By
Shana Heiser
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Panel unites to spread stories of overcoming cultural differences, difficult childhoods
From anecdotes of being labeled "urban Indians" in Phoenix to attending boarding school on the East Coast, three American Indian women shared their personal histories yesterday at the UA.
The women told stories of their successes, struggles and the role of culture and tradition in their lives to about 50 people at the University Medical Center DuVal Auditorium.
After introducing the women as "luminating," Donald Carson, former UA journalism department head and professor emeritus, turned the floor over to Phoenix native Alyce M. Sadongei.
Sadongei, a member of the Kiowa tribe, has held jobs with the Smithsonian Institute, the National Museum of American Indians and the Phoenix Art Museum.
One woman asked what one thing American Indians most wished the white people understood.
"I wish non-Indians wouldn't put us in a pigeon hole and categorize us," Sadongei said. "Our traditions can inform us of how we live and we can be anything we want. We are diverse."
Sadongei now works as an assistant curator for Native American relations at the Arizona State Museum on the University of Arizona campus.
"My life has been to create opportunities for tribes to preserve, interpret and maintain cultures," she said.
After naming her mother as a major influence in her life, Sadongei read a poem she wrote about her mother, "What Frank, Martha and I Know About the Desert."
Navajo tribe member Melanie Yazzie, a UA assistant art professor, read poems titled "Ganado," which was named after her hometown in Arizona, "My Aunt," "Sitting and Remembering" and "My First Funeral."
The Navajo reservation school became a place of alcoholism and other vices, so Yazzie said she chose to attend boarding school in Pennsylvania.
Anna Chana, of the Hopi tribe, said according to statistics she was never born - her home delivery left her with no birth certificate.
"They think I was never born," Chana said. "They tell me (they have) no record of you, but here I am."
Born in the 1940s, Chana went to nursing school, where her monthly allowance for food and groceries amounted to $26. The students persevered through the board exams, Chana said.
After 10 years of being a nurse, Chana's director told her to leave nursing and see the world.
"He said 'all you're doing is coming through the doors and seeing the four walls,'" she said.
Now an employee of the Amphitheater School District for 20 years, Chana gives cultural presentations to students.
She gave a brief demonstration to the audience, including dressing up Tigua tribe member Josefina Ahumada in the full American Indian attire women wear when performing ceremonial dances.
"When I pass on, that's what I'm going to wear," Chana said about the outfit. "I've told my children this is what I'm wearing. I don't need anything else."
