Thank you very much, [INAUDIBLE]..
[SPEAKING O'ODHAM]
So just real briefly, I wanted to offer--
well, that's what I did.
I did offer my welcome to the conference participants.
I welcome you to our traditional homeland,
the homeland of the O'odham.
The University of Arizona sits on our traditional lands.
And also, as a member of the Tohono O'odham Nation,
I also welcome you here, and that I
hope that while you are here that you are, I want to say,
happy or that you feel good about yourself
while you're here.
Because that's kind of what we expect people to be,
to feel good about being here--
not just visiting, but that you take something
from here, and especially from this desert community,
that will stay with you and be a good part within you
when you leave.
And so that was my welcome to you for those of you
who are not from here, or else those of you who are gathering
as part of the conference.
And of course, welcome to the University of Arizona campus.
I have been here for a long, long time.
I did all my degrees here, my undergrad degree and a master's
and a doctorate, and had an administrative position
and have been faculty here for a long time.
So this place is also home for me,
and I'm always very proud of our campus and the things
that it has to offer and our beautiful facilities.
I hope you enjoy them while you're here as visitors.
--your mic up just a little bit.
[INAUDIBLE]
Thank you.
So I just corresponded briefly with Prageeta
about my participation this evening, and she said to read
and-- she said, or you can talk about whatever
it's important to you as well.
And so I think when I went through some pieces
and made decisions about what to read, of course,
we can't help but think about what's going on around us
these days, and I've been very struck by,
of course, what's been going on just with our planet.
And so the first pieces I'm going to read is going to,
I think, say a little bit about our land,
our landscape, and the people that
walk around those landscapes.
"O'odham Dances."
"E-atkǐ ‘ep ‘ai mat o ‘e-keihi g O’odham o ‘e-keihi kut hab masma ab o ‘i ha-miabǐ g ju:kǐ
‘apt ge cuhug oidk o ka:d mat hab o kaijjid: “‘oig ‘o, ‘oig ‘o
‘at hahawa o ma:si ‘oig ‘o, ‘oig ‘o
am o aṣkia wi’is g ñeñe’i ‘oig ‘o, ‘oig ‘o ‘at hahawa o ‘i-ceṣ g taṣ
‘oig ‘o, ‘oig ‘o am o aṣkia wi’is g s-cuhug ‘oig ‘o, ‘oig ‘o.”
It is time for the ritual, to dance,
to sing so that rain may come, so that the Earth may
be fixed one more time.
Throughout the night, a night too
short for such important work, the people converge energies.
They call upon the night.
They call upon the stars and the darkness.
They call upon the hot breezes.
They call upon the heat coming off the Earth.
They implore all animals--
the ones that fly in the sky, the ones that
crawl upon the Earth, the ones that walk,
the ones that swim in the water, and the ones that move in
between water sky and Earth.
They implore them to focus on the moisture.
They all are dependent.
From the dark dryness of the desert on that one night,
the call of the people is heard.
It is heard by the oceans, winds, and clouds.
All respond sympathetically.
Throughout the night, you hear the one who
is assigned yelling “‘oig ‘o, ‘oig ‘o, before it
becomes light, “‘oig ‘o, ‘oig ‘o, there are still songs to be sung.
“‘oig ‘o, ‘oig ‘o, before the Sun comes up, “‘oig ‘o, ‘oig ‘o,
there's still a little bit of night left.
With the dawn, we face the Sunrise.
We face it with all our humility.
We are all mere beings.
All we can do is extend our hands toward the first light.
In our hands, we capture the first light.
We take it and cleanse ourselves.
We touch our eyes with it.
We touch our faces with it.
We touch our hair with it.
We touch our limbs.
We rub our hands together.
We want to keep this light with us.
We are complete with this light.
This is the way we begin and end things."
And my friend and partner Jonathan,
I didn't think about the fact that he
was going to be filming again.
That was a piece that Jonathan and I did for a poetry film
this past year, for the--
what's it called?
The Cowboy Festival in Reno, Nevada.
That's where it was first shown.
And it was an interesting experience,
I think for both Jonathan and I. But the piece is--
it says a lot about O'odham and the way
they see things in this landscape in the end.
And I think Jonathan represented it very well visually.