WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.750 align:middle line:90% [APPLAUSE] 00:00:03.750 --> 00:00:05.520 align:middle line:90% Thank you. 00:00:05.520 --> 00:00:10.230 align:middle line:84% [GREETS AUDIENCE IN O'ODHAM] My name means "warm cloud" 00:00:10.230 --> 00:00:14.100 align:middle line:84% in the O'odham language, which is pretty cool, 00:00:14.100 --> 00:00:16.540 align:middle line:84% considering the name of the project. 00:00:16.540 --> 00:00:18.420 align:middle line:84% I wouldn't have known about this project 00:00:18.420 --> 00:00:21.960 align:middle line:84% if it wasn't for a friend of mine, Rachel Espinoza, who's 00:00:21.960 --> 00:00:24.220 align:middle line:90% actually a local Tucson artist. 00:00:24.220 --> 00:00:26.110 align:middle line:90% She's also O'odham as well. 00:00:26.110 --> 00:00:28.330 align:middle line:84% And she told me about this a while back 00:00:28.330 --> 00:00:31.720 align:middle line:84% and I submitted and happened to be here today. 00:00:31.720 --> 00:00:34.280 align:middle line:90% So I'm really thankful. 00:00:34.280 --> 00:00:37.267 align:middle line:84% I'm here with my family, my kids. 00:00:37.267 --> 00:00:39.100 align:middle line:84% I think two of my daughters are in the back. 00:00:39.100 --> 00:00:41.940 align:middle line:90% 00:00:41.940 --> 00:00:46.450 align:middle line:84% Just want to follow up with what you 00:00:46.450 --> 00:00:50.640 align:middle line:84% were saying about the church and just 00:00:50.640 --> 00:00:54.210 align:middle line:84% my experience as an O'odham, as a Native. 00:00:54.210 --> 00:00:56.940 align:middle line:84% Like, we are living in two worlds 00:00:56.940 --> 00:01:01.960 align:middle line:84% and it's kind of hard to figure out who you are sometimes. 00:01:01.960 --> 00:01:04.769 align:middle line:84% And a lot of our youth are trying 00:01:04.769 --> 00:01:09.660 align:middle line:84% to hold on to themselves, their identity, and their souls. 00:01:09.660 --> 00:01:11.890 align:middle line:84% Like, there's a lot going on in our communities. 00:01:11.890 --> 00:01:16.690 align:middle line:84% We have young people committing suicide and dying. 00:01:16.690 --> 00:01:19.240 align:middle line:84% And a lot of us grew up like that. 00:01:19.240 --> 00:01:21.600 align:middle line:84% That's kind of how I grew up, was just always going 00:01:21.600 --> 00:01:23.050 align:middle line:90% to funerals all the time. 00:01:23.050 --> 00:01:26.900 align:middle line:84% And it's just a constant in our communities. 00:01:26.900 --> 00:01:29.670 align:middle line:84% So that's how I started writing, you know, 00:01:29.670 --> 00:01:32.360 align:middle line:84% was just basically writing my feelings out. 00:01:32.360 --> 00:01:34.990 align:middle line:84% And, you know, I look back at my poems, 00:01:34.990 --> 00:01:37.590 align:middle line:84% because I do have some of my poems from way back then. 00:01:37.590 --> 00:01:40.840 align:middle line:84% A lot of them are real dark and, you know, kind of, 00:01:40.840 --> 00:01:43.190 align:middle line:84% like, really depressing and stuff. 00:01:43.190 --> 00:01:46.730 align:middle line:84% But if you don't get it out you don't get it off your chest, 00:01:46.730 --> 00:01:50.440 align:middle line:84% it's going to eat away at you so that's what I try to do. 00:01:50.440 --> 00:01:57.940 align:middle line:84% And as far as, like, what you're saying about the church, 00:01:57.940 --> 00:02:01.660 align:middle line:84% you know, I grew up traditional with my father, 00:02:01.660 --> 00:02:05.170 align:middle line:84% just being taught the O'odham himdag, our way of life 00:02:05.170 --> 00:02:09.460 align:middle line:84% and our culture and it was always like, 00:02:09.460 --> 00:02:11.830 align:middle line:84% I guess, conflicting to me because, you know, 00:02:11.830 --> 00:02:15.100 align:middle line:84% a lot of our relatives, even my grandparents grew up 00:02:15.100 --> 00:02:17.030 align:middle line:84% in the church, were married in the church. 00:02:17.030 --> 00:02:20.050 align:middle line:90% And I was taught the opposite. 00:02:20.050 --> 00:02:22.010 align:middle line:84% We don't go to church and stuff like that. 00:02:22.010 --> 00:02:26.080 align:middle line:90% And I lost my son last year. 00:02:26.080 --> 00:02:30.440 align:middle line:84% Actually, it was 2022, October 30th, 2022. 00:02:30.440 --> 00:02:32.060 align:middle line:90% He committed suicide. 00:02:32.060 --> 00:02:33.610 align:middle line:90% His name was Joaquin Suniga. 00:02:33.610 --> 00:02:40.200 align:middle line:84% But you know, losing him and having 00:02:40.200 --> 00:02:43.470 align:middle line:84% so many people send prayers for our family, 00:02:43.470 --> 00:02:46.440 align:middle line:84% you know, not everybody was traditional. 00:02:46.440 --> 00:02:49.380 align:middle line:84% A lot of people went to church and they 00:02:49.380 --> 00:02:51.240 align:middle line:84% prayed to who they pray to, you know, 00:02:51.240 --> 00:02:53.270 align:middle line:84% and when you're receiving prayers, 00:02:53.270 --> 00:02:55.770 align:middle line:84% it's, like, it's kind of hard to be like, oh, no, don't pray 00:02:55.770 --> 00:02:58.510 align:middle line:84% for me, because you're praying to Jesus or whatever, you know. 00:02:58.510 --> 00:03:00.840 align:middle line:84% But I appreciated that, you know, 00:03:00.840 --> 00:03:02.790 align:middle line:84% that people actually took the time to, 00:03:02.790 --> 00:03:05.580 align:middle line:84% like, pray for our family and try to uplift us 00:03:05.580 --> 00:03:10.420 align:middle line:84% and bring us food to make sure that we had something to eat. 00:03:10.420 --> 00:03:13.500 align:middle line:84% And we had a lot of singers come and sing and dance 00:03:13.500 --> 00:03:17.040 align:middle line:84% and, you know, it meant a lot to our family. 00:03:17.040 --> 00:03:19.680 align:middle line:84% And when our family is going through some stuff, 00:03:19.680 --> 00:03:22.800 align:middle line:84% we had to meet up with some medicine people, 00:03:22.800 --> 00:03:26.160 align:middle line:84% and they're O'odham, also from Tohono. 00:03:26.160 --> 00:03:30.330 align:middle line:84% And as they're praying, you know, they're doing traditional, 00:03:30.330 --> 00:03:32.890 align:middle line:84% and they have, you know, their ways in. 00:03:32.890 --> 00:03:38.010 align:middle line:84% But they also were praying, you know, to Jesus Christ and stuff 00:03:38.010 --> 00:03:41.160 align:middle line:84% like that, which was kind of weird but at the same time, 00:03:41.160 --> 00:03:45.720 align:middle line:84% it's like, it was coming from a good place, 00:03:45.720 --> 00:03:47.170 align:middle line:90% and it was really needed. 00:03:47.170 --> 00:03:51.900 align:middle line:84% So I guess it's conflicting for us as Native people 00:03:51.900 --> 00:03:56.700 align:middle line:84% living basically in two worlds and going through what 00:03:56.700 --> 00:03:57.970 align:middle line:90% we go through every day. 00:03:57.970 --> 00:04:02.520 align:middle line:84% So I think that's one of the things that kind of divides 00:04:02.520 --> 00:04:06.120 align:middle line:84% our people is that you go to this church, 00:04:06.120 --> 00:04:09.080 align:middle line:84% or you're going traditional or, like, we can't come together. 00:04:09.080 --> 00:04:12.910 align:middle line:84% But in the end, we always do come together, you know. 00:04:12.910 --> 00:04:16.010 align:middle line:84% Somebody passes away or somebody getting married or whatever. 00:04:16.010 --> 00:04:18.079 align:middle line:84% We always have to put all that stuff aside. 00:04:18.079 --> 00:04:21.430 align:middle line:84% And right now, I feel like it's more important than ever 00:04:21.430 --> 00:04:24.470 align:middle line:84% to unite no matter what our differences are. 00:04:24.470 --> 00:04:27.640 align:middle line:84% So I just wanted to thank you for sharing what you shared 00:04:27.640 --> 00:04:31.940 align:middle line:90% and just going off of that.