NATIVE AMERICAN ADVANCEMENT FOUNDATION INC

This program is an extension of the ASP during the summer months. The goal of the program is to promote education, build youth self-esteem, spark curiosity and shape strong, healthy, contributing members of society. The program focuses on teaching reading, math, technology, and health education. Also incorporated are the teaching and development of traditional Tohono O'odham art, handicrafts, language, gardening, and cultural history. The students take field trips to educational hotspots such as Kitt Peak, The Pima Air & Space Museum, Biosphere 2. Connecting core O’odham values of himdag and i:mig to summer adventures is part of the cultural geography experiences on the reservation. Students visit the historic village of Kukatch and ancestral lands where they learn respect for elders, their sacred sites and basic survival techniques. Through a partnership with Arizona Complete Health, the SAP also teaches the students “Too Good for Drugs and Violence” lessons to highlight the harms of underage drinking and drug use. SAP also provides meals during the summer months and any young person who comes to the facility receives a meal, regardless of program enrollment.

This program provides online support for students who wish to finish their education on their own time, whether due to employment or family commitments, and to keep up with their credits until they can reintegrate into the traditional school system. The VLC provides these services for K-12 and high school online education. Youth who have dropped out of school are able to reengage in a learning environment and register for online classes. This program serves as a tool in educating the Tohono O’odham Nation's most at-risk youth. Young adults who have dropped out of school are also given the opportunity to enroll in an online credit recovery program and work towards receiving their high school diploma in a program called “Graduation Solutions.” This program is currently operating at capacity and meets three times a week. NAAF provides these students with transportation, laptops and internet services. And the VLC laptops are equipped with tutoring and academic support services.

I:mig is an O’odham concept positing how everything is related, including culture, identity, and sacred geography.
“This language is a gift—and if you know it, you teach it.” Selina Jesus expressed the purpose of the new Native American Advancement Foundation (NAAF) project. This is a Tohono O’odham language documentation and teaching program rooted in intergenerational sharing. We are focusing on the western Tohono O’odham geography.
Our project will expand existing NAAF language programs and develop new curricula for all ages at beginner, intermediate and advanced levels. Language programs will be based on documenting Western dialects with cultural knowledge, I:mig and identity, storytelling and sacred site mapping. Our methodology is a community collaboration and will connect elders and teachers to younger generations. In return, young people will document language for instruments, including a mobile language app, videos, audio, and written materials. All generations will contribute to documenting dialects for future generations.

The Store provides four rural communities with access to food. This program also provides job training and internships for high school and college students, allowing them to build their resumes for future employment. The Store helps break a cycle of poverty among women by offering part-time employment. Finally, The Store serves as a gathering place for locals to enjoy outside games and events in a safe and drug/alcohol free environment, promoting a drug/alcohol free lifestyle in a prevention type model.

The Internship is an opportunity for students to acquire administrative and leadership skills in diverse NAAF programming. This year, the NAAF interns worked in The Store, ran the GuVo After School Program and developed the ASP academic calendar, and facilitated the Summer Adventure Program. For the 2018-2019 ASP, the interns organized arts and crafts activities, field trips, STEM events, outdoor recreation, and O’odham language lessons.

Girls Voices is an extension of the ASP, in partnership with the Greater Good organization. Girls Voices honors and empowers young women by providing resources in education, job training, health, support, and creative expression. This year, young women in the program created videos to bring awareness to other young women and raise money for scholarships. And these Girls Voices participants donated funds to feed children in the ASP.