Ohero:kon “Under the Husk” Rites of Passage, 2015 Honoring Nations Honoree, Haudenosaunee Confederacy
Found by Bear Clan Mother Wakerakatste louise Herne, Ohero:kon offers Haudenosaunee youth a familial tended path toward self-discovery and realization. Uncles and aunties come together to help guide youth through a seven-year, rite-of-passage. The ceremonies, spoken of in creation stories, highlight the importance of cultural and community connection for any leadership development. You can learn more about some journeys here.
Akimel O’odham/Pee-Posh Youth Council, 2002 Honoring Nations Honoree, Gila River Indian Community
Recognizing that their youth possess critical insight on a full range of governing issues, tribal leaders chartered the Akimel O’odham/Pee-Posh Youth Council in 1988 to give youth a formal voice within tribal government. With the median age of the Gila River Indian Community at 22.7 years, the significance of this council’s role is too apparent. After receiving training in communication, team building, ethics, conflict resolution, and parliamentary procedures, Youth Council members present youth issues to the tribal government, oversee various community projects, and attend local, state, and national meetings. Today, the Youth Council actively engages the community through its Facebook presence here, and their 2020 Election “Get Woke And Vote” virtual quiz is as sophisticated in its reporting as any formal elections’ polling can get.
Cherokee National Youth Choir, 2003 Honoring Nations Honoree, Cherokee Nation
Performing traditional and contemporary songs in the Cherokee language earned this now 20-year old choir an Honoring Nations award in 2002. In resurrecting old family songs that served to bind as much as to heal, this award-winning program also prioritized preserving the language, which was in danger of extinction. But as we saw the tribe’s leadership invest not just in language revitalization, they’d also invite their youth to continue the work of preservation, investing in a future generation of leaders for their people. Since March, the choir continues to perform, and uses their Facebook page here to share solo performances with the world.
Leadership Institute at the Santa Fe Indian School, 2010 Honoring Nations Honoree, All Indian Pueblo Council
The programs at the Leadership Institute at the Santa Fe Indian School are meant as an intergenerational incubator for crafting culturally appropriate policy. The Summer Policy Academy, a four-week session designed to expose Pueblo students to leadership and public policy training, is one of their strongest. The intention behind the Leadership Institute’s founding in 1997 is to form leaders from within. Where the Leadership Institute thrives is in training tribal youth to engage contemporary policy challenges with considerations of history and culture.
