The New Face of Arts Leadership in the West - westaf - The Western ...

Shandiin Sunrise Presentation
Before the presentation, Shandiin Sunrise introduced
herself in her mother’s language, Diné.
Shawna Shandiin Sunrise: What I just said was
“Hello, they call me Shawna Shandiin Sunrise.”
Then the clan system that I mentioned after
that means the water is coming together. I
referenced my mother’s side, and I was saying
this in my mother’s language, which is Diné. So,
I am introducing myself from my Navajo side.
There are a couple of stories from when I was
a child growing up—my presentations are all in
story form because that is how we all listen to
each other speak. I am standing not because
my head is above you but because when you
are with people you respect, in my culture, you
always stand to address them. That is something
I grew up watching people do, and now I am
doing it. I was the queen of show and tell when
I was a little girl, and I am continuing that tradition.
In my presentation, I am going to be showing
you excerpts of video and reading some
of the poetry that has impacted me and put
me where I am—standing here in front of you.
First, a quick story. When I was growing up, my
father, on the first day of school, would bring me
up to my teacher in public school and he would
say, “This is my daughter, and I just want to let
you know she is never, ever, ever going to have
perfect attendance.” To most teachers, that
is horrifying. Perfect attendance—that is one
thing they strive for. He said, “Because she has
her culture and she has this education. There
are two different educations she needs to be
a part of. If we [her parents] feel the need,
we are going to pull her out of school. But she
knows that she has to make that school time up
because that is a part of her dual education.” I
always thanked my father for that introduction
of me to the teacher because it was one of
the most awesome things he could have done
for me. He introduced that level of saying, “I
don’t care what all you people say. This is our
culture and this is the education that has to
happen.” I completely thank him for all of that.
I do multiple things for my community and,
ironically, I don’t get paid for any of them. All
of it is my life’s work, and I don’t get paid for
it—but I get paid just by being in places like this
and in terms of the opportunities I can share with
my community. I am going to start by talking
about Americans for Indian Opportunity (AIO), a
leadership program from which I just graduated.
The program was founded in 1993 by LaDonna
Harris. LaDonna Harris was a Comanche woman
who was married to Ed Harris, a United States
Senator from Oklahoma back in the ‘60s. The
organization sponsored one of the most awesome
experiences I have engaged in. I realize
that I am representing them here, so I hope I am
doing it well. I want to start off with a poem I
wrote that is going to be published in the UCLA
Indigenous Peoples’ Journal of Law, Culture
and Resistance. I am not really a writer per se,
but I write down a lot of things I feel at certain
moments traveling between here and there and
reflecting. This is one of the reflection pieces:
Ooo rongi I oo (Sky, Father of Peace)
Flying over the equator, away from my new
Maori
Brothers and Sisters,
Thinking of the given love,
The wholeness of people
As we return to our jobs and our lives
But in the secret part of us
We will be thinking of a specific moment
Replaying it over and over
This is mine
Rainbow over a hangi after it was opened
(Hangi is a traditional community cooking of
food in the ground.)
—“Over the Pacific,”
coming home from Aotearoa, March 21, 2004 1
That poem is about an experience that
concluded my time as an ambassador for the
Americans for Indian Opportunity program. The
program was developed to encompass another
level of leadership we have within. I don’t know
if any of you are aware that, within the United
States, we have tribal leadership and we have
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