Month: November 2013

John Wayne taught my daughter that she is an Indian

On By Matthew Sakiestewa GilbertIn Films, John WayneLeave a comment

In honor of my daughter Hannah’s 9th birthday, I’m passing along a short essay that I published on John Ford’s film Fort Apache (1948).

When Hannah was four years old, we watched this film together and I wrote about the experience for LeAnne Howe, Harvey Markowitz, and Denise K. Cummings’ edited collection entitled Seeing Red- Hollywood Pixel Skins: American Indians and Film.

There are so many ways for authors to approach their reviews of films.

At first, I wanted to write a scathing commentary on the racists ways the film depicted Native people, but I chose instead to understand the film from the perspective of an American Indian child.

I had hoped to reach more people with this approach, and bring a sense of the “humanity” to the larger topic of films, stereotypes, and racism.

As I mention in the essay, my time seeing the film with Hannah also brought back many childhood memories of watching John Wayne films on Saturday afternoons with my dad.

Screenshot 2013-11-29 10.26.20
Click to download (3 pages)

Coyote still has something to teach us about running

On By Matthew Sakiestewa GilbertIn RunningLeave a comment

Below is  a story in Runner’s World about a coyote who joined the 5K race at the recent AIA Cross Country State Championship in Phoenix, Arizona.

News reporters noted that the coyote only stayed in the race for 50 meters, and one AIA official jokingly suggested that he may have been chasing after The Road Runner.

But I believe that there was a far deeper reason why Coyote joined the race.

People back home talk about how Hopi runners of long ago learned to run by studying the running motions of various animals. I can only imagine what Coyote was thinking when he ran with the other runners at the AIA event:

“Look at me run. Observe my speed, strength, and grace. See how effortlessly I run alongside, behind, and ahead of you. I still have something to teach you.”

________________

Picture 2

Fatal injury for Hopi football player

On By Matthew Sakiestewa GilbertIn Charles Youvella, Hopi newsLeave a comment

On Monday of this week one of our Hopi High football players named Charles Youvella died two days after receiving an injury to the head during a game against Arizona Lutheran Academy. Many media networks are covering this story, including CNN and the Associated Press. To learn more about Youvella, and the circumstances surrounding his death, see also Felicia Fonseca’s article “Arizona football player dies after game injury”, and Richard Obert’s “High school football player Charles Youvella’s death came under ordinary circumstances during a playoff game.” Please keep the Youvella family in your thoughts and prayers. This has also been a difficult time for students, teachers, and staff at the Hopi High School and the Arizona Lutheran Academy.

Nuvamsa questions Hopi Tribe attorney payments

On By Matthew Sakiestewa GilbertIn Benjamin H. Nuvamsa, Hopi Government, Hopi Tribal Council2 Comments

Below is a letter written by Benjamin H. Nuvamsa to the Hopi Tribal Council. This letter has been submitted to be published in the Hopi Tutuveni. Used with permission.

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November 6, 2013

Letter to the Hopi Tribal Council:

The startling news coming out of the Hopi Tribal Council meeting this week concerns the $22 million that Leroy Shingoitewa and you, Hopi Tribal Council, allowed Robert Lyttle to rack up on 45 of his attorney friends. We understand Shingoitewa and Lyttle advised the tribal council to not worry because they will “pay the tribe back” when they win the lawsuits. And we hear there is another $12 million more in invoices that still remain to be processed.

So why do you authorize the lawsuits, or do you? Is it so that Lyttle and friends can make money betting on the come that they will win the lawsuits? You know there are no guarantees that lawsuits will be won. The only guarantee is that Lyttle and his attorneys will get our money by racking up billable hours. And we lose.

While tribal members were surprised and aghast at the news, I was not surprised. Not at all! For some of us have been writing letters to you ever since Leroy Shingoitewa came into office and brought Robert Lyttle to the scene – around May 2010. We advised you of the excessive billings and all the attorneys that Lyttle brought to the tribe without the benefit of tribal council approval (council resolutions) and without attorney contracts. We know how Robert Lyttle works. We know what he did to several Arizona and California Indian tribes. Maybe you were not getting our letters, or maybe you were simply ignoring our advice, but this matter has now exploded into a very serious situation where there may be federal criminal violations committed. And our financial position is now in serious question. Certainly, the Hopi people are not happy.

We also advised you of the depletion of tribal accounts and the transferring of funds between accounts to pay the invoices because the other accounts ran dry. I advised you of the possible tax implications on the tribe (and Robert Lyttle and the attorneys). To this date, we don’t believe Lyttle has a legal contract with the tribe. Ask the question: is Lyttle and employee or is he a consultant? There is a big difference. Hard working and conscientious employees working in Finance have been summarily fired by Shingoitewa and Elward Edd for questioning the invoices. They were only doing their job. There are memos from Shingoitewa demanding the staff to pay the invoices. Our advice and complaints went into deaf ears.

The Hopi tribal constitution is very clear. It requires that attorney contracts be formally approved by the tribal council, by council resolution. The constitution also says the Tribal Treasurer cannot spend any money from the treasury unless authorized by tribal council resolution. We assume you, as council members, are aware of these provisions in our tribal constitution.

Because of our concerns about excessive payments to tribal attorneys and violation of tribal procurement policies by Shingoitewa, several of us exercised our right afforded us in the tribal constitution and requested to view the Treasurer’s financial records. As expected, we were denied our request so we filed a Writ of Mandamus in tribal court requesting the court to grant us access to the records. This matter is pending in tribal court.

So, now you have a decision to make. Your duty as tribal council members is to watch over our money. This obligation is spelled out in the tribal constitution. You are our fiduciaries. I advise you to hold off making any payments on the attorney invoices until and when you have completed an exhaustive investigation into this matter. In fact, I encourage you to withhold action on this matter until after the tribal election. But the questions remain the same: Are there authorizing tribal council resolutions for each attorney? Does each attorney have a legal contract with the tribe? Does each attorney contract have an identified (and approved) scope of work? Do the invoices contain the required information on what services were performed? Tribal accounts need a good look to see how much has been taken out and what the remaining balances are. I understand a tribal employee asked you the same questions at the October 29, 2013, tribal council meeting. He knows what he’s talking about.

We trust you will carry out your constitutional duties and protect our money; and hold people accountable.

Benjamin H. Nuvamsa

Village of Shungopavi 

Former Hopi Tribal Chairman

University of Illinois seeks Assistant, Associate, or Full Professor of American Indian Studies

On By Matthew Sakiestewa GilbertIn AIS at Illinois, American Indian Studies, AnnouncementsLeave a comment

University of Illinois — Assistant, Associate, or Full Professor of American Indian Studies

The American Indian Studies Program at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (http://www.ais.illinois.edu) invites applications for an assistant, associate, or full professor position (full time tenure-track or tenured position).

American Indian Studies is searching for a scholar in interdisciplinary American Indian or Indigenous Studies with an emphasis on Native peoples from regions of North America where our campus is located, including the Lower Great Lakes, the Upper Mississippi, and the Mississippi cultural regions. The successful candidate will have a record of research excellence and publication in American Indian or Indigenous studies (tenured) or demonstrate potential to develop such a record (tenure-track). Along with research and publication, the position requires significant contributions to undergraduate teaching, graduate mentoring, in addition to program, university, and other forms of professional service. Current faculty in our unit conduct interdisciplinary research in a range of fields including comparative indigenous studies, media studies, expressive culture, intellectual history, literary history, educational history, sports, social and political theory, language revitalization, museum studies, governance, health, militarization, and performance. Candidates from all disciplinary backgrounds will be considered; however, the search committee is interested in candidates who complement the expertise of our current faculty, and we are particularly interested in candidates whose research focuses on design and fine arts, linguistics, language revitalization, environmental studies, landscape architecture, critical geographies, and disability studies. A joint appointment or teaching arrangement with another academic unit on campus is also likely.

Minimum qualifications include the PhD or equivalent by the start of appointment, clear knowledge and experience in American Indian and Indigenous Studies, scholarly achievement and promise, and evidence of teaching excellence. Experience working with American Indian or other Indigenous communities is a plus.

To ensure full consideration, create your candidate profile through http://go.illinois.edu/AISfaculty13 and submit your letter of application detailing current research plans, curriculum vitae, and contact information for three professional references by December 15, 2013.  The search committee may contact the applicant about soliciting letters of reference at a later point, after a first review of the files.  For inquiries regarding the position, contact search committee chair, Jodi Byrd (jabyrd@illinois.edu).  Target start date of August 16, 2014.  Salary is competitive and commensurate with experience.

Illinois is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer and welcomes individuals with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and ideas who embrace and value diversity and inclusivity. (www.inclusiveillinois.illinois.edu)