Native American Indian and Indian Feast & Fundraiser

This event is discontinued until further notice.

The Traditional Native American Indian Feast and Fundraiser Cultural Festival for the Golden Eagle Feather Award and Scholarship, sponsored by Reservation Creation Women's Circle Charitable Trust, will be held annually, the first Saturday in October, at the San Xavier Plaza, Tucson, Arizona. This event is open to the public. Everyone is Welcome!

Join in a unique gathering at this revered Native American cultural and historic architectural site and enjoy the evening's feast under the stars in the San Xavier Plaza's majestic setting. At 6:00 pm there will be a reception and silent auction of Native American arts and crafts.

The evening dinner will begin at 6:30 pm with a blessing ceremony. Guests will enjoy the delicious Native foods of buffalo and salmon from the Northwest tribes, wild rice soup from the Great Lakes regions and cholla bud salad, prickly pear tea, Saguro Cactus Syrup, chili stew and Indian tamales from the Southern tribes. Native American dancers and musicians will share their rich culture with dinner guests. Part of the evenings festivities will be the presentation of two scholarships. One based on academic achievement with a (4.0) grade point average. The second based on the individual's work in teaching, sharing and passing on the culture and traditions of Native American Indians to the youth and to their community.

Seating is limited at the San Xavier Plaza. Please purchase tickets early. Individual ticket price in advance $50.00 and at the door $60.00. Corporate sponsored Table for 10 people $450.00 per table. Ticket price for couple in advance $80.00 and at the door $100.00. Tickets can be purchased at Reservation Creation Indian Gift Shop 520.295.1350.For more information regarding the feast and contributing to the scholarships program please call 520.622.4900.

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Golden Eagle Feather Scholarship & Award Recipients.

YEAR	ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT	TRADITIONAL TEACHING AWARD
2000	Ted Duke Kelly Comanche	Danny Lopez Tohono O'odham
	Master Degree University of Arizona	Preserver and rejuvenator of the O'odham Himdag-Desert People's Way, for his life-long work of sharing, teaching and passing on his culture and traditions to the next generation.

2001	Noel Speece Choctaw	Paul Ortega Mescalero Apache
	Masters Degree in Fine Arts University of Arizona	Traditional healer, world-reknowed artist, performer, writer & musician. He has touched so many.

2002	Antonio Benavidez Tohono O'odham	Victor B. Robles Pascua Yaqui Tribe
	1st TO to be the Valedictorian for Desert View High School Year 2002-3	He enjoys teaching the youth traditional art, music, dance and instruments.

2003	Shannon Taylor Navajo	Robert Ybanez Yaqui
	Senior in Elementary Education with a minor in Native American Studies Northern Arizona University	Counselor for Native American Students in the Sunnyside School District. His focus and dedication is to teach the native traditions to the youth and "Keeping them sacred & alive"

2004	Myrond Musket Navajo	Anita Antone Tohono O'odham
	Sophomore, majoring in Pre-Business Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona Sets high standards and high level of determination to maintain his 4.0GPA. Grew up knowing that he must obtain an education in order to make a difference in the world and be able to use it as a tool to help his people.	Master Basket weaver for over twenty years. She has been weaving intricate basket crowns of yucca, bear grass and devil's claw, for the Miss Tohono O'odham Pageant winners, and for the local Little Miss and Junior Miss pageants. Anita is preserving a very important aspect of her culture with her beautiful basketweavings.

2005	Louellyn White Mohawk from Akwesasne	Patrick Franko Tohono O'odham
	A Doctoral Candidate in American Indian Studies at the University of Arizona. The youngest of eleven children and the only one who has attended college, she remains committed to receiving an education. A passion for the preservation of Native culture, a desire to create positive social change, and commitment to improving the lives of future generations has motivated her along her path.	A leader and elder in his community of San Xavier District. He is committed to maintaining the culture and traditions of his people. After serving in two world wars, he returned to his home and worked in many areas, fighting for the water rights, housing, cooperative farming and education rights. He stays young by working with the children teaching them the old games, stories and history of the O'odham. You may also see him at parades or powwows leading the grand entry, as he marches in with the San Xavier District Color Guard.

2006	Jamie Joy Billiot United Houma Nation	Norwyn Wesley San Carlos Apache Nation
	Jamie Joy Billiot is from the United Houma Nation in South Louisiana. She is working on her Master’s degree at the University of Arizona in Language, Reading and Culture focusing on Indigenous Education. Her focus is on Indigenous Education with a directed interest in Language preservation and Native Youth success through identity development. A first generation high school graduate, college graduate and now graduate student, she is passionate about education. Her future plans are to return to her community to develop a community immersion school. She will take her education, her cultural experiences to serve her own community. She feels, “If she can help at least one student learn the possibilities of education, she has done what the Creator has called her to do.”	Norwyn Wesley, from the San Carlos Apache Nation is keeper of songs and ways of the Mountain Spirit Dancers.As a child eight years old he learned and remembered the songs and ceremonies of his grandfather, Fred Wesley. Norwyn studied for 15 years before taking on the responsibilities to continue on the Apache ways. His cultural group has extensively traveled with the first Native American Indian Dance Troupe, performing in New York to California to Italy. His Crown Dancers are featured at major Native American events including Gallup Ceremony, Window Rock Fair and New Mexico State Fair. It is the tradition of his family to carry on the songs and dances for future generations. “These songs are prayers and blessings for the girl of the Sunrise Dance so she will grow up and be a good women with a good life. This is the Apache way to pray.”

2007	Charmayne Sandaval Navajo	Louise Havier Tohono O'odham
	Charmayne Sandaval from Navajo . An 18 year old, Freshman student at Northern Arizona University in the Health Star program. Charmayne is of the Bitter Water Clan. Born for the towering House Clan. Her maternal grandfather is of the Many Goats Clan, and her paternal grandfather is of the Near the water clan. She plans to major in Biology with Minor in Zoology. Her desire is to be a Veterinarian. She plans to return to the Navajo Reservation to work with her people to help in the care of their animals. She feels knowledge of her culture and tradition especially her language is very important she feels very blessed to have the support in her family in all her endoeavous.	Louise Havier, Tohono O'odham, Is from the Village of Big Fields, located on the Tohono O'odham reservation. She is a lead medicine person for the Tohono O'odham Nation. She travels hundreds of miles when called upon to provide care and spirital healing for the people thoughout the southwest. She has been very instrumental in the repatration of artificts and ancestral remains for tribes throughout southern Arizona. She is an inspiration and teacher of The Red Road to many, especially to the young people. Teaching them the traditions and culture of her people, The O'odham Himdag.

2008	Ronald Geronimo Tohono Oodham	Ronald Geronimo Tohono Oodham
	From the community of Ge'e Oidag (Big Field), Ronald is a graduate student attending the University of Arizona pursuing a Master's Degree in Native American Linguistics. He is also a student intern at the Arizona State Museum working on two projects that involve the O'odham. One is working with O'odham consultants on the Tucson Origins Heritage Part, S-cuk Son (Tucson)project and the other is working with O'odham elders and students in a joint project with the Himdag Ki: (Museum) and Tohono O'odham Community College (TOCC). He also teaches O'odham language. He truly believes that a solid foundation in traditional heritage and identity greatly contributes to the successful achievement of personal and educational goals. For him, it is a belief in the O'odham way of life, our Himdag . Without it, he would not be where he is today. About twenty years ago, I began to explore who was as an O'odham. Although I was raised around the Himdag and was a traditional dancer as a youth, I felt that I didn't fully know what it meant to be o'odham. I began to read different books seeking out as much information as I could until I was asked by someone if I knew any traditional O'odham songs or if I participated in any O'odham ceremonies. Sadly, I had to answer no, but I began to really think about what I was trying to do. I finally realized that if I wanted to know what being O'odham meant, I had to live it and not just read about it. I asked my mother for advice and she suggested an elder in my community that I could ask to work with me. I was hesitant because I had never really interacted with elders. While I was waiting for the right time to ask the elder, he passed away. This brought me into reality that if I really wanted to do this, I had to do it right now and not wait for the "right time".	After sometime had passed, I asked the deceased elder's son and he agreed to work with me. I began to learn our traditional songs and also started to participate in our annual rain ceremony as well as other traditional ceremonies. I began to feel an empowerment to do more with my life and to work with others to learn and share about the O'odham culture and traditions. I began working with the youth as a singer for our community's youth dance group, which we still have today. Working with the youth also gave me an added purpose of learning about the Himdag. I could share what I had learned with them. The empowerment I felt gave me the courage to make positive changes in my life. I changed my employment and decided to further my education. After nine years of working in construction as a laborer, driver, and welder, I quit my job and began working as a teacher's aid in a third grade classroom at the Indian Oasis Primary School in Sells. Later on, I applied and was accepted into the College of education at the U of A. While I was at the University, I became more interested in working to maintain and revitalize the O'odham language. After obtaining my Bachelor's degree, I worked for seven years on the reservation but the thought of going to graduate school was always on my mind. I finally made the decision to pursue this goal. Without the Himdag as part of my life, I would not have made the changes that I have made. My educational goals have always been to come back to the reservation and share what I have learned. I sometimes hear a person refer to someone who has a degree as an educated O'odham but I see myself as an O'odham educator because I am O'odham first and because education does not only come from an institution but is also in the teachings of our elders and the people who have learned from them. That is the education I value the most. I tell students I come in contact with that it is important to know who they are as an O'odham first and to learn from their elders. I know from experience that this will benefit them as they pursue their dreams.

2009	Kiven A. Velasquez Navajo	Richard Goodridge Maricopa and Apache
	He is proud to call Houch, Arizona his hometown. Currently working on a Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies in Public Management from Northern Arizona University. Kiven feels education has proven to be the most successful tool when "learning" how to change with the world as opposed to reacting to the changing world around him. He enjoys helping bridge Native Americans with twenty-first century educational opportunities.	He is a remarkable young man. Since the age of eight he has been studying and researching his culture and heritage. He has made it his life's work to learn about his heritage and culture and is reintroducing many of the lost traditions to the children and his community. He has traced his ancestral roots back to 1830, he complied research on the Maricopa Tribe from 1600 to the present. He learned how to farm cotton, harvest it, clean and spin the yarn and weave clothing on handmade looms. Each of the areas of culture he learned, he is able to present it in this manner from beginning to finished product, whether it is farming the traditional foods and plants, utensils, cradle boards, traditional clothing and history lessons. He has become a real important resource not only to his people, but to museums, other tribes, and educational institutions. His goal is to use his knowledge to help his people combat the high rates of diabetes that exist on the reservation.

2010	Kelly Fowler	*Felipe S Molino*
	A Graduate from the University of Arizona in 2008 and received a degree in Elementrary Education. Presently she is returning to begin working towards a Master's Degree in Cross Categorical Special Education. Through the children she learned many lessons in life. Her students taught her to open her mind and heart to their joys of the classroom. They taught her to rejoice in all that they do. Together they dance and celebrate their accomplishments and because of this, she will never forget how to smile with the new, cherish the old and laugh with her students. Upon graduation her plan and dream is to teach her own people on the Navajo Reservation. She would like to be a role model for the young Navajo People and to help motivate them to seek a higher education.	A Member of the Yoeme Pueblo, born and raised in Marana, Arizona by his grandparents who instilled upon him the importance of learning his culture. He attended the University of Arizona, to become a Method Teacher. In 1976 he became a Deer SInger, he joins other Deer Singers to sing at their feastas. He has written and collaborated with other writers to write many books. The Yaqui Deer Songs, won the Chicago Folklore Award. Other books are "Old Men of the Fiesta, Wame Vatnataka Im Hohhohkame, (The ones that Lived here in the Beginning), Yoeme-English English-Yoeme Standard Dictonary." Through his years of learning and listening he became known as an oral historian. Currently he is an educator of regular academics from K through University levels.

We wish to thank the following for their generous donations and corporate table sponsorship at the 2010 Twelfth Annual Traditional Indian Fest and Fundraiser Festival

Reverend Stephen Barnufsky
National Native American Co-op
Secret Garden Publishing
Arkadie Native American Arts
Tohono O'odham Nation
Reservation Creations Indian Gift Shop
Roger & Gail Harris
Mari Margaret Zevin
CoCopah Tribe
San Xavier Mission School
Ak-Chin Indian Community
Desert Diamond Casino & Entertainment

Special Thank you to the following for their donation:

Shoshone-Bannock Tribal Enterprises
P.O. Box 368
Fort Hall, Idaho 83203
1-800-806-9229, Fax 208-237-2540
Buffalo Meat Donation

Red Lake Nation Foods
1576 High School Drive
Red Lake, MN 5661
218-679-3959 x 1306, Fax 218-679-2830
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or www.redlakenationfoods.com
Wild rice donation

San Xavier District
San Xavier Mission School
Bashas Family of Stores