American Graduate; Native American Community Academy

We have wonderful speakers. We also have some seniors who will be in charge of reflection. So Beth Dewash and Rebecca are here, Chante Wash and Raphael. She's a bit of Chante Showning in March. She's Hwangu Oyanke. So what I just said is hello relatives. I shake your hand with a good heart. And my name is Red Heart Woman, which is my Lakota name. Chante Showning. And I said I come from the Sichuan Guoyate, which is my reservation in South Dakota, Rosebud. Good morning, Naka. So happy to see you on our seventh annual Naka Feast Day. I remember when it was in its second year going, and there was like 120 students. And now we're close to 300, I believe. And it's just so beautiful to see all of you. What is it that keeps kids engaged at Naka? One is the relationships that they have

with not only the other students in their class, but their teachers, and also the community as a whole. So I think the sense and element of community and relationship building is really strong. I think the second thing is our curriculum has some unique aspects to it. And far and foremost, one of the major tenants of the school is really focused on language and culture. And so students have access to a variety of different languages, like Navajo language, Lakota language, Spanish, Tiwa. And then also a Native American studies focus. So they're reading Native American literature, as well in the upper grades of the Indigenous Corps that focuses on Indigenous studies, both kind of like at a local level, but also a global level. I think I have some of our generations before I talked about the two worlds idea. It seems to be a notion that's throwing away more and more in that it creates a schizophrenic identity for Native Americans. And there's this internal switch that we have. So when we come to the mainstream, we turn off who we are as Native American stars.

We can out language, we stop talking about our culture and our traditions. When we went to New Zealand, they don't have a switch. And so going into their ceremonies and at the same time coming back to the city is being who they are no matter what's going on. When you were in junior high, did you kind of relate to other people? So I'm from his Latapublo kind of a thing. During middle school, like a lot of my identity wasn't as secure. And so it was hard for me to introduce myself as like an insulated public person, because many people didn't know what it meant to be a Slatapublo or even Native American. And at the time, I didn't have confidence in explaining who I was. I think that's something that Naka has given me. And Naka, I was afraid to be who I was. I was afraid to represent my tribe of Hamas and I was just me. Do you think he would have had that same self-confidence

and that same idea that, hey, I can lead? If he was going to a traditional school. He didn't. He didn't have that. I could see that he was very lonely. He was bored. His academics were doing well, but he was just missing something. And he told me, Grandma, I'll be able to practice what I love doing. And that's music. That's been traditional. But not only that is culture, but it gave him that really, really enjoyment of expressing himself for his talents that he's known for. And so that really opened up a lot of doors for him. The two students that we've talked to have said that they really felt challenged by Naka and that your teachers and your advisors aren't afraid to push you. What does that mean to you? Naka really set this standard to where we would be. We're already viewed as leaders. I think one thing about Naka is that we have

a real push towards finding our own passions and then contributing to the community with that passion. How do you think high school would have been different if you had just gone to a regular high school? At Naka, they really believe in each and every one of the students. They don't just say, okay, here's the student body president. They're a good leader. The rest of the kids. We don't know them, so we don't care. I guess I've really been taught to be a leader at Naka because they put you in all these roles. Public speaking, for example, was one of the very first things that we all had to do. It didn't matter if you were scared to death. To talk in front of people, they'd make you do it, just because they knew that was the first step. And been able to meet everybody in my class and everybody's families. And I guess the opportunity to have another family at my school. The school I went to before in Naka, it was a public school. So, they really didn't give too much interest on us

on where our backgrounds were from. Aha, we're going to get into some conjugations today. So, I'll pull a lot of pieces of paper and now we chasel. In class any language, I think one thing that really helps me is the fact that my teachers are really passionate about the language. And I know I feel comfortable with them, so I'm not afraid to try and mess up and learn from my own mistakes. How do we know where to put yourself in there? Where are the forms of self? And it's very good, the sense of pride. It's not just a language class. It's a whole cultural immersion class. You learn other things other than language. We learn the song. We learn part of the culture. Hampa, hecha. Aya po, hampa. Hampa. Hampa. Hampa. Hampa. Hampa, Hampa, Hampa, Hampa. A few of my friends, they took a tibu class and they're teaching me a little bit of that too. So like, I don't know how to speak like two words, but it's so pretty cool. When you were setting up the school, why did you feel like it was important

to bring that culture into the school? There's a lot of folks that really saw that absent from school. So if you think about the history of education and for Native American students, there's really like this intentional effort to take language and culture out of the community. And that has had some, not some really negative effects right over time and an educational setting. I can tell you like, personally, why I think it's important, but I can also tell you collectively like just when we were asking the questions about like, you know, what's worked well in education for your son or daughter or what would you like to see an ideal school? Folks really drove into the idea of identity development and also feeling connected to a school. As we talked to parents and students, they either felt like that was, most of them felt it wasn't present in the schools that they were going to. And for therefore thought that students felt marginalized. And I think that they were looking for that sense of connection. So I would say the cultural aspects that we provide really solidify like a sense of belonging and connection for students and families.

And I want to also really make sure that you understand like the family part is huge, right? Like we don't want to disconnect our students from their families that it's like we actually focus on serving an entire family. In addition to that, not ever having a Native American teacher, counselor, principal role model in my entire time in my K-12 experience and, you know, New Mexico, like that to me seems a little crazy. I feel like it really helps help me realize what I want to do in life. I think Maggie's found her voice, her sense as a Native woman here. So one of the students we spoke with said, Naka is interesting to them because compared to a normal high school, when you walk in the door here, you're viewed already as a leader. Why? If you think about the overarching kind of, I guess, mission of the school is to really think about students and who would leave the school, I guess, ultimately, and take with them a perspective that helps them have this sense of like commitment to community and service.

And that's in any given kind of profession or role or family kind of role that they play as they continue on after the school. In a couple of years, did I have to die home? Keep doing. Good morning, everybody. My name is Julie Sconchin. I'm from Estlana, Pablo. One thing is being able to speak comfortably in front of other people and being proud of your Native identity and really showing it with other people. Probably the people I will have no choice but to remember are Dr. Garcia and my Lakota class on our trip to South Dakota. We spent a whole week together exploring the different Lakota reservations and experiencing the culture. I think they give us a lot of opportunities to really kind of find ourselves as leaders because everyone has a different leadership style. I've been exposed to these days, how I was, prayers, prayers, songs and dances and I realized that that wasn't okay.

Not just so that all of us can grow up and be president of the United States or something but just to be able to be comfortable and where you're coming from comfortable wherever you end up after school and comfortable in your ability to really show who you are and show people how you think. And just leadership is a great skill for anyone to have. And to be confident in that, even if you're not in a leadership position. So I realized that it wasn't as different as my own culture and being here has inspired me to get down to my own roots, which is something that I've never done before. I just hope that this experience, more kids like me, I guess you could say, attend NACA and they can see the things that I have and experience the things that I have and see that just because

here a different culture, no one's going to treat you like different. Thank you. I identify myself as a native woman. So through learning my language, through participating in ceremonies, through doing agricultural leadership, that's something that's really, really, really important to me because it's who I am and it helps me identify who I am and it helps me identify the person I want to be. I want to be able to identify and know a lot about where I come from and who I come from. That helps me identify who I am. So culture is how I identify who I am. This program is part of American Graduate. Let's make it happen.

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