Nizhónígo Nee Ado’ááł (Have a beautiful day)

American Indian literature resources for libraries

I wanted to share with you some information about American Indian literature that I find to be an excellent resource for libraries, 
 
 
Debbie Reece created this website to share books and writings that are culturally accurate, I will share with you her thoughts about why AICL is an important website: 
"Given these studies, I believe the books Native students read in school play a significant role in how Native students fare.  Teachers and librarians have a role to play, too, in the success of Native students. For me--and I hope for you--that means selecting books that accurately portray Native people and our nations. I'm not after "perfect" Natives with no faults, but ones that portray us in all of our humanity, with the range of our emotions and actions. These books are important for non-Native students, too, because they deserve accurate books, too, no matter who the books are about. And, some of these non-Native students will grow up to be writers, or editors, or reviewers, or librarians, or teachers who write, read, and share children's and young adult literature."
 
So many books have been written by non-natives that were not accurate that I thought this would be helpful to you as well as Nebo School libraries. 
 
2013 Best Books for Elementary School:
 
 
Best Books for High School:
 
 
Here are more resources for teaching!
 
Utah Education Network:
 
Utah Division of Indian Affairs - FAQ page.
 
Utah Board of Education - Indian Education website link:
 
National Museum of American Indians - Thanksgiving:
 
Montana Indian Education for All:
 
I hope this is something that you find to be informative and helpful. Please call me if you ever want to collaborate with our program, we have a short video about our Camp Eagle Summer School that was recorded by Spanish Fork Channel 17 at this Nebo link about Camp Eagle Summer School: http://www.nebo.edu/  
 
Eileen Quintana,
Nebo Indian Education Program

Play and Book Signing


(more pictures available)
Camp Eagle Summer School events open to PUBLIC! 
 
We are collaborating with Native American authors of the book "Edge Of Morning" Torrey House Press SLC. Regina Lopez Whiteskunk and Jackie Keeler will speak on June 23, 2017 at 5:00 - 6:00 pm and autograph books for those that purchase these books. Discounted rate for books is $15 - Come get your copy!
- Children's Play "Tricksters of the Animal World" will follow this event 6:00 - 7:30 pm at Larsen Elementary School.
 

Summer School


(more pictures available)

Please see the Summer School Flyer for details, and use the Summer School Application to register.

Sadie Melton, MMHS Graduate

Sadie Melton is a graduating senior from Maple Mountain High School. She is Aleut/Caucasian and a treasure to each lineage. Her family and friends describe her as funny, kind to everyone, beautiful and easy going. She is also hardworking, dedicated and a great problem solver. If you are lucky to be her friend, you are a friend for life. Sadie loves to cook in her free time, especially bake, her family and neighbors are often the recipients of delectable goodies. When she is not baking, she loves to hang out with friends or read a good book.  Her favorite movies are the Harry Potter movies. A TV show she can’t turn down is and I Love Lucy rerun. “I’m your Vitameatavegamin Girl. Are you tired, run down, listless?”

Foods that Sadie enjoys are Lasagna, orange chicken, and anything with sea salt caramel. Her music of choice is anything with a good beat that you can dance to or something that is emotionally charge for the moments when you need a good cry. When asked about her favorite color she said, “Black forever and always but also really light pinks or colors that are so dark they look like they are black.”

In high school she ran cross country. Her favorite classes were Prostart and English. A memorable, funny, quirky moment she will always remember is when a popular kid apologized for standing too close to her. We hope he knew he was standing next to greatness. Sadie loved watching the soccer games at MMHS. She also thought that the school had some pretty awesome dances that she enjoyed. Her future plans are to attend SUU and begin working on her teaching degree. She would like to become a foods teacher. One item on her bucket list is to buy out a whole store’s supply of Nutella. We are contemplating starting a “Go Fund Me,” account for this, hoping she will share. - We end with her favorite quote, “Save the Bees.” – Vegans.

Sadie, you are on your way to great things. We think you are awesome and are ready for anything life throws at you. Congratulations! 

"Makin Beats," Nicholas Nez!

We found Nick last Thursday finishing up a “beat,” in his audio essentials class at the Advanced Learning Center. It is his favorite class there at the school besides lunch.  He attended ALC every other day this school year. He said it would great to become a famous music producer. That is on his bucket list, along with buying Eminem’s $20,000 shoes. Nick likes Mo Tab, Lil Yachy, Lil Uzi, Childish Gambino, Fergie, Celine Dion and Mariah Cary.

Nicholas Nez is Navajo and a graduating senior from Payson High School. He definitely is his own person with an off the wall or should I say off the charts sense of humor. In his free time, he enjoys feeding his cat Moosa and making rap beats. He also like to watch movies such as Heavyweights and Grumpy Cat - “I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe.” He will also make time to watch 19 Kids and Counting and Flava of Love. He says his favorite sports are Mexican Hat dancing, dancing and wrestling.  He wrestled for the Payson High Lions. An experience he will always remember is the time he was warming up for wrestling by playing handball and broke his nose, no wrestling that day. He will always remember his wrestling experiences. Another thing he will remember is waking up at 3 in the afternoon and getting up to go to school.

He can eat guacamole and chips any day along with a plate of tamales. He also likes Vegan? And, microwavable food and going to Mexican restaurants. His future plans include going on a mission, then to UVU. He thinks he may want to become a gastroenterologist or go into business and marketing.  One of his favorite quotes is, “A life time of glory is worth a moment of pain.” –From the movie Unbroken.

Nick is a fun loving senior that will undoubtable have a successful, fun life. Good luck Nick!

Speaking Mailyn Lee!

Mailyn Lee, Navajo/Filipino spoke at Landmark High School’s graduation ceremony on Monday along with two other students. She spoke of how she was able to change her story by taking baby steps. And those steps led to her graduating. It could have been much different for her. She did a wonderful job and represented well.

She loves being around people and is self-confident. She has a smile that can lift anyone’s spirits.  Her family says that she has a big heart and loves to make people smile. Her friends say she is outgoing and loves to explore. She loves playing soccer, surfing, hiking and being outdoors. She has already began working on an item on her bucket list, she wants to explore all of Utah, hike, go caving and see the land.

Mailyn likes listening to music you can sing to.  She particularly likes girlie songs and rap.  She enjoys watching football and baseball.  Her colors of choice are neutrals with blue. Her favorite foods are Mexican and Vietnamese.  She especially likes chicken tacos, chimichangas and pho soup.  She plans on continuing her studies at MATC and eventually would like to go to Weber State.  One memorable moment at Landmark was when they all went out and had a kickball tournament. Everyone was so carefree and they just had fun and played and played she said.

One way she copes with hard times is to sit down and write about it in story form.  She finds that many of her answers or solutions come when she does this. We end with the quote Mailyn ended her speech with at her graduation, “Little by little, one travels far.” J.R.R. Tolkien. We know that Mailyn will go far by taking one step at a time. GO MAILYN!!

Music Making Megan

Megan Ta’chi’I’nii Begay, Dine/Caucasian, is a senior at Springville High school. When she was asked about how people would describe her, she said, “It’s never been a bother to me, if you like me, cool, if you don’t cool. At the end of the day, why should it bother me?” Megan is comfortable with herself.  Megan likes to learn and make music in her free time. In fact, she will be headed to Snow College on a music scholarship. There will be plenty of time there to explore music in the music department in Ephraim. She likes movies that has a great sound track. The music speaks to her more than the actual movie.

“Anything free,” is her response when asked what foods she likes to eat. College will reinforce that response. She likes the color purple. Her favorite sport is Drum Corps International (DCI).  Megan says it’s like a marching band times 10.  It can get pretty intense. Megan plays the trumpet in this drum and bugle corps.

Her favorite memories of attending Springville High all surround participating in the marching band.  One of the biggest moments was when they placed 1st in her rookie season in Lodi, California. Her favorite classes were Band, Ceramics, and Debate. Future plans include going to Snow College and majoring in music. And planning a future in music. She would like to explore where her talents take her. Megan’s favorite quote is, “Success is falling 9 times and getting up 10.” –Jon Bon Jovi.

We send Megan good thoughts and confidence as she embarks on her exciting musical journey.  

Morgan Henderson - Unstoppable!

Sassy, stubborn, determined, caring and fun are all words to describe this senior. Morgan Henderson decided in the summer of 2016 after dropping out of high school months before that she wasn’t going to let anything stand in her way. June 20, 2016 was a defining moment in her life. “I never realized how much you could love something so small. He changed my whole life and has taught me so much about myself and growing up. I started working really hard on school. He made me realize how important it was to graduate and give him the life he deserved.” Fast forward to May, 2017. Morgan graduated in January.  She took online courses to finish half of her junior, and, all of her senior credits. She did this while working 40 to 50 hours a week and taking care of her little one “You sort of start thinking anything’s possible if you’ve got enough nerve.” –J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Morgan has always wanted to be a nurse. She has worked as a CNA in a care center for over a year now.  She will be going to MATC this fall to continue in their LPN program and then onto becoming an RN. She received a scholarship for graduating early so she will be using that to help her and her little family. She loves hanging out with her family and watching Harry Porter movies and listening to country music.  Not all at once but when she has time. Morgan loves Italian food and enjoys watching and playing soccer.  Her favorite color is blue. Her memorable moments in high school were all the football games that she attended. She also really liked her English classes. “It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.” – J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter.

One day Morgan would like to try skydiving. For now she is determined to make her dreams come true while enjoying every day with her son and his father. She is Navajo/Caucasian and is learning more and more about her native side. Her favorite quote is, "Don't stress, do your best, forget the rest." Morgan we are proud of you. We have every confidence in your abilities and future.  

Traveling Tracey! Payson High Senior

Tracey Bravo, Dine' will be graduating this year from Payson High School. While some may find the five minute drive to school difficult, Tracey has had to ride the bus to and from Goshen every day to get to Payson High for the past three years.  The bus came around 6:15 every morning and arrived home at 4:00. Tracey rarely missed a day of school. In addition she worked at the Dairy. When asked how difficult it was, she says, “Difficult? No, it’s just what I had to do.” Tracey has learned to do hard things at a young age and when you meet her, you will see she is not afraid to do what is necessary to get things done. She is a friendly, outgoing, genuinely kind, fun person. Her mother considers Tracey her right arm. For Tracey, family has been and will always be the most important part of her life.

In her free time Tracey likes to hang out friends and be with family. She likes taking trips to Arizona to visit her relatives. She also likes to watch Pretty Little Liars on T.V. when she has a moment or two.  Her favorite dinner or lunch is a hearty Navajo Taco. She likes the colors black, purple and white.  Her favorite sport to play and watch is basketball. She is taking driver’s ed. and so her new sport of choice is driving.

In high school, her favorite class has been English. Some things she will always remember about her years at Payson are hanging out with friends and all the school activities. Her future plans are to continue working through the summer and then head down to Dixie State University. She’s excited about the new adventures that await. One thing she would like to do in the future is travel to different parts of the world. Her favorite quote is, “Faith is having a positive attitude about what you can do and not worrying at all about what you can’t do.” – Joyce Meyer.

Tracey is an unassuming person who knows that hard work is a part of succeeding. She has already developed many traits that put her on the path to achieving her goals. We are proud of you, Tracey!

Intelligent, Outgoing Colton Sleper!

Colton Sleper hails from the Juaneño Band of Mission Indians of California.  They are the original inhabitants of what is now known as Orange County. Colton’s family members are great leaders in the tribe. And you can see their strength through Colton. He was able to graduate with high honors in January from Spanish Fork High School.  He has spent his time exploring his “options.” He is working now and says he will eventually go to college. His family and friends describe him as intelligent, outgoing and determined.  He has his own way of doing things and he usually ends up on top.

In his free time he likes to listen to music.  He enjoys rap and hip-hop the most. He also likes to watch Drake and Josh. The presence of parodies in the sitcom such as B. F. Wangs, Galaxy Wars and Pintendo can help anyone relax after a stressful day. Another thing that helps make his day is eating his favorite food – ribs, cooked slowly with plenty of sauce. Yum! Maybe a mocha-cola with the ribs would put them over the top.

Colton likes the colors black and red. He enjoys watching and playing baseball. In high school, his favorite class was art. Something he will always remember about high school is graduating early. He would like to one day explore New York. All the different parts of the city intrigue him so going one time will not be enough. A favorite quote of his is, “Always strive and prosper.”

Colton has all the qualities needed to prosper.  He is on his way to doing great things. We wish him all the best and, “Pip, pip da doodly do!” 

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