Losing A Leader:

Its Impacts on Family and Community

Rebecca Vigil

Tesuque Pueblo

Santa Clara Pueblo

Personal Connection

The persuasion of losing my closest family members encouraged me to choose my topic. Also, my enduring love for each of them including the wisdom and advice they gave me.They taught me how to respect myself and others, and showed me our traditional ways. I am optimistic about how the impact of losing our leaders could affect everyone all around. My auntie encouraged me to do this project because of the impact my grandpa had on everyone from surrounding communities. I'm very happy she pin-pointed this topic to me. I come from two very well-known families. I am very adventurous and a person who puts family first. I love sports and running. One quote I live by is “always do everything with your heart, mind, and body.” My biggest passion is music. I am a very compassionate and social person. My family and friends describe me as friendly and empathetic. My perspective on education has been definitive to enhance into the medical field. I see myself as an EMS or paramedic. My knowledge in the medical field has increased throughout high school.

Identity

Pain from loss can feel overwhelming, which can lead to a person distracting themselves. Not fully accepting that the person we felt connected with is gone can be another factor. People do this by relying on controlled substances, not fully feeling the grief, avoiding being around people, constantly sleeping, not eating, and other things.

Memories and stories are connected to our land as described by B. Toastie in the article, “ How to place names impact the way we see landscapes,” The misinterpretation of the names of the sites sends an unfortunate message to Native Americans. It provides messages that colonizers still own the lands of us ( Native Americans ) who were here first.
In my community, our lands definitely hold our stories and history. From my perspective, the land means the world to me. And it is true that the stories tell us the importance of that site. My family always told me that they were drawn to fighting fires because the main thing on their mind was protecting Mother Nature.

Article 1 MLA citation: Armstrong, Jeanette. 1996 “Sharing One Skin: The Okanagan Community.” Pp. 160-470 in Jerry Mander and Edward Goldsmith (eds). The Case Against the Global Economy, San Francisco, CA: Sierra Club Books.

In the article, “Sharing One Skin,” Jeanette Armstrong describes the importance of what makes up an Okanagan person and builds a strong community. It tells us how important the roles and faith of their culture and traditions are. “ The most serious teaching is that community comes first in our choices, then family, then ourselves as individuals, because without our community and family we are truly not human.” Demonstrates the true qualities of Indigenous people.
As a young lady who participates in my culture, I am taught these similar values. I appreciate the connection I share to this story because of the different ways to describe the two worlds we live in. The way Armstrong says, “You belong. You are them. You are within family and community. You are that of faithfully and community; within that, you cann

Article 2 MLA Citation: Toastie, B. 2022 “ How place names impact how we see landscape.” High Country News.

In the article, “And Then I Went to School,” Joe Suina gives insight into the unfamiliar environment of school and education. Joe Suina, a six-year-old boy, went to school for the first time and was discriminated against for being himself. I think this experience has brought on many people since the ages of boarding schools. The significance of Mr. Suina sharing his experiences is very powerful and empowering to his audience. It brings a sense of pride that although our people went through so much they were instilled with holding onto our traditions and culture in a more sacred way.
The connection between me and the article is that I too struggled to get used to the environment of education and not being able to speak my language to others who didn’t understand it. I was fortunate enough to experience the majority of my school days within my tribal communities. I think the disgrace brought on many like Joe Suina brings me an uplifting feeling, the struggle empowered him in a way to strive farther through his education, even though it brought a disconnect between him and his community. He took the opportunity by remembering that his community was always going to be there and he had that outlook that he must hold onto that big part of him while he was gone.

Article 3 MLA Citation: “And Then I Went to School.” - Memories of a Pueblo Childhood By Joe Suina. Reprint with permission of the author from the New Mexico Journal of Reading, Winter Vol. V, No.2

Connections Through History

Indians of North America: Conflict and Survival

In the article, “Indians of North America: Conflict and Survival,” by Frank W. Porter III describes the importance of gaining knowledge about the hardships Native Americans dealt with. The Native Americans were doubted by other Americans stating that, “D.C., began to study scientifically the history and culture of the Indians of Noth America. They were motivated by an honest belief that the Indians were on the verge of extinction.” This determined to fight for themselves the Native Americans obtained knowledge by binding the Americans with treaties. Although the treaties binded them together they destroyed the Native Americans and lost more than 90 million acres of land. This article describes the relationship between the Indians and the federal government and how it has evolved over time.

Hopps, Sandra. 15 July 2008. American Indian Ways of Leading and Knowing.

An Indigenous Journey to Leadership

In the video “An Indigenous Journey to Leadership” by Eddie Robinson, we learn about the structure of leadership and the importance of becoming an Indigenous leader. It describes the history of how some people lost traditions due to indigenous leaders wanting them to become successful in the white man’s world. Learning the history of Native Americans and the opportunities;m described by Eddie gives us an insight into the history of growing up with leaders who same at different times in his life Dedicating himself to speaking about the tremendous challenges of his granpdarents trauma and how he evolved to coming a leader is very inspiring.

An Indigenous Journey to Leadership l Eddie Robinson l TEDxStMaryCSSchool. Youtube, Uploaded by TEDxTalks, 5 June 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?voxxg5pJdxVY

Indigenous Leadership

This article, “Indigenous Leadership” by Gary Sandefur and Philip J. Deloria explains the knowledge of native american leadership and the qualities of these leaders. It breaks down modern leadership and the problems leaders faced to bring sovereignty to tribal communities. Leaders have values and characteristics that show they are powerful and spiritual about governing their people. It explains the fundamentals of the different ways of Western and traditional governance as well.

Deloria, P.J. & Sandefur, Gary. 2018. Indigenous Leadership. 2018 by the American of Arts & Sciences.

Current State of the Issue

Teen Health and Wellness: Grief and Loss

In this article, “Teen Health and Wellness: Grief and Loss,” shares important ways to cope with a tremendous loss. It encourages and advocates for teens to express their teens. It encounters a change in any person's life after they lose the person. Becoming aware of finding a healthy way to guise a person to manage grief.

Teen Health and Wellness, teenhealthandwellness.com/Accessed 23 Nov. 2023

Steve Sharp Nelson: How to find peace with loss through music

This TedxTalk video was about the importance of grieving with the help of music. A man with a big passion for music conquers the loss of his mother through playing the cello, Steve Sharp Nelson, dedicates his words to the audience about his passion and how he copes with grief. Sharing the impact of being mad at the world yet experienced, Steve indulged in accepting the loss and “learned to be grateful for every day.” His main message was, that only you can get through grief and by doing that find a passion that will connect you with your person.

Steve Sharp Nelson: How to find peace with loss through music, TedxTalks, 20 September 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KpRZNOSwBg

Now What? Tips for Teens Who Are Grieving

This article, “Now What? Tips for Teens Who Are Grieving,” indicates some changes grief can cause and how to seek help. Reminding the person that they are not alone. Giving the person a chance to feel everything, but letting them know that the process in the end is accepting that the person is gone. The article gives key instructions on what to do when the grief is hitting hard this is called, “10 things to try when the grief tide rolls in,” These steps are very helpful and comforting examples to help a person manage their anxieties of grief.

Tips for supporting teens who are grieving- the Dougy Center, www.dougy.org/assets/uploads/Dougy-Center-Tips-For-Supporting-Teens-Who-Are-Grieving.pdf.2018

Global Connections

A Lakota Tradition About Grieving

This article, “A Lakota Tradition About Grieving” talked about the importance of how their culture ties into grieving. In Lakota’s way, you must pray to release your loved one who has passed. It’s also essential to find a superpower of letting go and accepting that your person is gone: They have stopped clinging to the past and grasping at the future.

https://widowerssupportnetwork.com/2020/12/04/a-lakota-tradition-about-grieving/

Silenced by Grief: Mental Health in the Samoan Community

Silenced by Grief: Mental Health in the Samoan Community describes the traditional ways of guiding their people through the loss of their loved ones. Samoan people believe in God and they do traditional ceremonies when their loved ones go to the spirit world. They focus on the family who lost their person and are there for them as a community: The people of Samoa possess a deep sense of rootedness with their culture, traditions, and conventions.

Silenced by Grief: Mental Health in the Samoan Community, Oklahoma State University Center for Health Science, 27 April 2021. https//youtu.be/2bLXAOM52x0?si=Mhk2gixSiwaPAuo0

Indigenous Voices: Honoring Our Loss and Grief

The video, “Indigenous Voices: Honoring Our Loss and Grief,” was pinpointed on different Native Americans from Canada. It was a very powerful video describing the importance of Native American beliefs and how they helped these people tremendously. About ten speakers were talking about how they felt their loved ones more when it was through traditional ceremonies: Like going to ceremonies so we could talk to them. The Canadian people focus on letting go of their loved ones by feeling them everywhere. I felt like the Eagles were trying to help me.

Indigenous Voices: Honoring Our Loss and Grief, Canadian Virtual Hospice, 23 July 2020.

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