Photo By Sisy Sannoh / Staff
By Alexa Lima & Yanelli Z. Robles
Spring walked winter to the other side of Mother Earth and brought her luminous friend the sun to the celebration.
It was a warm welcome.
On its verdant soccer field on a brisk but sunny morning, Southwestern College staged its second powwow, but the guests of honor were the real hosts.
“This is Kumeyaay land,” declared Erica Pinto, chairwoman of the Jamul Indian Village. “This is our land. So welcome to our land!”
Pinto’s proclamation caused powwow participants in the circular arena and hundreds of guests orbiting around it to erupt in applause, cheers and scattered whoops.
It was a happy gathering but tinged with anxiety. America’s new administration and its wave of regressive policies has Indian Country on edge said Dine’ activist Sheilah Naajiibah Dasher-Green, an SWC alumna and Student of Distinction Award recipient.
“We’re kind of bracing for cuts and rollbacks to the progress we’ve made in recent years,” she said. “It’s frustrating, but Indigenous People are resilient and we’ll get through it.”
Dasher-Green took a deep breath and broke into a broad smile as she watched her young sons dance in the arena.
“When I was a student here there was no powwow, no Native clubs or organizations,” she said. “One of my first experiences as a young child was going to powwows on college campuses. It introduced me to the idea of higher education. For Native children, especially those from underserved communities, events like this plant the seed of possibility.”
After departing Southwestern as an honor student, Dasher-Green blossomed as a leader in the Indigenous student organizations at CSU San Marcos. She made documentaries about Native health that were screened at film festivals and overcame her youthful shyness to become a persuasive public speaker. She was also a Miss Navajo Nation finalist in Window Rock, Arizona, where she played a hand drum and sang a traditional song in Dine’.
As Dasher-Green gazed across the pulsating arena of swirling rainbow regalia, elegant feathers, military affectations and reverent faces steaming fry bread scented the cool dry air and teams of drummers kept the heartbeat of Mother Earth. Southwestern has come a long way, she said.
“This powwow brings a more indigenous face to the community,” she said. “It lets people know we are here. It acknowledges the First People of this land, the Kumeyaay and Luiseno, who are still here.”
Powwows were not originally part of her Dine’ culture, said Dasher-Green, but have been embraced across much of North America as part of the pan-Nativism Movement designed to encourage Indigenous People to come together, embrace inter-tribal practices and celebrate as a family.
“San Diego County’s Native community is small, but close knit and powwows keep us connected,” she said.
Her mother, Lori Lee, agreed.
“You see everyone at powwows,” she said. “It’s like a reunion.”
Nearby a young jingle dancer was kicking a soccer ball, but her singing dress made it difficult to sneak past defenders. Bright textiles and blankets fluttered gently in the nippy breeze, luring visitors with their traditional beauty. Silver and turquoise jewelry reflected the sun like diamonds in the sand.
Master of Ceremonies Walter Ahhaitty said powwows were a chance to learn – and to unlearn.
“Forget what you saw in the movies about Indians dancing before battle,” he said. “Indian People never danced before battle. That would be disrespectful to their opponents. They danced afterward. They celebrated afterward. Warriors danced with their war accoutrements. They danced because they stood their ground.”
Ahhaitty’s words were not lost on the dancers in the arena who were, in their joyous way, standing their ground against 500 years of hardships. Many were veterans of the Vietnam War and recent military actions. Some were Purple Heart recipients.
“Native Americans have the highest per capita representation in the military because this is our land!” he thundered. “We fight to defend it.”
Philosophical Bobby Wallace of the Barona Band of Kumeyaay Indians inhaled a deep breath of tingling sage smoke before dispensing his own sage wisdom.
“We are experiencing beauty right here, right now,” he said. “My family has been here 12,000 years. I am happy to share my fire with everyone here.”
Wallace smiled and gazed slowly across the rapt attendees.
“This powwow is a place of peace and acceptance,” he said. “Anybody is invited. (We have) all four sacred colors of the medicine wheel. Red, yellow, black and white. (The powwow) gives people a chance to be with the feathers, to be with the sage. So everybody can feel safe and feel bigger than themselves.”
Wallace was one of several speakers who praised the efforts of Southwestern College to acknowledge and embrace the region’s Indigenous People and to create curriculum to learn about Native People of the Americas. He said he expects the progress to continue.
“I have a real good feeling that this right here (at Southwestern presages) something huge, something really good that won’t go sour that will be just like gold,” he said. “I’ve seen other (colleges) get Indigenous studies or they try to get things going but it (withers away).”
Life is the greatest learning experience of all, Wallace said.
“Everything is about teaching,” he said. “Everyone here should see yourselves as teachers.”
Arena Director Adam Loya agreed.
“(This powwow) is educational because it is open to everyone, you don’t have to be Native to attend,” he said. “It gives people a chance to experience and learn about our culture and traditions.”
Chuck Cadotte of the North Dakota Standing Rock Sioux said Native Americans and their friends need to stand tall in the months ahead as new political realities buffet the nation. He urged the audience to “resist the darkness and live in the light.”
“We will be coming into some tough times here,” he said, “but I want to encourage everyone to keep the faith and stay strong among our people here. Never give in. We are going to get through this. Our Creator will guide us through it.”
Drums stilled and jingling dresses quieted as Cadotte bowed his head to pray.
“Grandfather, thank you for bringing us here together on this beautiful day for a celebration of life. We give thanks to all of our ancestors that have gone on before us. For they are the ones who left us with the knowledge to carry on. Thank you for all the young ones here today and all the elders. Let us remember the elders who could not travel here today. Thank you, Creator, for the wonderful drums and singers who provide us with the beautiful music that encourages us to dance. Our dance is our prayer.”
San Diego County has 18 federally-recognized reservations – the most of any county in the United States. Dasher-Green said most young Native Americans in the region live in cities and towns off the reservations. They call themselves Urban Indians. Lucia Napolez, president of the Native American Students and Allies club, said in the past there were intentional efforts to segregate the Indigenous community and to make Urban Indians feel disconnected from tribal life.
SWC’s Native American Student Support and Success Program is a state funded effort to create new curriculum and events to support Indigenous community college students. Southwestern, Miramar College and Palomar College are recipients.
“The grant is to help urban Native American youth and young adults who are not familiar with the reservation and actual community,” said Napolez. “We aspire to bring community to them.”
Napolez pointed out a vermilion teepee just to the south of the arena ringed with white handprints. It was a portable memorial to the thousands of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls kidnapped and killed annually in North American. Head woman Sonia Flores said the red represented the blood of the victims and the white hands represented their spirits and their return home.
Napolez said the situation is a “silent crisis” that has failed to capture the attention of the nation, particularly law enforcement. Data is faulty, if available at all, and many police agencies around the country do not accept the crisis as part of their jurisdiction.
Flores urged women to stay safe and men to help.
“This is a tragedy that effects everyone,” she said solemnly. “We need everyone to engage.”
Southwestern College will remain engaged with the region’s Native community pledged Trustee Robert Moreno, who was attending his first powwow.
“This is awesome!” he said, “It is an eye-opening experience. The powwow definitely helps us promote cultural awareness. It educates us about Native American history and brings people together in a way community colleges were meant to.”
Dine’ elder Lori Lee, a longtime Chula Vista resident originally from the sprawling Navajo reservation, said she is very happy that Southwestern College has taken the lead in working so closely with San Diego County’s Indigenous People.
“Our mission is to uplift our People,” she said. “Southwestern College is now our partner with the free tuition and free services. It’s great to see all of this. I know there are things happening in America that are troubling, but I choose to look right here. This is the future we all want. This is proof that it can be.”
