Alivia A., Oakwood Junior High School
Finding Happiness With My Voice
Most people have a normal life. Mine is a lot more crazy than you would think a regular 13-year-old would have. I am Native American from the Navajo Nation and the Pueblos of Jemez, Acoma, and Santa Ana, and I go to school in Ohio.
After I graduated the sixth grade, I had the opportunity to attend the Santa Fe Indian School (SFIS), which is a boarding school in New Mexico for Native American kids to learn based on culture and community. This was important to me because I left New Mexico and moved to Ohio when I was 4. I had become distant from my culture and tribal communities, but I always remembered how it all made me feel.
Ohio and New Mexico are very different places. Ohio is green. In Ohio, I live in a beautiful neighborhood that looks like it came straight out of a movie, and where everything you need is within a 5-mile radius. I can walk to our local market, park, or a friend’s house, which are only a few minutes away. New Mexico is brown. In New Mexico, some of the tribal communities I come from don’t have running water, electricity, and the nearest grocery store is over 60 miles away. I can play in the mud and have more time to be with my grandmas. Both places make me happy, but I wanted to feel the brown of New Mexico again.
I attended SFIS for seventh grade and quickly became friends with kids from all the different tribes in New Mexico. I was always surrounded by traditional knowledge, language and stories but my favorite part was getting to spend time with each of my grandmas on the weekends. I helped my Acoma grandma honor veterans as the youngest junior member of the American Legion. My Jemez grandma is a first-grade teacher and taught me how to speak the Towa language. My Navajo grandma likes to make soap with traditional plants and took me to local National Parks to learn about the land and how to take care of it. It made me realize that my cultures are so powerful and all have stories to tell.
I learned how to tell my own story and advocated for the protection of Chaco Canyon, and how it is sacred land that still teaches us who we are. My videos were viewed over half a million times and inspired thousands to submit public comments on the Bureau of Land Management website to protect Chaco from oil and gas drilling. Later, I was approached by National Public Radio (NPR) and was selected to share my experience at SFIS. I shared it with the hope that people would understand the importance of their own culture and learn it.
I learned how powerful my voice is, how it can be used for good, and how I can have fun through it all. I made my grandmas and my tribal communities so proud, which makes me happy.
