The Native Youth Cultural Exchange is a collaboration of Native entities that serves three distinctly different Native communities; Northern California, Hopi and Hawai‘i. The organizers and participants represent a multigenerational effort to share the elders’ wisdom, the adults’ hard work and the youths’ future potential. These representatives come from three islands of Hawai‘i who are involved in the Hawaiian Language Immersion Schools or other Native Hawaiian Charter Schools; the villages of the Hopi reservation; and the diverse Native community residing in Shasta County, California.
Working through the fiscal sponsorship of Local Indians for Education (LIFE), these partners came together during the summer 2003 to form the Native Youth Cultural Exchange.
Where
NYCE takes place in three different geographical areas: the islands of Hawai'i, the dry mesas of Hopi and the forested mountains of the Northern California. All three areas have their own distinct cultures that reflect the relationship to the land. While the land and the people are different, the threats to their sustainability are similar. Land development, resource extraction, reduced access to land, and pollution affect each. In contrast, these Native people also share ancient, cultural methodology that produces healthy individual who know how to nurture the ecology of their particular place on earth. Each group understands that their community extends beyond just people and includes the complex ecological and cosmological systems that co-exist simultaneously in their area. While the cultural methods may vary, each people share similar values of responsibility to this community and conducts its ceremonies and rituals to ensure its well being and continual renewal.
Why
It is the visit to the different areas that is the most powerful act of the Cultural Exchange. The youth are a part of a different community that is far from home yet very similar to their own in core values. While traveling to each of these sites, the participants begin to reflect on the ways of their own people and culture, noticing many of the small details of their own culture. This reflection results in deeper understanding and greater appreciation.
The youth see that there are other Native people are struggling with issues of poverty, broken families and other forms of social distress. While this could sound negative the result is very positive. The youth get a chance to discuss these issues with others, including adults and elders without the shame or fear of judgment that they may have with non-Natives.
By taking the youth from their familiar environments, immersing them in a positive group of Native peers, adults and elders and taking them to new places, the youth realize that they are not alone and that there are others who are confronting the same issues. The communities build intergenerational networks of Native people who can support one another through think tanks, sharing ideas, legislation, action, and prayers. It is through the journey to each of these seemingly different places that we discover just how similar we are.
Native communities are struggling, some more than ever. Land, water and sovereignty rights are being challenged. While rates of incarceration, suicide, homelessness, high school dropout, domestic violence, etc are still very high, legal issues and budget cuts are threatening Native programs. In our own circle of collaborators this is evident.
Native communities are losing members on both ends of the generational spectrum. Each year more elders pass away, taking with them much of the traditional knowledge of place, language and culture. Without cultural practices and elder direction, youth are more likely to become another negative statistic and are more susceptible to the negative aspects of Western culture, confusing the issues of self-identity even further. Many of the solutions to these current problems can be found in the stories and wisdom of the Native cultures; the elders being the gateway to these understandings. Unfortunately, many elders within a family know only parts of the culture or language, forcing youth to seek elder direction from outside their family. For many this is a daunting task that few youth feel comfortable accomplishing. Many youth simply do not how to approach elders or do not have the means to do so. As a result, the knowledge passes with the elder.
The affects of this social climate are evident in the community and family structure: fragmentation, social isolation, loss of indigenous languages and culture. For example, in last year’s group of young men, only one had his natural father in his household, the rest of the fathers were absent, jailed, in recovery or dead. A few of the young men did not have either parent and lived with other relatives. Without structure or direction, our communities are less able to confront the political issues and our Native youth have greater difficulty achieving their potential. This leads to the cycle of negative statistics. The factors contributing to this situation may be complex; however, there is a general agreement that the factors relate to an internal identity conflict.
How
NYCE is based on cultural knowledge and values inherent in traditional wisdom. By honoring tradition, culture and elder wisdom, we assist the youth in determining who they are. When we bridge the gap between youth and elders, the youth discover tools to develop strong self-esteem and an understanding of their roles within their communities. By developing relationships between the generations we provide positive direction for healthier Native communities, more capable of confronting the challenging issues of today.
NYCE embodies a traditional model of intergenerational interaction that is illustrated in the Hawaiian metaphor of the Mo’o, the Lizard. The youth are the head of the Mo‘o; they are the future, but they need the driving force of the adults who are the rear legs in order to move forward. The rear legs are given direction from the spine and the tail which are elders, culture and the past. When the adults follow the direction of the elders, they can push the youth forward into an appropriate direction.
Typical Day
An example of a day planned during the California portion of the exchange illustrates how this process of growth will happen:
- Sunrise Prayer
- Breakfast/ with clean up
- Morning Circle: 1. Discuss any group issues. 2. Thinking and writing exercises. 3. Discuss the plan and theme of the day.
- Meet Cultural Consultant: 1. Discuss Sweatlodge: history, cultural significance, philosophy and rules. 2. Discuss building Sweatlodge. 3. Discuss role of Sweats in the Ancestral Run.
- Travel to location of Sweat materials. 1. Learn about selection process: spiritual and ecological.
- Travel to ceremony site, build sweat. 1. Learn about rules of building Sweat: spiritual, respect, responsibilities. 2. Learn about cosmology of design. 3. Learn about the use of the natural materials.
- Sweat. 1. Meet others at Ceremony. 2. Exposure to all lessons inherent to Sweat Ceremony
- Dinner
- Sunset Prayer
Project Goals and Objectives
The program goals are:
1. To create a safe and positive group of Native peers to which the youth can belong. Within this group communication techniques will be developed and used to discuss the challenges, (emotionally, spiritually, physically, economically and socially) the youth face personally and as members of a Native community. The group will also seek and nurture possible solutions to these issues.
2. To construct an environment that encourages youth to discover cultural aspects that distinctly make them Native and inspires them to learn more about their people and their cultures which have historically provided the structure for cultural sustainability.
3. To develop an atmosphere conducive to intergenerational interaction.
4. To provide hands-on, meaningful, culturally relevant community projects that provide the experiential practice of the above.
The program’s short term objectives:
1. Youth will remain in school, making adequate progress toward graduation or the pursuit of post-secondary education including cultural based traditional education.
2. Youth will improve their ability to communicate feelings and thoughts, orally and in written form.
3. Youth will choose a healthy lifestyle, including sobriety.
4. Youth will participate in community activities with peers, adults and elders.
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