American Indian Caucus Day Field Trip

I wanted to share the pictures and experience of last Monday's field
trip with you. We took 26 students on this trip to the capitol.
Three of our students Canyon Haveron - SHHS, Ciera Alldredge PHS,
Alfredo Quintana MMHS, job shadowed Senators and Representative for
the day, which gave them an inside look into the process of law
making.

Those that didn't "shadow" were able to tour the capitol including the
"Telling My Utah Story" exhibit, we had the opportunity to meet and
talk with our legislator Senator Henderson about issues that are of
concern for our community. Students enjoyed seeing the artwork,
sitting in the balcony where bills are passed into law, many of our
students had not visited the capitol before so it was fun to see their
reaction. The American Indian Caucus Day gathering took place right
next door under the supervision of the Director of Division of Indian
Affairs, Shirlee Silversmith and her staff. They made the arrangements
for shadowing for us. As Nebo students entered the tribal leaders
assembly, we were honored to have Navajo Nation Vice President
Jonathon Nez address our students with a special talk about
responsibilities of future leaders! Goshute tribal Chairman Rupert
Steele offered a prayer and blessed Nebo students on stage at this
tribal leaders conference. We met and ate with Utah tribal leaders and
delegates, they were very happy to see young Native American youth
participating in this event. I think what I kept hearing over and over
from different people was this simple observation that I heard upon
arrival "It warms my heart to see our youth showing up to an event
like this and participating, your tribe needs you." Our field trip was
informative and an important teaching experience, we are currently
tracking bills in after-school lab that will impact our Native
communities.
Director Silversmith made arrangements for our students to visit the
Museum of Fine Arts which is usually closed on Mondays, but they
opened it for our students to see the "Go West" exhibit, art of the
American Frontier from the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. This
exhibit examines the development and disruption of the American West
through more than eighty original artworks by Euro-American and Plains
Indian artists!
We had a BLAST, thank you for making this possible! EIleen Quintana,
Nebo Title VI