Teaching Native American children in Utah

Posted on November 25, 2008 by comm5775

by ALLISON JOHNSON

Forrest S. Cuch, 57, executive director of the Utah Division of Indian Affairs, is a man with a mission to change the way Native children are educated in Utah.

Despite improvements in the state’s education system over the past decade, Native American children continue to struggle scholastically. With high drop-out rates and low test scores, they remain one of the lowest achieving minority groups in the state.  

LeAnn Johnson, 46, has been teaching high school math in Utah County for almost 20 years. During her years as a teacher, she has taught many Native American students and often finds herself frustrated and confused because they are not reaching their potential.

“I see so many of my [Native American] students drop out before they receive a diploma,” Johnson said. “The students that do graduate seldom go on to seek higher education. I wish these students would see how much potential they have.”

Cuch, an enrolled member of the Ute Indian Tribe, is also troubled that many Native American students are struggling academically.

“American Indians are the lowest achievers,” he said. “[They have] high drop-out rates, nearly 50 percent.”

Cuch has made it a priority to help improve Native American education in Utah. He believes there is a direct link between the quality of education and the quality of society.

“Education is important to building civilization, society,” he said. “Our future hinges on the education of our citizens.”

Through his job with the Utah Division of Indian Affairs, Cuch has worked to determine why some Native American children are not succeeding in school. He thinks one of the main reasons is because they learn differently.

“Indian children are different culturally. Our kids think differently,” he said. “The Indian world depends on feeling, the white world on intellect.”

Cuch stresses that Native American children learn better in interactive formats, and rely heavily on emotion and relationships. He said education today is often too rigid and ignores the individual needs and feelings of children. 

Teachers often don’t recognize the unique learning abilities of Native American children, he said, so they fall behind — not because they are not intelligent, but simply because they learn differently.

“We need to humanize education more. We have dehumanized it,” Cuch said. “The best way to teach is from the heart, from love. There is no better curriculum than love.”

Cuch said it is essential for Native American children to be educated about their history. Too often, this history is simply skimmed over in the classroom. And when it is covered, facts are often wrong and portray Native Americans in a demeaning or overly negative light.

He believes it is critical to a Native American child’s development to learn about their history in an accurate and positive manner. Children need to know their American Indian history in order to understand who they are.

“In many ways our history is alive and it still affects how we feel today,” he said. 

Cuch has worked on various projects to help improve the way children are educated in Utah.  He has worked with the American West Center to develop an accurate Native American history curriculum for Utah schools. He is also developing guides for teachers on how to teach Native American history.

Cuch said the government plays the most pivotal role in changing the way that Native American children are educated. He is an advocate of more funding for schools, better training for teachers and higher-quality schools on reservations. All of these improvements require the complete support of Utah’s government.

“We cannot have quality education without quality government,” Cuch said.

He believes he has an obligation to help improve the way the state prioritizes education.

“Our government is ours,” he said. “Democracy hinges on an educated government. If we don’t get involved in government it runs us.” 

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Empowerment through education

Posted on November 25, 2008 by comm5775

by AARON K. SCHWENDIMAN

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, enrollment in public elementary and secondary schools rose 26 percent between 1985 and 2007. As enrollment in public schools and adult education programs increases in the United States, the quality of what is taught to children and adults becomes more important.

Jennifer Isleib, a University of Utah student majoring in education, said education is the key to the future.

“Without the education of the past and present, humanity would be lost,” said Isleib, who works as a teacher’s aid at Dilworth Elementary. “Knowing our past is how we are going to make changes in the future, especially with young children because they are our future voice.”

One of the most important subjects in school is history. One aspect of history that is very important is learning about American Indians, said David Keyes, a social studies specialist in the Salt Lake City School District.

He believes that teaching children about American Indians is important because their story is everyone’s story.

“We need to know about the many tribes and nations that were here before the encounter with Europeans,” Keyes said in an e-mail interview. “We also need to know what happened to these peoples as a result of the encounter and how these tribes and nations continue to be part of our story today.”

In many schools today, history curricula mention cultures very quickly and then move on, Keyes said. American Indians are only mentioned briefly in many of the lessons taught in school, and many of the textbooks in Utah schools today devote only a chapter or two specifically to American Indians before and at the time of the European encounter, Keyes said.

According to the Utah State Office of Education Social Studies Core curriculum handout, the first lesson about American Indians is not until the 4th grade. This is a brief mention of the American Indian settlement on the East Coast during the encounter with the Europeans and some details about American Indians settling in Utah.

As it is very important to educate children in public schools, it is also very important to educate adults about issues that have been taught incorrectly in the past. Forrest Cuch, director of the Division of Indian Affairs, has made it a goal to inform kids and adults about history.

Cuch is a member of the Ute Indian Tribe and was born and raised on the Uintah and Ouray Ute Indian Reservation in northeastern Utah. When Cuch attended elementary school he was taught that American Indians didn’t make any contribution to civilization.

In 1994, Cuch became the social studies department head at Wasatch Academy in Mt. Pleasant, Utah. During this time Cuch developed a multi-cultural program and taught a full load of classes.

Cuch has also developed an “empowerment training” program for members of Indian tribes. This 10-month program taught as many as 30 people at a time about the history of their culture, spiritual, physical and mental health and taught participants how to live a better life for themselves and their children, Cuch said.

“We let them choose by showing a contrast of both worlds,” Cuch said. “After 10 months many of them were empowered to get off welfare and live a better life.”

Cuch hopes in the future these programs can be expanded to include all types of cultures because cultural diversity is what makes the world beautiful today.

Incorporating many cultures into curricula in public schools is important for children to learn about cultural diversity.

Teaching and educating children and young adults will help them understand the issues that American Indians deal with. Society still uses language, images and generalization that reinforce stereotypes associated with minorities, said Keyes, the social studies specialist.

“Over the past decade we have had an explosion of excellent materials for teachers to use,” Keyes said. “At a societal level we can continue to hope that our nation becomes more sensitive to American Indian issues.”

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The Native American ESL student

Posted on November 25, 2008 by comm5775

by CADE SORENSEN

Teachers and PTA members at West Jordan Elementary School in West Jordan, Utah, have combined their efforts to create the “I Can Read” program, a program designed for students who need help with reading and writing skills.

Cody Black is one student who has received the one-on-one help he needs to enhance his reading and writing skills. Stacy Murdock, Cody’s 4th-grade teacher, noticed he was struggling with his reading and writing assignments. He had a harder time in some areas because his parents, who are Native American, do not speak English well enough to help him at home.

Murdock entered Cody in the “I Can Read” program to help him improve his literacy skills. “I know that if he were to just get some help with his reading and writing, it will help him a lot in other subjects,” Murdock said before enrolling Cody in the program.

After his sessions in the “I Can Read” program, Cody often mentioned how helpful it was for him to be able to read with someone, something he couldn’t do at home with his parents.

Professors Nancy S. Lay and Gladys Carro explained in their article, “The English-as-a-Second-Language Student,” how students who struggle in reading and writing can struggle in other areas as well. “Many of the textbooks are written on a reading level far higher than that attained by many ESL students,” they wrote. “Thus, reading becomes slower and checking the dictionary for every word they do not know takes time and interrupts the comprehensibility of the texts.” For this reason it is important for schools to provide additional help for students who are behind in reading and writing.

Native American students going to school where their culture is not the dominant one can also have trouble adjusting to the culture of other students, making it harder to learn or feel comfortable.

Culturally, Native American children learn differently than white children, said Forrest S. Cuch, executive director of the Utah Division of Indian Affairs.

“Most Native American children learn to concentrate on the spiritual aspects of life. Most white children are taught to concentrate on the physical aspects,” Cuch said. In addition, he said, “Native Americans are taught to be cooperative, whereas whites are taught to be competitive.”

Similar to the way cultures are different from one country to another, Native American cultures are different from other cultures within the United States. Lay and Carro suggest that if an ESL student does not participate in some activities in class, it may be because of a cultural difference that is making the student uncomfortable.

“American Indians are different in so many ways, and we process information differently,” Cuch said. “And the school system is designed for the dominant culture. And consequently, our kids have always fallen behind.” To help Native American students feel more comfortable, Cuch suggests that schools implement a system of smaller classrooms, hire more Native American teachers and incorporate Native American history into the curriculum.

Cuch did agree that when there are a very small number of Native American students in a school it is often best to give that student more one-on-one help with specific needs. Most Utah elementary schools have some form of reading and writing program like “I Can Read” to help struggling students in a more personal way.

Although Cody was helped by the “I Can Read” program, those who helped him were only volunteers and not professional teachers. Cody is now in the resource program at West Jordan Elementary and is getting better one-on-one help from professional teachers who have been trained to help students with special needs.

According to the November 2004 United States Census Bureau, only 75 percent of Native Americans and Alaska Natives age 25 and older had at least a high school diploma. This is the lowest rate among all races and ethnicities in the U.S. If more is done to help Native American students at an early age, it is more likely they will further their education and learning.

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A Native American leader

Posted on November 25, 2008 by comm5775

by CADE SORENSEN

Robert Jarvik, inventor of the first artificial heart, once said, “Leaders are visionaries with a poorly developed sense of fear and no concept of the odds against them.” Cal Nez is a leader to many Native Americans because of his vision and lack of fear.

Nez is the owner of Cal Nez Design in Salt Lake City. He is an accomplished graphic designer and has done work for the Office of the President of the United States – National Republican Party, Kodak, AT&T, the Navajo Nation Fair and many more clients. Although his business is thriving, it is his passion for his Native American culture that has helped sculpt his business into what it is today. Nez has dedicated himself to helping bridge the gap between cultures.

Native Americans are able to look up to Nez because he has worked so hard to get to where he is today, without forgetting where he came from. He was born for the Tanaszanii Clan and is originally from Tocito, N.M.

He was raised by his grandparents and to this day does not know why his parents left him. He spoke only Navajo with his grandparents and learned English when he entered the Bureau of Indian Affairs Boarding School in nearby Sanostee at age 5. His boarding school experience was, in his words, “A demon from the past.” Students of this boarding school were not allowed to speak Navajo and were punished for participating in some Native American activities. They were also punished for playing like children, Nez said.

As a teenager, Nez participated in the Indian Placement Program by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He left the reservation to go to South High School in Salt Lake City after his grandmother convinced him that it would be best for him. He remembers his grandmother telling him she had nothing more to give him to help better his life. So, he left and went to high school where he began to discover and build on his art and design talents.

After high school and some college courses, Nez went to work for Smith and Clarkson Design. After several years working there, Nez realized they did not have the same vision and direction that he did. So, in November 1986 he quit his job to start his own graphic design company.

At this time Nez was married with a child on the way and was very worried about providing for his family. Nez gathered his portfolio, packed a bag and drove to New Mexico to meet with Peter MacDonald, then the president of the Navajo Nation. He left the interview with two jobs. Both of them included contracts paying him more than he was making with Smith and Clarkson Design. Cal Nez Design has now been in business for more than 20 years.

Knowing from his own experiences what many Native Americans go through, he understands better now how to help others. In April 2008, Nez founded the Utah Native American Chamber of Commerce. According to its mission statement, it aims “to promote the economic development of Utah Native American-owned or serving businesses and organizations and those who appreciate diversity in commerce, and to also promote growth of the Utah Native American business enterprises and make them a powerful economic force.” Nez was named president of the Chamber of Commerce.

Nez is a strong leader, but he also does what he can to strengthen his culture by participating in the Native American Celebration in the Park. Nez believes that Native Americans still have a lot to fulfill as human beings. “We are not history,” he said, “we are people, our drums and song are still going on.”

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Salt Lake American Indian leader promotes more accurate teaching of history

Posted on November 25, 2008 by comm5775

by CHRIS MUMFORD

For an illustrative example of how American Indian culture impacts people every day, look no further than a plate of spaghetti.

Although typically associated with Italian culture, the pasta dish’s roots can actually be traced to America and Asia. Tomatoes, the key ingredient in marinara sauce, were first domesticated by American Indians and later shipped back to Europe, while noodles were originally created by Asian cultures.

The example, though seemingly trivial, is one of several used by Forrest S. Cuch, executive director of the Utah Division of Indian Affairs, to underscore a troubling pattern in popular interpretations of history: the tendency to diminish or, more often, ignore outright American Indians’ role in history.

“When I went to school, [the] message I got: Indians made no contributions to Western culture,” he said in an interview with students in a University of Utah reporting class.

This at least partly explains why American Indian students often feel “written out of history,” said Cuch, 57. His own school experience was marked by conflicts between what he was learning at school and what his parents were telling him at home.

“Right off, I didn’t feel good about school,” he said, citing examples of the incomplete, often inaccurate accounts of history he was taught, including the notion that Pilgrims, not Indians, found the wilderness and learned to survive largely without help.

As part of his lifelong quest to teach a version of history in which American Indians are accorded their proper significance, Cuch gives a PowerPoint presentation when he travels around the state. The slideshow, titled “Did You Know?” provides a broad overview of some of the most prominent American Indian achievements glaringly omitted from school textbooks and curricula including: evidence of writing that pre-dates the earliest known samples from other cultures, their early and advanced organized societies, and the fact that they’ve inhabited the Americas for at least 13,000 years.

But the effort to restore American Indians to their rightful place history is not in any way intended as a judgment on prevailing white or Anglo-American culture. On the contrary, white people have also suffered needlessly as a result of these same misconceptions of history, Cuch said.

“White people who don’t know the facts walk around with huge doses of guilt,” he said. In particular, he referred to the diseases introduced by white colonists that severely decimated American Indian populations, and urged that students “Don’t blame [yourselves] entirely for that – it wasn’t intentional.”

The idea that American Indians are often marginalized in the teaching of history is shared by RaDawn Pack, who teaches second grade at Brockbank Elementary School in Spanish Fork, Utah. What is less clear is what to do to change it.

Compared to when she began teaching 22 years ago, Pack said that currently she may teach even less about American Indians. But she did mention a few activities still taught today that feature American Indian culture.

On “Native American Day,” students rotate between four stations, each headed by one of Brockbank’s four second-grade teachers. At these stations students learn to mash corn, hunt for cranberries, learn about Indian hunting skills and string Froot Loop necklaces.

Students also read “Giving Thanks: A Native American Good Morning Message” by Jake Swamp, a Mohawk Chief. The illustrated book imparts a message of kindness and respect for nature.

And in fourth-grade classes, Brockbank students study Utah history curriculum that focuses on American Indians.

For his part, Cuch, who taught social studies 14 years ago at Wasatch Academy in Mt. Pleasant, Utah, acknowledges there has been an effort to teach more accurate versions of American Indian history. Yet he questions the validity of the historical facts that most Utah children grow up learning.

“Most of the history you’ve received in school is terribly inaccurate,” he said, going so far as to say that as much as 90 percent of what is taught is erroneous.

He called for more education and training at the collegiate level. And, as a member of the Ute Indian Tribe, Cuch has worked with the American West Center to develop his ancestors’ history into curriculum for Utah schools. He is also developing teacher guides on American Indian topics.

“Education is complex and it’s simple,” he said. “There’s no curriculum better than love. You have to teach from the heart with love.”

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Cal Nez: artist, graphic designer, leader

Posted on November 23, 2008 by comm5775

by BRANDON FAUSETT

The children stood silently in a line, their eyes focused forward, arms firmly placed to their sides, their backs straight. The hour has passed and the children are let go so they can make their way to school.

“I feel like I was at prison when I went to boarding school,” Cal Nez said. “It has been one of the demons of my past.”

Nez, a member of the Navajo Nation, was taken from his grandparents at the age of 6 and was forced into the Bureau of Indian Affairs Boarding School in Sanostee, N.M.

“Why could we not just go there and enjoy life,” Nez said. “Unnecessary things that took away the beauty of being a child.”

Boarding school was a terrible experience for Nez, but he now uses his talents as an artist, graphic designer and community leader to bring beauty to his life and the lives around him.

Nez, 50, was born in Shiprock, N.M., where he was raised from infancy by his grandparents Bitonie and Mary B. Nez.

He lived with his grandparents until he became part of the Mormon Church’s Indian Student Placement program that brought him to Utah his sophomore year of high school. Nez graduated from South High School with honors, something he strived for from the first day of class.

He went on to become the founder of Cal Nez Design, a graphic arts firm that he started in 1986 after leaving Ted Nagata Graphic Design. His firm has become one of the few Native American-owned businesses in Utah that have been in operation for more than 10 years. Nez was also featured on the cover of the October 2005 issue of the Utah Business Magazine, something he is very proud of.

One of his first jobs being a self-employed graphic artist was when he approached Peter MacDonald, who was then the president of the Navajo Nation. He gave Nez a variety of jobs that helped to jumpstart Cal Nez Design.

His firm has completed a variety of projects including the Navajo Nation Fair 2005 Official Poster, Navajo Nation Shopping Center logo and Miss Navajo Nation logo to name just a few.

“Every client is different, every design is different,” Nez said.

His firm bridges the cross-cultural communication gap by incorporating aspects of the different cultures into its logos, something he tries to keep in all of his projects.

Nez said that the artistic expression in graphic design is being lost and that artists need to go back to the human element of it. He said that programs on computers are ruining graphic art by letting people just jump in and do it, which makes everyone think they can be graphic artists.

He advises aspiring designers to remember the artistic aspect of their craft, something he is very passionate about.

“I am an artist and am very proud of it,” Nez said.

His business is not the only way he is giving voice to the Native American community. He is also the president of the Utah Native American Chamber of Commerce, which he founded in April 2008.

Abel Saiz, vice president of the Chamber, said Nez is a natural leader and not a follower.

“We have members of the Native American community call and ask how to start a business and how to get involved in the chamber,” Saiz said.

Giving voice to Utah Native Americans in the business world was one of the main reasons for founding of the chamber.

“We are referred to as the invisible people,” Saiz said. “Nez lets the general public know that we are here and we have needs.”

Nez encourages Native American youth to see the importance of business because of how beneficial it is to their future.

“The time has come to educate our youth about becoming employers instead of employees,” Nez said.

Nez not only spends time with his firm and the Chamber, but he is also married to Yolanda Nez. They have three children: Courtney, Chelsey and Colby. He is active in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and said he also believes in the Navajo way the way.

Native Americans are usually viewed as a culture of the past and that is something Nez is trying to change.

“We are not a history,” Nez said, “we are a people.”

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Campus group encourages Native Americans, Hispanics in science

Posted on November 20, 2008 by comm5775

by LANA GROVES

Despite efforts to encourage minority students to pursue degrees in the sciences, such as chemistry, physics or biology degrees, enrollment numbers at the University of Utah are low.

Native American and Hispanic students comprise less than half a percent of all 21,566 undergraduate students from fall 2008, according to enrollment records from the Office of Budget and Institutional Analysis. The majority are enrolled in the College of Humanities or Nursing. Only 6 percent are enrollment in the College of Science.

“Nationally, one of the fields of study under-represented is sciences,” said Octavio Villalpando, associate vice president for the Office of Diversity at the U “We want to make sure the University of Utah can attract many more students of color to the programs, even by bringing students from across the country.”

Villalpando helped organize a national conference for the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) in October 2008 in Salt Lake City, Utah. The conference brought students interested in science degrees from all around the world to the U.

The Utah student chapter for SACNAS doesn’t think the U is doing enough to encourage students.

Doug Rodriguez, a physics graduate student and secretary of the Utah chapter, said the low enrollment numbers are frustrating but not surprising.

“Science has always had low interest, but even when students sign up for a degree they often drop out,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez and SACNAS Utah Chapter President Mauricio Rascon have plans to improve those numbers.

By December, the chapter will begin to visit elementary, junior and high schools in the Salt Lake Valley to talk to students and encourage them to continue to higher education and major in science-related degrees.

“A lot of students ask: What am I going to do with a physics degree?” Rascon said.  “Most people think they can just teach. They don’t know about all the opportunities available for medical physics or other career paths.”

Rodriguez said the need is especially great among Native American students. According to the Office of Budget and Institutional Analysis 2008 enrollment records, of the 150 Native American students enrolled at the University of Utah, only 12 are in the College of Science.

To combat these low numbers, College of Science Dean Pierre Sokolsky recently created a committee to help retain minority students to study biology, chemistry and physics degrees.

Rodriquez said that for every science degree, about 70 percent of all students listed as caucasian who enroll complete their degree, but only 10 percent of all Native American and Hispanic student graduates with a science degree.

“We’re going to hold mentoring sessions and have juniors, seniors and graduate students influence the newer freshmen [and] sophomores, and hopefully convince them to go into graduate school and bump these numbers up,” Rodriguez said.

The older students can also help them with difficult classes and subjects, he said.

Rascon said he remembers the effort it took to work through difficult classes, especially upper-level math classes. He said there were times he considered switching majors.

“When you go into the sciences, it’s like learning a whole new language,” Rascon said. “And if you don’t schedule your classes right, you can get extremely overwhelmed.”

Moises Terrazas, a former president of the student group, said teachers make a big difference in helping a student stay motivated.

“The people that gave me the motivation to continue was my family and good mentors in the science department,” he said.

Villalpando said the U is an excellent place for students of color to study sciences. He said many diverse students are already interested in studying with Mario Capecchi, who won the 2007 Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology.

“Capecchi is a great example of a student facing adversity and trial, and making revolutionary discoveries in science,” Villalpando said.

Rodriguez said some students struggle to pay for school and become discouraged.

The Utah SACNAS chapter tries to combat financial problems by offering about 10 scholarships every year to high schools students who will study at the U. The scholarships range from full tuition to half tuition for a year.

Rodriguez said many students don’t know that graduate schools often offer to pay students’ tuition.

Yet, the Utah SACNAS chapter has made strides over the past few years to encourage Native American and Hispanic students at the U to enroll in the College of Science and involve themselves in activities on campus.

Derek Lokni, a chemistry student and the U who is Navajo, said he joined SACNAS to meet other students and take part in activities on campus. He said more students should be interested in the group, but many don’t know it exists.

“Members of the (chapter) have helped me stay in chemistry,” Lokni said. “And it’s a lot of fun. We talk about some of the goals we have after graduation and what we like about chemistry, physics, biology or anything else. It’s there for you.”

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Navajo Hogan serves traditional foods

Posted on November 20, 2008 by comm5775

by JESSICA DUNN

Squanto, of the Wampanoag tribe, helped the starving pilgrims of the Plymouth Colony 387 years ago. He lived with them and taught them how to fish and plant corn and other local vegetables.

The American Indians originally cultivated about 60 percent of the foods we eat today, said Forrest S. Cuch, executive director of the Utah Division of Indian Affairs. Those foods include corn, potatoes, tomatoes, chocolates and coffee beans.

While mainstream America has taken these native foods and created new recipes with them, the Navajo Hogan, a Salt Lake City restaurant, keeps Native American food traditions alive with their fry bread and Navajo taco.

The concrete building at 447 E 3300 South looks plain at first glance, with only a big yellow and red sign adorning its gray walls. The inside has a few simple, metal tables and chairs and a long counter in front of the open kitchen. The walls are decorated with Native American murals, strings of dried chili peppers, tribal maps, painted animal hides and various weaponry and trinkets.

Bill and Marcie Espinoza, originally from New Mexico, opened the Navajo Hogan in 1989. The building first housed the Espinozas’ arcade for the teenagers attending nearby Granite High School. One night, though, as Marcie was making dinner, Bill had the idea to sell the traditional Navajo taco that his wife made. He wanted everyone to have to opportunity to enjoy it. She refused at first because she had a full-time job, but after some persuasion from Bill she was convinced.

The restaurant’s main menu item is the Navajo taco. The traditional is the most popular, made with fresh fry bread topped with homemade chili beans, cheddar cheese, chopped lettuce, tomatoes and onions. The Navajo Hogan offers about 10 other variations as well, including vegetarian, chili cheese, blue corn and chicken.

Most North American tribes were never taught how to make bread but they experimented and learned to prepare fry bread, Cuch said in an e-mail. After surrendering to the U.S. Cavalry, Native Americans were issued rations of “salted pork or bacon, refined flour, salt, sugar, and lard,” Cuch said. They had to use the white settlers’ food to create the bread.

“The Indians mixed the flour with water and salt and made a dough,” Cuch said. “With the grease from the bacon or lard, they place the dough in the grease and created grease/fry bread.”

The Navajo Hogan also makes a sweet fry bread with cinnamon and sugar.
Mutton stew is also a staple of the Navajo tradition, Cuch said. The Navajo Hogan makes a limited amount of mutton stew with vegetables every Saturday and is served on a first come first serve basis.

Regulars come in every Saturday for the stew. Some will even call in advance to reserve their bowl, Bill said.

Mutton stew comes from the Navajo tradition of herding sheep. Their eating habits are different from other tribes, even within Utah. The Utes, the Native American tribe that Utah is named for, don’t have any well-known food traditions, Cuch said.

The food diversity stems from the Utes’ nomadic background as opposed to the Navajo’s early settling. Mormon pioneers eventually forced the Utes to change their ways. The move to a reservation restricted their eating habits and food sources.

“[The Utes used to] eat more wild game, including deer, elk, buffalo, antelope [and] trout,” Cuch said. “They learned to plant and eat corn from the Hopi.”

Though the Utes’ eating habits have changed from their traditional ways, Utahns still have the opportunity to try the Navajo taco and mutton stew at the Navajo Hogan.

Bill smiles and greets a pair of his regular customers and writes down their order from memory. He cooks their Navajo tacos according to each of their specifications, even cutting one into quarters.

People from all around the world have come to eat at the Navajo Hogan, especially during the 2002 Winter Olympics. There have been customers from New York, Alaska, Japan and Australia, Bill said.

Similar to Squanto, Bill is teaching and spreading the Native American ways and knowledge, all while feeding new people traditional Navajo foods.

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Cal Nez finds success

Posted on November 20, 2008 by comm5775

by JESSICA DUNN

He dropped her off, watching as she bravely walked away. He couldn’t bear to leave, so he waited outside all day, his anxiety building. Would she be coming back to him?

Finally, after Courtney’s first day of kindergarten, Cal Nez held his oldest daughter in his arms once again. She was completely fine. Nothing had happened, and she had loved it.

He wished he had been as easygoing and happy about school as his children, Courtney, Chelsey and Colby, are.

As a child, Nez didn’t know the comfort of being with his family during the school year. He spent many of those years away from his home in Tocito, N.M. At 6 years old, he left for the Bureau of Indian Affairs Boarding School in nearby Sanostee, where he learned to speak English for the first time. He describes the boarding school as a “demon of the past” and a negative and “horrible experience” for him. The children there had to wake up early, stand at attention and were allowed little time to play. It “took away the beauty of childhood,” he said.

It was during this time, though, that Nez discovered his artistic talent. He made his first drawing, a picture of Abraham Lincoln chopping the cherry tree, at boarding school. He had always been an artist, and he knew he was good at duplicating images. But the teacher praised him for his illustration of Abe and gave him a one-dollar bill.

Nez, 50, was born in the Navajo Nation, Tachiinii Clan for the Tanaszanii Clan. His grandparents, Bitonie and Mary B. Nez, raised him.

Nez spent his junior high school years herding sheep and going to public school. Before high school, he learned about the Indian Student Placement Program, where Native American students were placed in Latter-day Saint homes during the school year. It was this exchange that brought him to Utah.

He was reluctant to leave his familiar surroundings, but his grandma encouraged the idea and told him that she had nothing for him in Tocito. He would be better off by going away.

In tears, he left, saying that he would always remember who he was. He promised to return, and he was determined to make it, no matter the trials.

In Salt Lake City, he studied at South High School for three years. He was successful at everything he tried. He received academic honors and was a member of the wrestling team and newspaper staff. He also won the Sterling Scholar Award for the visual arts, proving his artistic talents.

Nez wanted to be a painter or an architect while growing up, until he discovered commercial art. He worked for several graphic design firms, including Ted Nagata Graphic Design, Inc. and Smith and Clarkson Design.

“When he worked for me, his work ethic was unparalleled,” said Larry Clarkson through an e-mail correspondence. “I believe a great deal of his current work philosophy is a result of working with me, as well as another successful designer, Ted Nagata, early in his career.”

Nez’s art was getting recognition and winning awards, so he decided to work for himself. He quit his job, even though his wife, Yolanda, was pregnant.

“I think one of the key parts of starting your own business is insanity,” said Nez.

Nez packed up his portfolio of designs and went to talk to Peter MacDonald, the former Navajo Nation chairman, and his business was born.

Nez started Cal Nez Design, a graphic design and advertising company in Salt Lake City, Utah, 20 years ago. He takes on a variety of projects, and he gets involved, taking time with each of his designs. Nez likes to focus on the message and target audience for each. He brings every piece of his designs together to create the best communication possible, and he strives to keep the Navajo traditions alive through his art.

Cal Nez Design is now one of the oldest companies in the United States owned by a Native American. And Nez was even featured on the cover of Utah Business magazine in October of 2005.

With all his success, Nez has not forgot his people, traditions or where he came from. He visits Tocito, but things are not the same as they used to be. Sheep corral fences have rotted. A roof of a friend’s house has caved in. And there is not a sheep in sight.

But when he returns, he still goes to the top of a mountain nearby that he went to as a child. Today, though, he sits up there with a laptop in his hands and many successes to his name.

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