WEBVTT

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Thank you very
much, [INAUDIBLE]..

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[SPEAKING O'ODHAM]

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So just real briefly,
I wanted to offer--

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well, that's what I did.

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I did offer my welcome to
the conference participants.

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I welcome you to our
traditional homeland,

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the homeland of the O'odham.

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The University of Arizona
sits on our traditional lands.

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And also, as a member of
the Tohono O'odham Nation,

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I also welcome you
here, and that I

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hope that while you are here
that you are, I want to say,

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happy or that you feel
good about yourself

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while you're here.

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Because that's kind of what
we expect people to be,

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to feel good about being here--

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not just visiting, but
that you take something

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from here, and especially
from this desert community,

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that will stay with you and
be a good part within you

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when you leave.

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And so that was my welcome
to you for those of you

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who are not from here, or else
those of you who are gathering

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as part of the conference.

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And of course, welcome to the
University of Arizona campus.

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I have been here for
a long, long time.

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I did all my degrees here, my
undergrad degree and a master's

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and a doctorate, and had
an administrative position

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and have been faculty
here for a long time.

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So this place is
also home for me,

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and I'm always very proud
of our campus and the things

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that it has to offer and
our beautiful facilities.

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I hope you enjoy them while
you're here as visitors.

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--your mic up just a little bit.

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[INAUDIBLE]

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Thank you.

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So I just corresponded
briefly with Prageeta

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about my participation this
evening, and she said to read

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and-- she said, or you
can talk about whatever

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it's important to you as well.

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And so I think when I
went through some pieces

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and made decisions about
what to read, of course,

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we can't help but think about
what's going on around us

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these days, and I've
been very struck by,

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of course, what's been going
on just with our planet.

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And so the first pieces I'm
going to read is going to,

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I think, say a little
bit about our land,

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our landscape, and
the people that

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walk around those landscapes.

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"O'odham Dances."

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"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

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‘apt ge cuhug oidk o ka:d mat hab o kaijjid:
“‘oig ‘o, ‘oig ‘o

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‘at hahawa o ma:si
‘oig ‘o, ‘oig ‘o

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am o aṣkia wi’is g ñeñe’i
‘oig ‘o, ‘oig ‘o ‘at hahawa o ‘i-ceṣ g taṣ

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‘oig ‘o, ‘oig ‘o
am o aṣkia wi’is g s-cuhug ‘oig ‘o, ‘oig ‘o.”

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It is time for the
ritual, to dance,

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to sing so that rain may
come, so that the Earth may

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be fixed one more time.

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Throughout the
night, a night too

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short for such important work,
the people converge energies.

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They call upon the night.

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They call upon the
stars and the darkness.

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They call upon the hot breezes.

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They call upon the heat
coming off the Earth.

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They implore all animals--

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the ones that fly in
the sky, the ones that

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crawl upon the Earth,
the ones that walk,

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the ones that swim in the
water, and the ones that move in

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between water sky and Earth.

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They implore them to
focus on the moisture.

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They all are dependent.

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From the dark dryness of the
desert on that one night,

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the call of the people is heard.

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It is heard by the
oceans, winds, and clouds.

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All respond sympathetically.

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Throughout the night,
you hear the one who

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is assigned yelling
“‘oig ‘o, ‘oig ‘o, before it

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becomes light, “‘oig ‘o, ‘oig ‘o, there
are still songs to be sung.

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“‘oig ‘o, ‘oig ‘o, before the
Sun comes up, “‘oig ‘o, ‘oig ‘o,

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there's still a little
bit of night left.

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With the dawn, we
face the Sunrise.

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We face it with
all our humility.

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We are all mere beings.

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All we can do is extend our
hands toward the first light.

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In our hands, we
capture the first light.

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We take it and
cleanse ourselves.

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We touch our eyes with it.

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We touch our faces with it.

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We touch our hair with it.

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We touch our limbs.

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We rub our hands together.

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We want to keep
this light with us.

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We are complete with this light.

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This is the way we
begin and end things."

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And my friend and
partner Jonathan,

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I didn't think about
the fact that he

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was going to be filming again.

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That was a piece that Jonathan
and I did for a poetry film

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this past year, for the--

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what's it called?

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The Cowboy Festival
in Reno, Nevada.

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That's where it was first shown.

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And it was an
interesting experience,

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I think for both Jonathan
and I. But the piece is--

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it says a lot about
O'odham and the way

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they see things in this
landscape in the end.

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And I think Jonathan represented
it very well visually.

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