Skip to main content

Kia ora Arizona!

 Kia ora koutou,

Arizona State University Entrance

I had a great time in Arizona for the American Indian Studies Conference, which was held at Arizona State University. It’s about a five-hour flight from Boston, so I arrived around midnight. Let me tell you, it was bliss leaving sub-zero temperatures in Boston for sunshine weather, often over 20 degrees. It was the first time that I could feel the warmth of the sun during my time here in the USA. 

An eating area at Arizona State University

Arizona State University is based in Tempe, which is very close to Phoenix. The campus is really spread out and beautiful. I loved the earth-coloured buildings and the nice feeling of seeing so many people enjoying the year's spring semester. 

The conference was the first indigenous conference that I attended in the USA. There were about 100 people at the conference. The presentations were terrific. They covered a range of themes, including critical race theory, solidarity between indigenous and African American communities concerning social justice issues, Native American voter suppression/oppression, colonisation of National Parks here, and indigenous legal activism around the borders.

Retiring Native American Scholars and Activists 

There are many similarities between the experiences of Māori and Native Americans. I could feel the sadness and pain of many of the stories shared by the presenters. It was essential to see solutions offered to try and combat some of the difficulties experienced by communities. One of the themes that stood out for me was how Native American and African American communities work together on social justice issues. 

A presentation at the American Indian Conference 2023

I attended the Heard Museum, which I highly recommend if you are ever in Phoenix. It is a Native American museum. The highlight of my time at the museum was the exhibition of American Indian Boarding Schools. It was shocking to see and understand that Native American kids were taken from their families and forced to assimilate. These young people suffered abuse and torture, and many died from diseases. Many of these schools built graveyards to bury the kids.

An exhibition concerning the Indian Training Schools 

I also attended a massive Arizona Indian festival, which was inspiring. There are 22 tribes in the state of Arizona. Seeing many stores selling art, clothing, and jewellery was great. It was also great to see storytelling, music, and dance. I also got to eat their frybread, which is flat compared to the Māori frybread. There is a fascinating story about frybread (and quite sad). It is said that with many American Indians forced off their land, the frybread was a staple and survival food as few ingredients are needed. 

Native American Festival

I was fortunate to meet several artists, including this elder, at the festival. He designed this beautiful piece about positive energy, which I will hang in the office on the wall. I made the effort to really listen to the stories of the different tribes there, which is often complex. 

Overall, it was an excellent experience to be in Arizona. I look forward to strengthening relationships with some of the academics I met (with the hope of visiting them before I leave the USA). I want to see further opportunities with Māori and Native American communities. There is a lot that we can learn from each other, and we share resources on how we overcome some of the barriers that we face. 

I spoke about how Aotearoa will be hosting the WIPCE (World Indigenous Conference on Education) in 2025, and no doubt will look forward to seeing many of them visit us. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Wampanoag School

  Kia ora, This is my last blog from UMASS Boston. I travelled by car with Professor Fung to the Mashpee Wampanoag Language School. The Wampanoag people are known as the people of the first light. Their traditional homelands are situated in South East Massachusetts. It was an incredible experience. Firstly, I watched a documentary called “We still live here” to prepare myself for the school visit. The documentary was made in 2010 and is a story about how they started a journey of revitalising the Wampanoag language, which had no fluent or native speakers. One of the Wampanoag ancestors  The school is within the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Centre – about 90 minutes from Boston. When we arrived there, it was nap time for the little kids. The school has around 25 students (Years 1- 4) with a small number of teachers with differing levels of Wampanoag language. The school has a Montessori theme that centres children's natural interests and activities rather than formal teaching m...
Post a Comment
Read more

Kia ora Boston!

Outside of UMASS Boston It's time to start writing a blog about my Fulbright adventure in Boston. First, let me go back to when I applied for this award. I found out about a year that I was a successful recipient. For many, a Fulbright award is a massive deal. The opportunity to spend time in the United States to work on a research project. I've been to the States three times beforehand but have yet to go to Boston. This city is the academic city of the world, with more than 35 universities and colleges here. So I knew I wanted to come here. I've spent my time, passion, energy, and work focused on better outcomes for our young people, particularly Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand. I wanted to work on a research project focusing on indigenous youth. So I choose the topic of how language, culture, and identity feature in the schooling experiences of Native American Youth. My time in Boston will also give me a glimpse of how indigenous people see the world. I decided to come to...
Post a Comment
Read more

Flight of the Albatross

  Will with the author, Deborah Savage Flight of the albatross was one of my favourite books growing up. My favourite is coming-of-age stories. It was a book written in the 1980s by American author Deborah Savage.  Earlier last year, I thought about the Flight of the albatross book. So I decided to google search Deborah Savage and found she lives in a town near the University of Massachusetts Amherst. So we decided to catch up when I went to Amherst in December.  A bit about the book: it's about two young people, Sarah and Mako. Sarah is from New York City and travelled to Aotearoa to visit her scientist mother. She meets Mako, who is Māori, and they both navigate a shared adventure with challenges on Kauri island, where the book is based. A movie came out in 1995, which can be watched on the New Zealand Film on Demand website, which I highly recommend.  It was nice to catch up with Deborah. She talked about her time coming to Aotearoa New Zealand, in her early 20s. ...
Post a Comment
Read more