|
Building Communities of Active Learners
Southwest Regional Learning Communities Conference
February
home
entrance...
welcome
overview
speakers & highlights
keynoters / performers
Smith paper
Tinto paper
schedule
agenda
sessions
posters
location
hotel and travel information
photos
conference images
|
Cecelia Robles-Manuel
Chandler-Gilbert Community College
Presented at the Southwest Regional Learning Communities Conference
March 1, 2002
Tempe, Arizona
INTRO IN PIMA LANGUAGE:
Sha'p i' masma? Un chugig Cecelia Robles-Manuel. Unup ki'ik Gila River Indian Community. Uni'oht Akimel O'otham. Unsa'ap un thäth thumnui' itha si'ällak.
TRANSLATION:
How are you? My name is Cecelia Robles-Manuel. My home is on the Gila River Indian Community. I am of the river people. I am very happy to see you all again this morning. Thank you.
From the moment I had been asked to participate in this learning communities conference, I contemplated for days what and how I would present to an audience of your stature. And for the first time in my life, I believe I suffered from an inferiority complex. But this was not because of my age, my gender, my size, my shape or my race. I can only contribute this momentary lapse of reason to the realization that I would be on the verge of a personal victory.
You see I am the seventh child of my parent's thirteen offspring. The fundamental upbringings of my siblings and I are ingrained with the importance of putting family needs first. Each of the five brothers and eight sisters uphold core values based on love, honor, respect and appreciation for the others. Our roles and responsibilities with our family are not taken lightly, for we know that every action we take has a ripple of effect on the rest of the family.
We also know that family should not stop at your brothers and sisters; it should stretch across the boundaries of the place you call home. Home is the place you have made your childhood memories. It is the same place where you learned the importance of spending time with your ha ha jin (all your relations). And it is the very same place you began planning for the future you live in today.
Today is definitely a new day and I came here with one thought in my head. It was a quote by Helen Keller. She said, "I am only one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. I will not refuse to do something I can." Therefore, I know I can do this presentation, but because if its significance, I will need your help. At this moment each of you are going to do something that will change a person's life. I would like you each to stand (only if they are able to). Now I would like you take a look around this room. Look at the people who surround you and those who you can't see. Some may be familiar faces. Or you could be just like me when I came here yesterday, wondering what in the world was I doing here lost in this sea full of strangers? What am I doing among individuals I hold in such high regard? This can't be right, can it?
Then it hit me. I realized to stand before you as a student, a fellow educator or just as part of today's agenda was not my intent. Today marks the day I assume a new role and I want to embrace and celebrate it with you. Today I want to have the accomplishment of not standing before you, but standing with your family.
You are brothers and sisters in a family who has based its core values on educating other individuals so that they, too, may learn how to build livelihoods and attain skills to improve their lives, as well as the lives of those whom they share theirs with. Destiny is a matter of our choices and each of you has been successful because you have left nothing to chance. Assuming the responsibility of a career that progressively works toward the betterment of any community not only deserves admiration, but also commands the respect of the community it serves. Your profession is noble, your courage is commendable and your dedication is inspiring. I applaud you. More importantly, I am honored and indebted to your family and the role each of you has played in the attainment of this very important and personal goal of mine. Thank you for this blessed privilege. Thank you for sharing this moment with me. Please be seated.
Having said this, you can see my goal in life is not TO BE LIKE MIKE. However, I do strive to improve my life and the life I share with my family... ALL OF THEM. And at this point in my life, I find college to be the most effective way to accomplish this goal. So far on my journey of higher education, I can truly say that I have learned one thing for sure:
- 10% of what I have learned, I read.
- 20% of what I have learned, I heard.
- 30% of what I have learned, I saw.
- 50% of what I have learned, I saw and heard together.
- 70% of what I have learned, I had discussed with another person.
- 80% of what I have learned was from personal experience.
- But 95% of what I have learned was from teaching it to another person.
And in my learning community courses, I was able to do just that. Whether it was teaching others of the customs or the need for traditional beliefs and values or just understanding our differences, I found this class to be an opportunity for personal growth and professional development. My instructor and my friend, Pam Davenport asked me to share a piece I had written from my very first learning community. It is taken from Sherman Alexie's book, "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight In Heaven."
Please know that when I had first started writing, I found that I was a very angry person. I was mad about a lot of things and the more I had delved into the literary studies, I was angriest most about the mistreatment of my ancestors. Now for whatever reasons the healing for many Native Americans has not happened, I found that writing was tool to at least begin the process. A small step, but nonetheless ever so important. Please let me share this with you now.
|
Imagine an escape. Imagine that your own shadow on the wall is a perfect door. Imagine a song stronger than penicillin. Imagine a spring with water that mends broken bones. Imagine a drum which wraps itself around your heart. Imagine a story that puts wood in a fire place.
That was this class. It was a way to write about all the things that society doesn't allow me to say, yet needs to hear. The more I read about my own heritage, I thought of the ties to our surroundings and how they have always helped my people live harmonious lifestyles with the earth. But just as importantly, how the settlers came and made us prisoners within our own environments.
All the books we've read have made me proud to be of indigenous descent and how it important to know who you are and where you come from. Knowing this affords us an opportunity to carry on the legacy of our ancestors, the one before they were assimilated into mainstream American and lost their right to who they were.
My people, especially the elders always refer to a pik'urdith (way of life) that was once respectable and how that has changed drastically in the last twenty-five years. I read in Anna Moore Shaw's book, "A Pima Past," how "...the white man brought bad things too. Liquor has broken up our families, and Indian morality has conspicuously declined. Indian values have been abandoned by some of the younger generation and they are no longer satisfied to stay at home. Many of our old arts and traditions have been lost because the white man insisted that we indiscriminately abandon all our Indian ways."
This makes me sad knowing I am part of this generation. But I know I do not have to disappoint my ancestors. I can through many ways help to preserve their memories by setting an example in the way I live. It can begin by helping my O'otham brothers and sisters learn to help themselves.
I thankful for the opportunity to explore my heritage as in depth we have in this class, not to mention the life-long relationships that have stemmed from it. I think more importantly I have learned to appreciate the customs and traditions I share with my friends, my family and my community.
|
Today my circle of friends, family and community include you esteemed individuals. I thank you again for sharing this special moment with me. Remember your family, may you journey be safe and your works be fruitful. Good day and may all of your tomorrows be great.
Thank you.
|
