White Mountain Apache Approaches Crossroads

2/3/2014

There was an interesting article in the AZCentral news blog this week. Please click on this link to read it and then leave a comment on this page to share your thoughts with the class.

Personally I think this presents a realistic picture of the difficulties faced by Natives who choose to leave the rez and then come back to help their communities. There are some great things in this article. The White Mountain tribe has the opportunity right now to really make changes that will benefit everyone and many of those opportunities are because of the new ideas brought back to the tribe by young Natives who have gone off to college and come back to help change things. You can change your tribe and really help! However it is not always easy and sometimes you have to work from within the system to change it.

Think about what you would change about your home reservation or city if you could? How would you do it? How might a college education help? How would you overcome long-standing traditions or prejudice? Is nepotism or favoritism an issue in the government of your tribe? How might you address this issue?

Please respond to one of the above questions as you reflect on the article and as you write your response, reference either my comments in this post or someone else's comment. When you do state their username and say what you agreed with or disagreed with in their comment.

8 Comments

Jameelah

2/3/2014 07:16:22 am

It could be possible .. I agree with sigman .. It'll take time, but I believe if anything is possible, then it COULD happen :) I wouldn't say anything more, because that'd be rude to talk down on someone's dream.

Idallis Riggs

2/3/2014 07:21:11 am

I agree with Clinton Kessay when he said nepotism should stop because it effects how the tribal government is. This is one of the reasons why our tribes are so poor. We shouldn't envy each other, we all have to work together to make things better for our people. I also think we need to spend money on things we really need instead of useless things. This includes building facilities. We don't need playgrounds, and gyms.. We need money to educate children because they are the future.
Dennis also explains that there is going to be job opportunities soon, but I think they need to stay on top of things so they don't lose money and lose businesses again. The Navajo tribe goes through the same issues but I don't want to go back and help my tribe, just the community I was raised in.

Sierra

2/3/2014 07:23:30 am

To help my home, I would want to get a degree in psychology and work at the local place where you can talk to people. Everyone home doesn't get involved in nepotism or favoritism but there has been the same mayor for as long as I can remember. Nothing much changes in my small town. We have severe problems of depression and alcoholism and I believe if people had someone to talk to, such as a counselor, there might be a less chance of people having problems.

Sierra

2/3/2014 07:25:13 am

I forgot to mention I agree withWaters when he says the young people are the answer.

Tarra

2/3/2014 07:24:22 am

I would change are education the reservation and put more things on are reservation for are youth to do that way that can't say that are Rez is boring. I would need an education to change this like in business. I would talk to are tribal council about it and tell them we need a way to keep are youth going farther in school. If they have stuff to do they would stay away from drugs, alcohol, and trouble but how would we get the money is the question they would all ask and that's were my college education would come in that way I would know how to do that kind of stuff.

Deshawna

2/3/2014 07:24:58 am

My tribe has been through similar situations as those of the white mountain apache people. I think the most common thing would be people's negative thoughts about themselves. Especially with favoritism of tribal officials and who they hire. When you work so hard for something and you get shot down because you're not friends with the right people or you have a faulty past can make you think bad of yourself. So how do we get people to go out, get an education and come back to help their community? To work through all the doubts others place upon you, to want to prove them wrong? We work through all obstacles and if one idea fails, we keep trying. Parents and elders push the younger people to do good in school, and go off to college. To me, this motivation is key.

Grace Colelay

2/3/2014 07:25:41 am

First of all, I would have to say that this article was really relatable, partially due to the fact that I am from the White Mountain Tribe and experience some of the problems first-hand.

There are many, many things I would love to help change about my tribe, but at the moment I would have to say that I'd love to help with purifying the waters. Our water is definitely not safe to drink; it was clearly stated over the radio. If you do drink the water, simply because you're really thirsty and there's nothing else to drink, you will get sick with a bad stomach ache. I would solve these problems with the help of science and the knowledge of the workers who are previously working on similar projects. I want to major in environmental science and biology, so I'm sure acquiring this knowledge during college will be very beneficial.

Ulysess

2/3/2014 07:26:55 am

How would you overcome long-standing traditions or prejudice? Is nepotism or favoritism an issue in the government of your tribe?

Yes, Nepotism and prejudice happens to be an big issues in/on my tribal government and reservation. I believe that by keeping a close community and showing the young generation the better way of life and the life of keeping the tradional alive. "giving back to the community" and "for the young generation to go out and make changes. I'm white guy so i can't do anything. And the government can't."

White Mountain Apache Approaches Crossroads

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