Youth find their voice at 2017 Gila River Youth Conference

July 10, 2017

Mikhail Sundust

Gila River Indian News

The 2017 Gila River Youth Conference was “lit” – not simply because the music was bumping, the atmosphere was upbeat, and the main hall and classrooms were packed with participants ready to learn about their culture, but because the students chose a theme that allowed them to explore the meaning of “Living In Tradition” in the modern era.

“Starting today, you find your voice. Starting today, you find an interest in who you are,” said keynote speaker Mikey Enis of the Tohono O’odham Nation.

He said young people desire to know where they come from and where they belong. The weekend offered a chance for them to explore what their traditions mean to them.

Enis, a culture teacher at Baboquivari Middle and High schools, said it is important for parents and communities to give young people “a sense of understanding and a sense of belonging.” Meanwhile, the youth-organized-and-run conference stirred curiosity in the hearts and minds of its young guests.

“When this conference ends, [that search] doesn’t stop,” said Enis. “You go home and ask these questions: What clan do I come from? Do I have an O’otham name? Or why did you name me this? What happened at my birth?”

More than 350 young people attended the Youth Conference, which was held on June 23 and 24 at the Hilton Phoenix/Mesa, across from the Fiesta Mall.

The Akimel O’odham/Pee Posh Youth Council, which organizes the annual conference, chose the theme “Living In Tradition” in recognition of the friction between being a teen in the digital age and holding fast to their analog heritage.

Shantell Terrazas, a Youth Council District 3 Representative, served as the conference chair. “Living in tradition means to us as the youth that [our] traditions will only be passed on through us and that they will only live on if we keep them going,” she said.

“We are the next generation and we have to set the example for the next ones to come,” said Terrazas, “to show we are the only ones to keep our traditions going like our games, songs, and ceremonies.”

The conference serves multiple purposes. First, it welcomes GRIC youth once a year for a fun time and chance to meet new or old friends from different parts of the Community. Secondly, the conference offers a number of classes on a wide variety of topics. Finally, it provides a central location for the AOPPYC to hold elections, in which all GRIC youth are welcome to participate.

The Youth Council held nomination sessions and certified candidates on Day 1 of the conference. On Day 2, the young electorate divided into caucuses by district to vote.

Some of the classes offered during the conference allowed students to explore artistic or cultural pursuits such as painting, beading, pottery, the O’otham language, or traditional O’otham stick games. Other classes focused on health and wellness, Zumba, teen dating, CPR, diabetes prevention, and others. Finally, some workshops helped students prepare for the future with information on goal setting, time management, coping skill, and admissions information for the three in-state universities, Northern Arizona University, Arizona State University, and The University of Arizona.

Before lunch on Day 2, the Youth Council announced its annual awards: Female Youth of the Year – Sineca Jackson, Male Youth of the Year – Zachary Lewis, Elder of the Year – Eugenia Apkaw, Citizen of the Year – Lt. Gov. Monica Antone, and Leader of the Year – Aaron Lewis.

In a Day 2 general assembly, speaker Tim Terry offered words of wisdom and practical tips for “Living In Tradition.”

“I try living in my traditions by trying to speak [the O’otham language]. I don’t say words right, I don’t pronounce things right, but I try,” he said.

“Some of you only know words like auth.” That drew laughter from the whole room, which clearly understood it means your rear end. “So if you know words, say them, try them, and say them to each other, like, ‘s-hohtam, otham!’ – ‘hurry up, person!’”

Terry closed his time with a song, a gourd, and an eagle feather, which he called his tools for “living in tradition.”

“I use these because this is what my [elders] used when they prayed,” he said. “I live in my tradition by using these. When people ask me to pray for them, I pray for them. When people ask me to sing for them, I sing for them.”

Learn to use the tools around you, those new and old, he told the students. “That’s what makes you living in tradition, because we’re adaptable people. If we didn’t adapt to our environment, we wouldn’t be here.” A smart phone can be a powerful tool for communicating, recording, and organizing, but a shavkud (gourd rattle) is still necessary for singing.

“So in living in tradition, we move forward,… using our tools of the day, but also remembering our older tools.”