Page 12 - the NOISE May 2015

Collaborative CommuNities & CoNtested spaCes:
CoNfereNCe oN teaChiNg, resistaNCe, alliaNCe
story by
Kyle boggs
when we approach a controversy, we bring ourselves to it. There are reasons why a skier may look to the san Francisco Peaks, and imagine an entirely different landscape than someone else — and those reasons are political. Different formations of race, class, gender, sexuality, national identity, as well as individual experiences and influences — not only inform
where our allegiances lie, but also shape the way we understand controversy in contested spaces. while we all inhabit complex lives, and embody complex identities, all too often, aca- demics talk to academics, activists talk to activists, and community educators talk to commu- nity educators. This compartmentalization of people also reflects the way the disputes them- selves are pigeon-holed, and overly simplified as “environmental,” “native,” or “economic.” This is often detrimental to meaningful alliances — whether they are lasting ones, or temporary; it also frames who is included, who is excluded, and limits the way people feel they can respond.
It was through this understanding that, on April 10 and 11, a diverse group of citizens of the Colorado Plateau came together to discuss how they have resisted that compartmentalization of people and concerns, and showcased their thoughts and strategies for translating the com- plexity of controversy to multiple audiences.
whether considering the controversy over development on the san Francisco Peaks, uranium mining on the Colorado Plateau, or the proposed commercial development at the confluence of the Colorado and Little Colorado River, or broader issues like climate change — activists, art- ists, academics, k-12 teachers, and community educators came together under the premise that everyone might learn from each other, that even by uncovering irreconcilable differences — im- portant, necessary, and productive conversations will unfold. And that is exactly what happened.
saturday morning began with a prayer by former vice-chairwoman for the Havasupai Tribe, Dianna sue Uqualla. Because the conference took place at the Museum of northern Arizona, Ms. Uqualla wanted to take some time up front to acknowledge the many artifacts the museum housed from her tribe, which she regarded as sacred. she wanted to acknowledge that beyond the small group of people gathered for the conference, that there were thousands of years of her people’s ancestral spirits who were present in the room with them, and they were all listening.
Ms. Uqualla joined the first panel of speakers, who included Dr. stephanie Capaldo and Rachel Tso who discussed the ways they approach teaching. Dr. Capaldo, an environmental historian who teaches humanities courses on themes related to the environment & the southwest for northern Arizona University’s Department of Comparative Cultural studies, discussed the cre- ative ways her students have learned to complicate their understanding, attitudes, and beliefs of what the environment is, where it is, how they are implicated in those ideas, and how those narratives are in constant flux. she has designed innovative public humanities projects for her students, which have brought them out of the classroom, and into nAU’s special Collections & Archives. Dr. Capaldo also showed the group the ways she has challenged traditional academic
12 • MAY 2015 • the NOISE arts & news • thenoise.us
image by Chip thomas
assessment by integrating alternative ways students might demonstrate what they have learned, for example, by sketching out a concept or theory, rather than sit down and write about it.
Rachel Tso is director of the sTAR school (service To All Relations, the first off-grid — solar and wind powered — charter school in the country, located on the southeastern border of the navajo nation) Media Arts Program, specializing in place-based storytelling. she also teaches filmmaking and communications at nAU. Place-based education, explained Ms. Tso, starts with learning about the land and culture as the context upon which education takes place. For Ms. Tso’s media curriculum, place-based education means integrating local knowledge into the stories the students tell through film. One example she showed the group is “Red Bird saves the Corn,” which retold the traditional navajo spider woman story, through lightbox animation, narrated by students. Films like this, produced in her classes, have won many awards, allowing her students to travel throughout the country and around the world.
More important than the recognition, however, is the impact place-based story telling has on her students. Ms. Tso recounted one student, who she described as disengaged, who always wore a beanie that came down over his eyes. Ms. Tso noticed a change in this student, a “light in his eyes,” when he had the opportunity to play his grandfather in a school play. A week before opening night, administrators told him that he would not be allowed to par- ticipate because he had so many missing assignments in his other classes. The day before opening night, this student came in and slapped a big stack of papers on her desk. “He had worked hard to complete every assignment he was missing for the opportunity to represent his grandfather,” Ms. Tso said.
Ms. Uqualla echoed how important it is to teach, and also learn from children. “It’s amazing to hear such knowledge that these little children carry,” she said. “Children are very important ... my elders, for many centuries, told us the story of the seventh generation,” Ms. Uqualla paused.
“This is the seventh generation. I see them bringing balance back into this world.”
Other local educators, including Cody Cannon and Jeff Meilander demonstrated curriculums they have developed in helping elementary and high schools students understand complex
cultural and environmental issues that center on issues related to food security, resource man- agement, and more. while Vanessa nosie, co-founder of native Insight, doesn’t consider her- self a teacher in the same way that Mr. Cannon and Meilander do, as a Chiricahua Apache and native activist, she explains the responsibility she has in passing down traditions and customs as they have been passed down to her. Her work has focused on the complex ways in which native youth navigate their identities with, as she says, “a foot in two worlds.” Ms. nosie is con- vinced that if people saw Mount Graham, for example, the way that she sees it, or at least will- ing to respect the role that mountain plays in the culture of the Apache people, astronomers at the University of Arizona would regard their telescope project as ironic as she does, that de-
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