After a few years of little activity, one student, Jacey Tsosie, is trying to bring the Native American Student Association (NASA) back.
Colorado Mesa University (CMU) has a Cultural Inclusion Council (CIC), made up of various alliances, such as the Ho’olokahi Polynesian Alliance and Black Student Alliance. Jacey Tsosie is now the lone member of NASA, after a few years with little to no members.
Most of the branches of CIC are known as ‘alliances,’ but NASA has since changed their name to ‘association.’
“As I started putting out the word for the organization, there were some students who were Native American, and they would ask, ‘why is it called alliance?’ That kind of just sparked name change, especially because the word ‘alliance’ in history was not a really positive word with Native Americans,” Tsosie said.
Tsosie is a member of Navajo Nation, the largest Native American tribe in the U.S, with over 330,000 members. She grew up on the Navajo reservation, living in Shiprock, New Mexico. The reservation is made up of territory in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.
“One thing I think people generalize is that the reservation is a poor place. A lot of it is, it’s sad to say, but I was fortunate enough to have parents and a family who were pretty well off,” Tsosie said.
A non-traditional student and single mother, Tsosie grew up in a family that works on a farm.
“Life was not different than it is how I’m living here. I had internet, I was pretty connected with the world. School was school. I think the only difference would be that we had to take Navajo classes and Navajo government. Transportation was fine for me. Getting an education was accessible. I think the only difference would be, I have to pay rent and mortgage here,” Tsosie said.
She came to CMU because of the ideal campus size and environment.
“I just really felt like I needed to get out of the reservation and New Mexico itself, to make new connections, because I feel like even now, I have a lot of connections in New Mexico, but not here. That’s something that I feel like is a barrier. So I’m trying to establish connections, whether it’s business, school or even tribe-wise, just finding other Native Americans here,” Tsosie said.
One of the biggest things Tsosie wants to emphasize for NASA is Native American cuisine. Originally enrolling at CMU with the intention of majoring in culinary arts, there are many Navajo dishes she wants to introduce.
Da’ dinil yąązh (fried bread) was one of the dishes Tsosie mentioned as a favorite. Among other dishes she wants to introduce are naa’ nis kaadí (flour tortillas), k’ii neesh biizhi (dumpling stew), taa nii dol’głizhí (blue corn mush) and neeshjizhi (steamed corn stew).
“I would like to come up with the Native American Student Association’s own set of traditions with the influence of Native American cultures,” Tsosie said. “As of right now, I’m the only Native American member so everybody’s essentially learning from my culture. And I want to recruit other Native Americans, so I can get an idea of what their traditions will be and what those will look like.”
Although customs and practices vary between tribes and regions, one thing many tribes adhere to is hair care. In many Native American customs, long, braided hair is the norm and signifies closeness with one’s deity.
“Our hair was always brushed, always nicely combed, and we used a tśe’ yagh’ą’ ba yill zho’hoo (sage hairbrush) made of long, tall grass, and then we would bunch them all together and then they would harden. We would brush our hairs with that,” Tsosie said. “It’s a traditional thing, for ceremonies and other things. As far as day to day use, no I don’t use it, only because the twigs get stuck on my hair.”
Tsosie has atypical hair for a Native American, that borrows more from the Hispanic blood on her mother’s side.
“My hair type is not very common in Native American cultures so I was bullied a lot for it. And so that that’s what led me to cut my hair,” Tsosie said. “Cutting our hair was a big no no. And I was lectured for an hour for cutting my hair.”
She first decided to cut her hair when she was ten years old.
“I just remember all of my aunts, and especially my grandma, she lost it,” Tsosie said.
Tsosie is at work planning events and activities for the newly reformed NASA, including pow-wows, flea markets and more, for a busy Fall 2021 semester.
