Gasper le'shinna. Hom annodi:we Ana:kwe deyan Yaddokya:kwe a:wan cha'le. Ho' asdemłan ha'ilekk'ya yałdo debikwayik'ya. Hom a:łashinna a:chi Ronda Johnson dap Antonio Gasper le'shinna. Lukkya debikwayinan ho' 2023-2024 Miss Zuni. .

Keia Gasper: Hi, good afternoon, my name is Keia Gasper. My parents' names are Ronda Johnson and Antonio Gasper. I am 18 years old. My clients are Tobacco and Child of the Sun, and this year I am the 2023-2024 Miss Zuni.

Jaynie Lalio: Keshi, ko' don sunhapk'yanapkya. Ho' Jaynie Lalio le'shinna. Ho' asdemłan dobalekk'ya yałdo debikwayik'ya. Hom annodi: Donashi:kwe deyan Dowa:kwe a:wan cha'le. Hom a:łashinna a:chi Erica dap Jason Lalio Jr. Lukkya debikwayinan, ho' don a:wan 2023-2024 Junior Miss Zuni. .

Jaynie Lalio: Hello, good evening, everyone. My name is Jaynie Lalio. I am 16 years old. My clients are Badger and Child of the Corn. My parents are Erica and Jason Lalio Jr. I am the 2023-2024 Junior Miss Zuni.

Ranger Kelli: Thank you, thank you. A lot of times people who come from all over the world here at Grand Canyon, they want to know, like, where's Zuni? So, like, can you explain to our audience, like, where is Zuni? . Keia Gasper: Well, Zuni is a small Pueblo, three miles out, and wait, oh my gosh, three hours out, and we come from the Grand Canyon, and we had to find the middle place, and so we went to our people, our elders, went down to find the middle place, which is Zuni.

Ranger Kelli: Yeah, and it's interesting because, you know, I think, like, we have these 11 tribes coming in from all different locations here at Grand Canyon, and then Grand Canyon is now a national park, and it just kind of created this, like, borderline for tribal communities in a way that people are always, like, amazed, like, how far Zuni is, and then they're like, how does this, how far Zuni is, and then they're like, how does it connect to the Grand Canyon, right, and I think this is important to kind of, like, talk about because, like, what you just said, it's a place of kind of, like, an emergence, right, and then as well, it's just, like, a very sacred connection, but also for Native communities, we kind of, like, it's just not, like, okay, Zuni is here, and then the canyon's here, and then that's it, like, we are connected in a whole, we connect this whole region, and it's just not the canyon and then Zuni, but also the water, you know, and I understand that with Zuni, the Colorado River and the Little Colorado River, that is a connection as well to Zuni, but I just want to let you all know, like, how, where Zuni is at, and if you all, like, have questions, we can definitely ask at the end, but my other question is, like, what is Zuni royalty? What does that mean? Do you all want to answer that?

Jaynie Lalio: So Zuni royalty, it's from an organization where they wanted someone to be able to represent the Zuni people and the community, so it's giving us a chance to represent on a different type of level, you could say.

Ranger Kelli: Do you want to answer that?

Keia Gasper: Yeah, it's, like, you're putting yourself out there, and you're getting to want your people to be known, and where you come from, and it's just very important for our culture, because we want to keep our, what we have, keep it going, and we don't want to lose it, because we see other tribes, like, they're beginning to lose what they have, and we're going strong with what we have, and it just makes me happy seeing the younger generation get involved with culture and religious activities, and just getting involved, wanting to know about who they are and where they come from, and it's just, Zuni is a beautiful, beautiful place. I'm proud to be Zuni, and it makes me happy. .

Ranger Kelli: Yeah, and, you know, what you both just said really speaks to, you know, I think that's important for people to hear, is that you are ambassadors in your community, but not just ambassadors for your community, but also for the next generation, right, and then you are leading a role not only for the younger generation in your community, but also keeping that culture going, and as a young woman, I see that you are dressed in your traditional attire, and is that something that you, when you're wearing the crown and representing your community, is that how you kind of, like, represent yourself when you go out into other communities and wearing that attire, and if you want to explain, like, your dress and the significance of that, you're more than welcome to, if you want to.

Keia Gasper: Oh yeah, our ancestors, they dressed like this back then, and we're just carrying on their tradition and making it known, like, where we come, like, what we have is something different than anybody else. I don't know, I've never seen anybody dressed like this or or have what we have, so it makes me happy knowing that we have a unique culture and with everything we have.

Ranger Kelli: I think I find it, like, really amazing today, so our royalty, for y'all who weren't here at the park earlier today, they're actually, we have four royalties here until Saturday, and they're doing demonstration from nine to four at the Watchtower, and so our two members here are, have been here all day at the tower talking about the role, but also talking about the generational knowledge of their community, and a lot of people have been, like, asking the young girls, like, are you selling your jewelry? Are you selling these different attires? But really, they're just wanting to dress how, like you said, your ancestors have been dressing, and I think that's beautiful to know that we're walking in our ancestors' shoes, basically, and we're, they're behind us, you know, and they're behind you right now, and you're wearing that crown, and just kind of representing that and carrying that knowledge, so I think that's really beautiful to express that to the public, and because, like, you're a royalty now, I want to know, like, how did you become, like, Miss Zuni or Junior Miss Zuni? So what are, what are some of the things that you had to do for competition to become royalty?

Jaynie Lalio: So we had a pageant-based, like, competition. We were judged off of a traditional talent, traditional food, public speaking, close interviews, and then there was also a best essay and most photogenic awards. .

Ranger Kelli: Was that all done in one day? .

Jaynie Lalio: Two days, yeah.

Keia Gasper: Yeah, like a week. We were all put together, and all the contestants and everybody, we just got to know each other, and we did the pageant and everything, but this year we ran against ourselves, so we had no contestants for our age, so we got the title, but we still had to go through the whole pageant and everything, and with going back to the getting your crown and the sash, it's, you get, you get, they make a crown for you, especially, because every crown gets made for every year, so there's always different crowns that come in and sashes and everything like that, so what you get during your reign or in the beginning of the reign, your crown and your sash is yours to keep, like, for life, so going, so if you, like, look back or go forward in the future, you can look back and see what you've done.

Ranger Kelli: That's really cool to keep the crown.

Jaynie Lalio: And can I add that the crown is also basically alive. It's your sister. We call it our sister because it chooses you. Yeah, it just, .

Keia Gasper: whatever, like, whatever you're feeling, your crown can feel it, and, like, if you're tired and she's tired, she'll make you more tired. It's, it's crazy. It's just, yeah, like, you can't, like, feel her. You can't know when she's talking to you and stuff, and you just gotta, when you put her on, you just gotta tell her, like, come on, let's go. We got this, and she'll motivate you into doing better for yourself for that day and just keeping it going, you know.

Ranger Kelli: I think that's amazing. Also, what inspired you both to compete? You know, I know, like, right now, you said that you, you already were competing for the crown and without any other competition, but what inspired you from the beginning before wearing the crown, any crown? What made you want to compete to become a royalty?

Jaynie Lalio: For me, what inspired me was I had the role of Zuni Princess before, and I thought that if, that was when I was young. I didn't know what to expect, so going into this year, I was influenced by the people around me saying, you should run another year. You can learn more, so that's what I decided to do, and I never thought that I would have ran by myself, so it was kind of unexpected, but it's been a pretty great experience. I'm glad for those people that inspired me, just, like, friends, family, so yeah.

Keia Gasper: Sorry, can we go back to the question?

Ranger Kelli: Yeah, and I just asked, like, you know, before you became royalty, what inspired you to want to compete and wanting to become a royalty or a title holder?

Keia Gasper: Okay, well, first of all, I, this is, this is not me, like, I, how would I put this into words? I didn't see myself in this position because I didn't think I was strong enough or I was good enough to be a good influencer for my people, and I just thought, I was like, people kept coming to me, and I kept hiding, and they kept coming to my house asking me if I'm running or if I'm gonna run for the position, and I was like, uh, I don't know, and then they pushed me into running for it, and I, I finally said, okay, I'm gonna do it, and I was, I was so nervous because I thought I was gonna have other people, um, like, running for the position, and I was like, I'm not gonna get it, I'm not gonna get it, and then here, once the deadline for the applications were over, and then here, uh, we looked on the royalty page, I looked on the royalty page, and then, actually, we were at volleyball practice, and then we looked at the volleyball page, and it was just only both of our names on it, and they were like, oh, my gosh, what did, what did we get ourselves into, but overall, it's been a great experience. It's, um, it makes me happy going places, seeing, seeing new people, and make good connections, and meeting new Crown sisters, or sash sisters, like, from other places, uh, like, Miss NTU, I'm really close with her, and Miss Indian New Mexico, I'm really close with those two, so I grew attached to them, and they're, like, my big sisters, they watch over me, and yeah, and just, and going back, going back, like, um, in 2009, I was also Crown baby princess, and I was a little baby, little baby, so I didn't know, and then here, look, look at me, I'm Miss Zuni, that's crazy.

Jaynie Lalio: Also, hold on, sorry, excuse me, no, go, funny part, we ran against each other, what's the title, princess?

Keia Gasper: Oh, yeah, then I lost that round, too, sorry, I bet,

Ranger Kelli: but you're both crazy, and then you said, too, like, you enjoy, um, traveling all over the place, you know, meeting new people, is this your first time coming to Grand Canyon?

Keia Gasper: Uh, yes, this is my first time coming to Grand Canyon. When I was leaving Zuni, like, it just, I was so nervous coming here, because knowing that our ancestors are here, and they're watching over us, and just makes me happy knowing that finally get to, like, feel their presence, knowing that they made it safe, safely there, and, oh, wait, sorry, overall, overall, this is a beautiful place, like, I'm so glad, like, our Zuni people came, like, out of this Grand Canyon, like, this is, that thing back there looks like a picture, like, it looks so unreal, but it makes me happy knowing that we have something like this within our history.

Jaynie Lalio: Yeah, this is also my first time coming here, I would say, it's been a wonderful day, just being able to go up to the watchtower, seeing the top, we were standing there, taking a picture, and I just looked and said, this doesn't look real, it looks like a green screen, it's, the beauty here, it's, it's something else, nothing can compare to it, honestly, being able to reconnect with nature on a different, different type of level feels like, like, getting, getting that clarity, to me, that's what it felt like, like, it just, whatever you see, the stresses, it's all gone.

Ranger Kelli: Yeah, and this is amazing to hear, also, like, heartfelt, as well, what you both said, because part of this program, and this Grand Canyon Speaks, a lot of our tribal members haven't come and visit Grand Canyon, even though it's an ancestral home from our 11 associated tribes, and I, being as a native ranger here, and hearing you both speak here, or even seeing your family here, and seeing the younger ones just enjoying the canyon, and this is their first time, as well, and I think that's important, that your voice is being heard here, you know, it's, your canyon hears you, and it feels you, your presence is here, is really amazing, and the whole program of this is to have your voices heard back in the space again, and when it became a national park, a lot of the native communities were forcibly removed out of this place that is home, and I think that's a very important thing to talk about.

Ranger Kelli: I know it's hard to hear, even being, as a native person, but it's now time for healing. It's also time to show your representation out here, and seeing your beautiful regalia, hearing the beautiful songs out here, it's really inspiring. Also, for the next community member who is a young adult, is gonna be inspired to want to sing here too, and to dance here as well, and set their foot here, and they want to come back again next year.

Ranger Kelli: I hope you all come back again next year, and then now your royalty, like, what are your future goals now? Like, you know, do you want to do another pageant, or, you know, school? I know you're all young, but goals are important.

Jaynie Lalio: So some of the goals I will have is to go to college. I'm currently choosing between having options open for schools here in Arizona, because Arizona is just so pretty, and I want to be close to home, so, and after that, I'm planning to go somewhere in the medical field. Still looking at my options, but today, some people were saying my goal should be to run for Miss Zuni again, but we'll see what's in store. We'll see, but I think this role is going to help my goals, because it's made me more open, I would say. It's, I'm able to communicate on an easier level than I used to.

Jaynie Lalio: It brought me out of my shell, so whatever I'm planning to go into, I know it'll help with, help with what I'm planning. .

Keia Gasper: And with me, my future goals, I have so much. So once my last month of high school came, I was like, what am I gonna do? And so I applied to colleges. I was like, I'm gonna go to college. I'm gonna go become a nurse, and then here, I, since I can't leave like Zuni, and I need to finish out my reign, I was like, nah, I want to join the army. I want to join the army, so that's what I'm gonna do.

Keia Gasper: I'm joining the army, and I'm gonna try and become a dog handler, so I work with the canines, so that's what I want to do, because I have a passion for dogs. And recently, my family, they didn't even tell me, I had a dog for like three years, and they called the rangers on my dog, and they took him, they took her, but yeah, her name was Koda, Koda Mae, and she was a cute little rez dog, yeah. But yeah, after the army, I'm gonna try, if I like it there, then I'm gonna do what I can to get my dream house and my dream car, like a western type of house, and I know this sounds so crazy, but I want to Porsche GTRS, so that's my big plan. Gotta save up a lot of money. .

Ranger Kelli: Love it. I love all of it. I love both of your goals. I think when, I'm just speaking from my personal young adult days, like I didn't really have a plan, so I think that it's just inspiring to hear you both, as young as you are, to know what you want, to know what your goals are in the future, and I think that, I think it's important for the kids to hear that, you know, to see a royalty, to speak about their goals, so they can kind of look at, okay, this is what they're doing, maybe I might do that too. I think it's really cool, and I have one more question, you know, I think that if you want to, well actually I have two more questions, but will you all, wanting to do an example of like, I know going back to the competition, when you all do competitions, like do you want to do an example of like an example of a competition, like through a talent that you are, you know, to our audience here, either through traditional talent or through a modern talent, is that all right with both of you to do something like that? .

Keia & Jaynie: Yes.

Ranger Kelli: Okay, so I'm not too sure who wants to go first. .

Keia Gasper: So during my talent, I, for traditional, I did pottery, and I still continue to do pottery. I love doing it because it just takes me away out of reality, and makes me live in a different world, like it's just crazy, like your mind is full set on something you want to create, and I make, I know I make like cool, fancy, or not fancy, but like good enough artwork to present to other people, and it's just, I've been working on pottery for about four years now, and it's just been carrying out since high school, and my uncle, Kevin Johnson, inspired me into wanting to try and see what I can do, what my mind can do with art and pottery, so, and this, I finished this seed bowl this morning, and it's just a representation of like asking for blessings for rain, and food, and water, and just for your plants to grow, and it's just, you're not also like asking for blessings for just that, it's just asking for blessings for the whole community, everybody, and just wanting to make it rain, like we need the rain, it's hot out here, like, but yeah, that's what I did, and I'll pass around an example, and yeah.

Jaynie Lalio: Okay, and for me, I'm gonna stand up for this. This was one of my, what I was presenting today as well, in the top right corner, I, right here, I made a pozole stew called chuleya:we. I was taught by my grandmother, my Wowo, so I thought, being at the recent pageants, I saw that no one really made this type of stew, so I thought, let me give it a try, maybe I can, so it's like a, like a week-long, took me a week-long process, kinda, so first, we had to, like, chop up, or cut the meat, saw it, so I could be able to cut it into pieces, and here, I'm cutting, cutting, putting water into it with corn, so it's able to get that flavor, which we also added salt, I'll get back to that, but here, we, this is the oven that we, I made the fire out of, with wood, in our outside oven, it's called, Hebok'o:we, and then, we close it off with mud, seal it overnight, and then, it should be ready in the morning, which I opened right the morning of our pageant, I was getting ready, walked outside, had my dad open it for me, and just that smell of it was so, so, I don't know, made me hungry, and I didn't eat it yet, so that's the first thing I wanted, but I couldn't, had to serve it to my judges, and it's kinda what I made, and it's also an important stew, which is, which we usually eat on every traditional occasion, and it's also just like, oh, I'm craving some chuleya:we, let's make some, that's basically the type of food it is.

Oh my gosh, I'm getting so hungry now. I love talking about food, by the way. I'll bring you a bowl next time.

Ranger Kelli: Oh my gosh, I love food, and I think that's really cool, because like, it's different talents, you know, you're doing pottery making, and then you're doing food, traditional foods, you know, that is eaten in your, in the home, and how that connects back into your ancestors as well, and then if we, right now, we're at 7:22, which is just very close to sunset, and for the audience, we can kind of look at this board a little bit closer after we're done, but this is my last question for the evening, is what do you want all of us to take away with what we just kind of talked about this evening? What is something you want our audience members to take away back to their home, or coming out to visit Grand Canyon from what we just talked about?

Keia Gasper: Well, like, we're all human beings, and we should, we should all love each other, love everybody, and because nobody has, like, a perfect life, so I just want everyone to go home happy, feeling happy, and knowing that ancestors are proud of who they are, and that you're strong, and just keep going, don't stop, do you, and live your life, live your life to the fullest, like, you got this, and yeah. .

Jaynie Lalio: I just want people to be able to embrace where they come from. Every, every story matters. It's important to love who you are, and just be confident with what, with who you are, because there's no one like you. You're unique, special, every person is different, just, just love yourself is basically what I want people to do from this experience, embrace.

Keia Gasper: One more thing is to make a challenge for yourself, try something new, go out, try something new, find what you see that you may not see yourself doing, like, like me right now, this is crazy, I'm so happy though, but yeah, just try it, because it'll take you bigger and happier places, just like this.

Ranger Kelli: I just want to send my gratitude to both of you, to explaining, and expressing, and then showing a lot of what your title holder means, but also, like, you, what you both expressed to me is just really amazing to know that you're very proud of your culture, you want to keep that going, and keep it going for the next generation. Thank you all for coming this evening, and enjoy sunset.

Ranger Jonah: Grand Canyon Speaks is a program hosted by Grand Canyon National Park and the Grand Canyon Conservancy. A special thanks to Aaron White for the theme music. This recording reflects the personal, lived experiences of tribal members and do not encompass the views of their tribal nation. or that of the National Park.

Ranger Jonah: To learn more about Grand Canyon First Voices, visit www.nps.gov/grca . Here at Grand Canyon National Park, we are on the ancestral homelands of the 11 associated tribes of the Grand Canyon. These being the Havasupai tribe, the Hualapai tribe, the Navajo Nation, the Hopi tribe, the Pueblo of Zuni, the Yavapai Apache Nation, the Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians, the Las Vegas Paiute tribe, the Moapa Band of Paiutes, the Paiute Indian tribe of Utah, and the San Juan Southern Paiute tribe.

In this episode, 2023-2024 Zuni Royalty, Keia Gasper and Jaynie Lalio, walk us through their experience as representatives of the Zuni community and how it has shaped their character. They also shared some of their aspirations, traditional practices and beliefs that empower their connections with Zuni culture and the Grand Canyon.

Episode 4

Skylar Blackbull Speaks - Veteran's Day Special

Transcript

Skylar Blackbull: So it's really neat to see kind of the breakdown of this code because I think when a lot of times we hear about this history you don't actually get to see what the code looked like and I wanted to use this project to kind of give a chance for people to not only know more about the history but also see the code and see what how it worked and how it operated.

Meranden: Welcome or welcome back to Grand Canyon Speaks. This is Meranden

Lakin: And this is Lakin and we're both interns at Desert View.

Meranden: In this episode we talked with Skylar Blackbull who is a Diné artist. We invited her out for an in-person conversation but as we head into winter here the snow decided to come and she wasn't able to make it.

Lakin: But we didn't let that stop us though, so thankfully we were able to meet with her virtually.

Meranden: And as this is our Veterans Day special episode she was able to talk with us about her amazing piece called Unbreakable Code that highlights the Navajo Code Talkers.

Lakin: Yeah it was really interesting to learn more about the different components of this artwork along with getting to know more about her creative journey.

Meranden: Also it was really cool hearing about an opportunity she had to collaborate with someone she looks up to.

Lakin: So we hope you enjoy this episode and here is Skylar Blackbull.

Skylar: My name is Skylar Blackbull. I am from the Hosta Butte area in New Mexico currently in Colorado but no I've been you know doing art outside of college for about about two a year and a half almost two years and I've been on my artist journey since goodness since I can remember and I'm just thrilled to be able to be part of this podcast be able to share you know my journey as an artist and the way that I use the way my experiences growing up to influence my work.

Lakin: Have you been to the Grand Canyon?

Skylar: I have a very long time ago. I was just a young girl. My parents had taken my sister and I twice and we both did not actually walk down the canyon. We were strapped onto a backpack and our dad walked us down the canyon. But the two times that I have gone it I have very fond memories of being out there and just how beautiful the scenery is.

Meranden: Nice yeah I think that's something I noticed with these speaks is that usually when we bring them out or it's a cultural demonstration it's usually their first time coming or it's something they haven't been here in a long time. We can go ahead and go to the second question. When did you first start your artistic journey?

Skylar: Sure to be honest I always had a love for art and creativity growing up. My dad being a very gifted illustrator himself and just being around that and him you know doodling for my sister and I on napkins and things of that sort.

I've always had such a connection with creativity including drawing on our walls at home which was probably not the best thing ever. But no like art was such a big stress reliever for me growing up. I loved being part of art classes all through elementary school, middle school, you know high school.

I really didn't you know find my passion or my niche until about when I went to college in my undergrad. I initially started off with a degree in science. I was planning on going in biology and then eventually I switched to kinesiology and then I was like ooh nutrition sounds great.

And then I throughout those first two years of college I had been taking a lot of art classes as a way to just kind of have a breather from all of the other college classes and ended up having so much fun with these classes and enjoying them so much that my professors even convinced me to you know switch my major over to the art department. And the end of my sophomore year beginning of junior year I completely switched gears and went full towards a degree in graphic design and studio art and never looked back.

Meranden: It's really interesting seeing how much the classes and like those experiences and like professors play a big role in what we want to do. So yeah that's really cool.

Lakin: Yeah it's also good to hear that you follow your intuition and that you weren't afraid in that action. So it's always good to hear when people do that whether it's creatively or just when it comes to following a path that's oriented towards a set of value goals.

Skylar: Yeah absolutely and I agree a lot of times when you go into college you kind of go in with these big expectations of I need to go with a science degree or like a very you know a big degree. And you know just have like you said the professors really are big influences in your time at those universities and just hearing their own experiences and their own encouragement of just saying hey you know any possible career or life that you want is very possible. It's just figuring out what works for you and what drives you.

Because the last thing you want to do is go into a field for you know a career and not feel fulfilled in it and feel that you didn't take the road that you should have taken. And not that saying that you can't restart at any age but it's always it's a blessing to know that I was able to figure it out within my undergraduate degree.

Lakin: Since you started creating what medium or media have you explored with?

Skylar: I started off with just your basic pen, paper, pencils, charcoals. At the beginning of my art journey I used to be really against color. I hated anything with color partly because I didn't quite understand it either. It was really intimidating but in having different art teachers and professors they were able to kind of you know break those walls of just the intimidation of certain mediums.

And I took a lot of classes in college to kind of learn you know different styles of art. So I had to I now have kind of expanded my artistry with not only traditional illustration but I'm also an oil painter, acrylic painter. I took a print making class in college and now I started implementing that in my own work.

So I do linoleum prints. I also taught myself how to bead about two years about three years ago I'd say. Yeah those have been my my main sources of work as well as of course my digital work as well.

Meranden: When we first met you I really liked your bags and I was like really excited for you to come out here because I was like I'm gonna buy it finally. But yeah like I like your bags and then the stickers it's just like it brings like a really homey vibe of like being back home on the rez. The spam can, the cheii, like all those things.

I really like those kind of little reminders that make you feel like back at home. So those are my favorite that I really enjoyed seeing. And then I have seen like your beadwork and things like that on like socials.

So it's really cool to see how you've diversified yourself over time.

Lakin: And I also feel like when you do approach those I guess a new skill set, you go into it knowing that you'll have some mistakes and failures in that initial learning process. But once you get over that learning curve it becomes I would say like therapeutic in a way.

Skylar: Absolutely, absolutely. I always you know in taking all of those classes or you know the self-teaching component, I feel like those challenges are what pushes me like no I'm gonna figure this out. I want to figure this out.

This is something I've always wanted you know. And it also is really neat because the more that I have expanded the mediums that I work with, the more that I'm realizing a lot of them kind of bleed into each other. That you don't have to just use certain skills from one type of artistry.

You can use it for multiple. Like I have recently just started blending my beadwork and paintings. Like I feel like there's a way that you can merge different styles of artwork together to kind of create your own unique style but also improve upon many different you know parts of your your art.

Lakin: And I feel like that's a special characteristic of being an innovator or a visionary. So yeah.

Meranden: Yesterday was Veterans Day.

This is our Veterans Day special episode. We are very interested in highlighting your art as it revolves around the Navajo Code Talkers. Would you be able to explain a little bit of who they are and what your artwork entails?

Skylar: Yeah absolutely. So you know my initial interest in this project that I created really did stem from not only by having family who had served in the military. My husband is currently on active duty in the army now. But also just you know I feel like this is such an important part of history that's not as highlighted in your history courses within the education system.

And I didn't realize that until I left the rez. Until I was in college on the east coast. And I have always get questions like "Oh where are you from? What are you?" And I'm like I'm Navajo.

I'm from the Navajo Nation in New Mexico. And they're like "What is that?" And I'm like what do you mean what is that? And just those countless interactions of people just not even knowing who the Navajo people are was really that it was such a big eye-opener for me to know that like wow people don't have the privilege of learning that history. And being one of the few indigenous students on that campus and since I had switched my major to you know art I thought this would be a great opportunity to kind of utilize the skills into creating some sort of visual memorial but also a way for others to be a little more aware of the importance of this history.

So the project that I made was called the Unbreakable Code. And it brings recognition to the bravery and sacrifice of the Navajo Code Talkers during World War II. And the great thing is that the Code Talkers really did restore you know pride in our sacred language.

And this entire project honors 420 plus Code Talkers that I've served but highlights the 29 men who created the initial code. As with the history of that it's important to know that you know in the making of this code Navajo wasn't a written language. So it's really neat to see kind of the breakdown of this code because I think when a lot of times we hear about this history you don't actually get to see what the code looked like.

And I wanted to use this project to kind of give a chance for people to not only know more about the history but also see the code and see what how it worked and how it operated. So with one of the pieces here I can show you now. So this is Nelson S Thompson.

This is his name that covers the entirety of this panel. So what I had done was I used the original code dictionary from World War II and took the alphabet component and used the alphabet to spell out their name in code which was a really neat way because not only did using the alphabet I also got to learn more about the code itself which was really great. So this 29 panel installation it covers many different images as you can see in like different pieces here different images as well as different coding to honor different aspects of the Navajo people.

So for instance you have this one has arrowheads this one has the feathers and then there are two more that highlights corn as in representing corn pollen and then this one representing the tobacco leaf and that all together kind of hints at the ceremony that they do for soldiers before and after they go to war the enemy way ceremony and about how it protects them from harmful spirits before and after the war. It's a very subtle way of hinting that but it's a nice you know way to kind of see that they still maintain their their practices throughout this whole time. But yes in all of my colors as well also have meaning they all reflect back to the Navajo medicine wheel and of course the four sacred mountains.

So those are the colors in the incorporation of red symbolizes bloodshed during war. So there's a lot of hidden components in this project that I created but I also wanted to use those hidden components to represent their the Code Talkers inability to speak about what they have done during World War II till after 1969. But now with this project it was such an honor to present a visual memorial for the 400 plus men who have sacrificed so much and our people continue to sacrifice so much and creating this project it was a way for people just to see this type of history in a different way but also learn more about it as well.

Lakin: Yeah that's good too, I mean it's very interesting obviously not only good but it's very interesting when you see art and hear about artists who connect all these aspects of culture and just understanding the physical and the metaphysical world and like you connected the aspect of color and then also the landscape and just the history itself. That's regarding the Navajo Code Talkers and being able to express that in this one artwork. It's like a huge story in one intangible expression. So when it comes to understanding the landscape and how it informs your identity we'd like to know what does the Grand Canyon mean to you?

Skylar: Sure so you know in learning about our traditional stories with the Grand Canyon for instance you know the story of one of the last battles the twins have with your monster slayer has is at the Grand Canyon with the wandering rock monster and it's really interesting because when you think about that traditional story about how monster slayer is you know going to go fight this wandering rock monster because he's hoarding water and it's kind of reminiscent of the current battle today with the Navajo people in the Colorado River. But now I mean in terms of like that importance of the Grand Canyon is understanding the importance of that Colorado River for the Navajo people and another thing too is I wanted to mention as well is that growing up on the northeastern agency of the Navajo Nation you don't quite hear or understand the importance of that Colorado River for the Navajo people because it's not something that's talked about a lot on the rez just because it's mainly with the people on the western agency you know that have that who need that water and I think it's really important that it is a conversation amongst the entire nation because you know we didn't really hear about it too much especially with you know growing up where I was and I'm really thankful and happy now that I have now become more aware of the importance of that Colorado River and the water for our people but no I mean in terms of it's really interesting just to kind of think about oral traditional stories kind of you know foreshadowing or something just kind of recircling back around how it still circles around this water issue and it's really interesting.

Meranden: And I just want to backtrack on your artwork on the whole Navajo Code Talkers it's like makes me speechless to see it not a lot of people know about that or like you said there's people who don't know that we exist or they don't know about the Code Talkers we have this knowledge and being able to learn these different things so that we can spread that to other people so that they know that we're here we're still doing things and our tribes are still here so your pieces have a lot of impact on me just seeing like seeing that being able to hear the stories on it it's really cool.

Skylar: Wonderful I honestly that's the whole point of the work that I started making especially within these past few years that I want the work that I create to not only be visually fun to look at but also it it is conveying an important message and with the countless countless years that you know we've been wanting to have we want our voice to matter we want our voice to be heard and sometimes art can do art can be one of those voices that can shine through and just show a different way of looking at someone's way of life and someone's you know history and I think it's really important because we learn so much from one another within just artwork itself I mean the countless of art history classes I took the amount you just learn from paintings is insane and when you and when you are able to like incorporate that into your own work you kind of see like oh my goodness like I have this whole other way to use my to my work to speak to different audiences and that's I think with a lot of artists out there we all try and you know find that right audience to kind of convey a message that we were so passionate about

Meranden: Yeah exactly and speaking of like that impact it plays a huge influence on our work and what things we do and that kind of takes me to the next question of did you have a mentor who helped you along the way or you know someone who plays a huge role in your art making?

Skylar: Absolutely! Oh my goodness, my influences and mentors have have really allowed me to have so much on this journey. My mentors go all the way back to high school like one of my biggest ones who was Elmer Yazzie he was my art teacher and also my track coach in high school and he really instilled my love for art I absolutely loved his approach to our education it was very different compared to the it was very different because he really allowed his students to kind of lose themselves in their work he hardly ever put deadlines because he really wanted to give us a chance to kind of focus on a piece and understand what we're doing and connect with the work Yazzie taught with a lot of spirituality as well he always talked about like his emotions when he would work and it wasn't about the technical aspect of art and it was so interesting to kind of be part of that Yazzie was someone who with every student he pushed our artistic boundaries and encouraged so much innovation with our projects and not only he had some of the best stories to share in that class because he's been an artist for a very long time and he's traveled all over the world painting murals presenting his work and just hearing his stories was so encouraging to know that he's had a very fulfilling and successful life as an artist he was a a big big person for me especially in high school you know getting me to to understand the importance of art and um still love him today I always call him my adopted grandfather he's the best ever and another really big mentor for me is Lyndon Tsosie, the silversmith from Gallup, New Mexico he was a really big mentor for me and upon you know just entering in with this art industry when I was fresh out of college it was a whole new whole new life and a whole new path that I was very unfamiliar with and upon meeting Lyndon at a gallery opening which I was showing my Unbreakable Code project it sparked a conversation between us and I had explained my project to him and from there he wanted to collaborate with me on a piece and the piece that we collaborated on was also to honor the Navajo Code Talker it's a belt called "No Place Like Home" and it honors the 400+ Navajo Code Talkers so Lyndon had done all the silversmith on the concho silversmithing of the concho belt and I had created the paintings on the inside of the belt and it was really neat because not only did I get to see a different type of art because I don't know anything about silversmithing I don't know much, but he was just so transparent with his advice when it came to navigating the industry as an artist and he's he's so helpful and the fact that he has an entire foundation about empowering you know the future generations of artists and ensuring that these traditional skills of silversmithing or any type of artistry are passed to that those younger artists I think is incredible the fact that he puts all of that his efforts and you know his accomplishments as an artist back to the young folk and it's incredible and lastly you know I had two college professors that were just incredible and extremely patient I had Steven Pearson and Chloe Irla. Steven Pearson was part of the studio art department and Chloe Irla was part of the graphic design department and both of them were really big in terms of guiding me in understanding the different types of things you can do within our world Pearson was really great at helping me understand the technical ability with art and understanding like perspective and how to properly use your materials and how to take something from a three-dimensional world into a two-dimensional space so it was really nice to understand that technical aspect of art that I didn't really I didn't know um and then with Irla she opened my eyes to a whole new world of art since she was in the graphic design department I knew very little about graphic design upon taking her classes and she really you know just helped me expand my work so much further that's part of that is a huge reason as to why this Unbreakable Code you know was so successful was because she really did help guide me through understanding how to use all of these digital platforms to make this project successful but no each of each of those people have really have made such a big impact in my journey as an artist I have so much I have so much to thank for them because not only were they super patient super transparent with their advice it's just they made a huge impact on making me feel confident going into this career

Lakin: Yeah it's amazing to see how these figures and people have such a huge impact on not only your creative life but your just your life in general and I'm also looking forward to who you're able to I guess I would say be a mentor for in the future like whether you have students or just people who look up to you as a source of inspiration and I'm also glad that you brought up Lyndon because I did want to ask you about the belt I remember I had seen it recently and I was interested in wondering how that was created.

Skylar: Yeah, absolutely so it was actually the the Unbreakable Code project was one of the first ways that we kind of sparked up this conversation of the belt Lyndon had been wanting to do a Code Talker piece for I think about 10 years you know like he had this was something that he's been really wanting to do and when we met he he really loved the direction that I took my project and he was like we need to collaborate let's figure out a way where we can mesh these two these two ideas together he told me about you know the story of what he wanted to do with the silversmithing and the great the really cool thing was that on the actual concho belt each concho kind of had a series of different stamps and the stamps were telling like a whole story of you know the Code Talkers and World War II and like on the left side you see that the stamps are you have like the hogan on the bottom and you see all these arrowheads like kind of circling around the perimeter of the belt kind of shows how the spirit is protecting the soldiers and on the other side you have like the war side where you see like the fighter planes and everything and it's just a really neat way to convey a story through the stamp work and the one thing that I loved you know working with Lyndon was that he wanted to put so much meaning behind this belt and I loved how you know he was telling me how this belt is not meant to be worn type thing so the belt ended up being extremely heavy at the end of it with the amount of silver on it and the whole reason why he made it so heavy was another way to kind of convey that message of these men had to go home and not speak a single word about what they had done not even to their own siblings and it was the heaviness of you know of not being able to share any of that I can't imagine on anyone so he made the belt you know that heavy to kind of convey that message of like this is what they came home with and it was such a unique piece to be part of not only hearing like his story from the silversmithing but also incorporating you know the work that that I put into it as well I created these super tiny like two inch by one inch paintings that went on the back side of the belts and they also had hand-painted images and as well as the text but the text was English and Navajo so the Navajo text was highlighting the the message that was sent during the battle of Iwo Jima the send demolition team to Hill 362B so I had that written out in Navajo so that was part of the paintings that I created and the other part we're listing out the 29 men who created the initial code. So it was really neat to kind of have like two different types of art combined into one piece you very rarely see painting and silversmithing in one so it was so much fun I really enjoyed it and just hearing Lyndon's passion and my passion behind this just really blend itself for us to create such a unique and moving piece.

Lakin: I don't even know what to say, I'm just no but, I was really interested in how that piece was created.

Skylar: Yeah it was such an honor and it was funny because I had didn't realize but I had gone to school with a couple of his and his boys so that was also a funny thing I'm like yeah I went to school like two new kids but no, we've become really good friends, you know meeting at the gallery opening collaborating at a piece and we have very we realized we had a lot of similar mindsets in creating work that is different from what people see especially at different shows like Lyndon was really helpful with you know how to approach these shows such as the Autry, Heard Museum and the Indian Market and you know being part of those experiences you get to see the level of art it's just insane but to also go into that knowing that you can push artistic boundaries every single time and it's incredible to see what people take and make being but being part of this collaboration with Lyndon was super eye-opening but also just such an honor to be working with an artist such as himself

Lakin: Yeah and I'm really looking forward to seeing where your creative journey goes at this point and I'm sure many other people do as well. So since we're getting to the end of this we like to just recognize this month as being Native American Heritage Month and we would like to know what does Native American Heritage Month mean to you?

Skylar: Absolutely, I mean it's an exciting month, it's a national recognition for you know, our all Indigenous communities, people, and everything of that sorts. It's a time to provide recognition to celebrate, to bring acknowledgement to the challenges of many nations across the country I always say and I live by that the motto "Every day is a good day to be Indigenous". Yes, this month is extremely important and it's you know it's wonderful to know that we have this month to celebrate but I think every day should be a celebration of our past, our present, and our future and that every day should be an opportunity for us to step closer to having our voices heard and knowing that people that yes we we are here, we are resilient people, and we are continuing to fight for everything that we believe in and you know that month allows us that extra push that every day should be like that. So the motto is, "Every day is a good day to be Indigenous"! Meranden: Yes I like that, but we did just want to end with one more question. Is there anything that you would like to leave the audience with? Skylar: Oh good question, I mean to anyone out there that you know is any type of creativity out there I feel is important to share especially if it shares who you are as a person with your way of life regardless I think it's it's wonderful to see people's personal journey reflected in their work regardless of what that work is even including in the sciences just seeing your personal journey reflected in your work I think is so important to see and you know I think with you know this month, it it's a reminder that every day should be a day that we speak a little louder and have our challenges be acknowledged and celebrate who we are as a people because every day is a good day to be Indigenous! So yeah.

Meranden: Awesome!

Lakin: Yeah, that was it was great talking with you and learning more about who you are as a person not only as an artist and giving you a chance to elaborate on your artwork especially about the Navajo Code Talkers since we are celebrating Veterans Day and honoring the veterans you know we appreciate it very much

Skylar: Of course, and thank you so much it was such an honor to be part of this and if anyone who would like to see any more of my work you're welcome to visit my portfolio site all of my work is out there, the belt is on there, the Unbreakable Code is there, so please feel free to to visit, but no thank you so much it was such an honor to talk to y'all and appreciate everything.

To learn more about Grand Canyon First Voices visit www.nps.gov/grca. Here at Grand Canyon National Park we are on the ancestral homelands of the 11 associated tribes of the Grand Canyon these being the Havasupai tribe, the Hualapai tribe, the Navajo Nation, the Hopi tribe, the Pueblo Zuni, the Yavapai Apache Nation, the Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians, the Las Vegas Paiute Tribe, the Moapa Band of Paiutes, the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, and the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe.

In this episode, interns Meranden Numkena and Lakin Epaloose speak virtually with Diné artist Skylar Blackbull for the Veteran’s Day Special as she explains her artwork on the Navajo Code Talkers, collaborating with one of her role models, and the importance of the Grand Canyon to her tribe.

of 4

Contact Us

Episodes

Season 3

Transcript

Transcript

Transcript

Transcript

Transcript

Transcript

Season 2

Transcript

Transcript

Transcript

Transcript

Transcript

Tags