DAY 4 - FROM THE RES...TO THE BIG CITY

MICHELLE:

Today we headed out bright and early to the Ak Chin reservation about an hour out of Phoenix City.  Driving through the res there were definite parallels for me with state housing areas in New Zealand in the 80s.  The houses all looked the same but the land is barren with no grass and very little foliage.  There were elements which reflected hardship and poverty but there was beauty in the rawness of the landscape.  We arrived at the Ak Chin Indian Community Education Centre and Library to meet with Dr Jeff Thornburg, the Education Director, and Stephanie, the Manager of the 'Head Start Programme' (preschool education center promoting native language learning).  Discussion was heavily focussed on the importance of language, identity and culture and the aspirations of language revitalisation and the barriers encountered on the journey of their people in this area.  The conversation was rich, informative and inspiring.  The barriers faced by this community are immense but they are determined to maintain the culture, traditions, true history and identity of the Ak Chin people.  Both Jeff and Stephanie have a mountain to climb and are passionate about their community and leading the way forward for their people.

We were joined by a member of the Ak Chin Tribal Council, Mr Gabe Lopez.  Gabe has been a council member for many years and we were humbled and honoured to hear his story.  He shared his schooling, upbringing in a traditional household, cultural influences, and his aspirations for his people.  He shared the battles the tribe has faced at a government level and spaces and places that they have influence.  He was brought up in the traditional native way and speaks his heritage language fluently.

PODCAST with Gabe - P1: Life on the Res

PODCAST with Gabe - P2: Life in Education #1

PODCAST with Gabe - P3: Life in Education #2

Listening to the people of Ak Chin was a humbling experience.  There were many parallels drawn between the journey of the Ak Chin language revitalisation aspirations and that of the revitalisation of te reo in Aotearoa.  The car ride on the way to Westford Hills here in Phoenix, following the talanoa at the res visit, was a great opportunity to debrief, share our thoughts, opinions, and learnings from our visit to Ak Chin.  

At the American Leadership Academy, we met with Tim Su'esu'e Leafao, the Head Softball coach for the Academy.  This talanoa focused on the values of leadership through a coaching lens.  The main takeaways I got from Tim's talanoa were belief and time.  He shared his experiences growing up in American Samoa, coming to America, the struggles his family faced and the people who most influenced him to be the coach he is today.  He spoke a lot about people who gave him time and believed in him growing up and how he imparts these same values through his role as both a coach and teacher to the students he works with.  The Academy is an amazing place...it's only 2 years old.  The facilities are eye-watering, the campus is huge and of the likes you'd see at a private school in New Zealand.  This school is a charter school and Tim spoke very highly of the Principal and management of the school, as did the students that Mary and Nardi spoke with.

Following our talanoa at ALA we headed back to the city to meet with a power couple in the business/non-profit world, GinaMarie Scarpa and Ralph Marchetta.  GinaMarie is the president and CEO of NABI Nation, a non-profit organisation that founded the largest Native American basketball tournament in America.  NABI believes using the love and sport of basketball is the perfect tool to unite thousands of Native/Indigenous youth and inspire them to continue to develop and play the sport of basketball, and to use their talents and skills to pursue higher education while striving to become tomorrow's leaders. She is a mentor and advocates for women in business and walks in a multitude of worlds through her organisation.  GinaMarie's husband Ralph is part of the Phoenix Suns Executive Team.  He opened the America West Arena (currently Footprint Centre) in 1992 as Event Manager.  In 1996 he became Vice President of Entertainment for the Arena and the Dodge Theatre.  In 2007 he became Senior Vice President and General Manager, a position he holds today.

We chatted with Ralph covering several topics around leadership and acquired some wonderful insights into servant leadership, never forgetting the little guy, not sweating the small stuff, starting at the bottom, not being above anything or anyone, being genuine, and having fun on the job.  I was curious when I asked him about wellbeing.  He talked about wellbeing as being a double-edged sword...It is absolutely important to look after ourselves but in today's society, if you are seen to be taking care of yourself and aiming for work-life balance, you are seen by some as being slack and not giving your all to your job.  It is incredibly difficult as a leader/boss to find the balance with your employees on this because you want to get the most out of your people, but you don't want to burn them out.

Today was a full-on day with so much to see and hear.  I was excited to get our first recordings for our podcast underway and am learning as we go in terms of questioning skills, staying on topic, creating and staying true to the kaupapa of the podcast.  We will now have to look closely at editing and maintaining the integrity of the talanoa while trimming the tangents as we go.  So much to think about! 

MARY:

Ralph is the man! Such a humble man, from humble beginnings.

Key messaging I got from Ralph today are

• Do things you want to do - he loves music and sports but wasn't any good at it so he now manages the Phoneix Suns basketball stadium and got to live his two passions
• Be a kid
• Don’t sweat the small stuff. As you gain more experience (get older) you really don’t sweat the small stuff - don’t care - I know this from others I have had the privilege of engaging with.
• Your experiences give you the wisdom
• Ralph started at the bottom. He had done every job before he landed the big one and to this day he still has relationships with the people he started with - that is important.

I would like to make more time for the people - how can I advance the current structures at school to allow me more time with people?

My wonderings from our chat with Ralph:

• When you come to a stage in your life and know what is more important, that becomes your new vision? Does it? Have I come to this point or have I not arrived yet? What is it?

Ak Chin Tribe

From our meeting at Ak Chin, below are my thoughts

Politics is huge here in conversations with people and listening to other people in passing, politics is the hot topic at the breakfast table, in restaurants, parks, hotel lobbies, airports etc

Stephanie - thank you for your unselfish giving and desire to think of others before yourself. You will leave a legacy for others to follow. Stephane is a byproduct of the Head Start programme.

The Head Start programme for ECE is a trailblazer in language revitalisation, however when tamariki leave the Head Start programme they go mainstream...there is no pathway for the language past ECE.

Is there any longitudinal data to show the success of the programme?

There are the elders who are frightened to allow their stories to be shared particularly on the internet, this is a barrier in the governance too. How do culture and language get passed down if elders are afraid to pass on the stories, messages, and values?

Jeff - Is challenging the status quo because it is the right thing to do. Jeff struggles with both sides of the coin dealing with the governing bodies, tribe and the school structures.

He needs more personnel to help him in his vision and I wish all the best!

Be really interesting to do a sabbatical here- show tamariki of my Kura and staff to truly serve you need to be in spaces you are called to. We tend to say things and do we enact these? I am going to re-look at our values and honestly ask myself 'am I doing this?' How?

Gabe: Native Council...a byproduct of the Head Start programme, growing up in a very traditional family.

I would like to see Gabe and his success celebrated. Hold the mirror up Mary,. Do you do this?

I don’t either- I need to be comfortable in the successes and not whakama- I will try! Do 1 when I get home. There have been a number of successful events at MES and I am still yet to post 1. If you are reading this, hit me up and see if I have done one when I get back to NZ.

Ak-Chin people (Tribe)

Next time do my homework- learn more about the people of the land before coming here. Like people coming to NZ and being oblivious to Maori.

NARDI:

Today I found myself questioning my role in the group and wondering if I my contribution to the group was productive.  While Michelle led the Inquiry and Mary was in charge of Technology, I was in charge of logistics and organisation.  While logistics and organisation is important and right up my alley, it is the korero with our guests that is central to our learning journey and the gems are often in amongst the discussions. The new learning I was taking on board from Mary regarding podcasting was invaluable.  But the strength of this group is our respect and honesty with each other.  (plus it helps we actually enjoy each others company!! hahaha) I shared with my colleagues how I was feeling and they were quick to highlight and reiterate everyones strengths hence why we allocated the roles we did.  PLUS the discussions following each interview have always been robust and challenging.  We all have our own perspective and thoughts that we share openly.    What will be interesting is if we will still hold the same views down the track.