w e i r d h o n e y: alterNATIVE 2014

this summer I was blessed to have participated in the program alterNATIVE for two weeks of july. my fellow native american peers (&alumni) from columbia university facilitated a curriculum about indigenous history, identity, and resistance. we discussed colonization, genocide, decolonization, indian country, and of course education. we visited navajo communities to'hajiilee, pine hill, and pueblo communities isleta and zuni.

though a large portion of the students weren't the targeted demographic (high school students thinking about college) it was a pretty successful program. some days seemed incredibly long and hectic. a lot of the times we had to improvise because the younger kids couldn't sit still through a dry powerpoint about native policy. but getting everyone in the room to feel comfortable enough to share with us their ideas of stereotypes or ask us questions about sovereignty or andrew jackson was all we needed. hopefully they understand that there is a space for them and their communities in higher education as well. we just all have to make it together as indigenous youths.

alterNATIVE was definitely the highlight of my summer. shout out to danielle for letting us into her beautiful pueblo village house, isleta casino & resort, community, and of course her home. I fell in love with new mexico and cannot wait to go back.