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This is the brilliant story of my friend coming out For one reason or another, I did not know one of my best friend’s is gay. He told me as teenagers and I wanted to take the time to share his story with you.  With little information about how to make sure a friend knows you are there to support them, sometimes people struggle with the approach. This friend stood by my side. I grew up with him and we walked home from school. Each family and friend situation is unique and in all the years, I have never heard a...

How do Native Languages include a database of knowledge in one word? The oral history and legends are powerful records to learn and share. The easiest example is to think of a name. This name connects to what you know about the person, but it certainly builds over time. In the process of speaking and teaching Native languages, it is important to pause and acknowledge the database that exists within one word.   For the people who grew up hearing and speaking the language, this is inherent knowledge. For people speaking or teaching one or two words at a time, on the pathway...

  What does it mean to be a warrior and what traditions are carried on? For this question, I asked for my dad's help. I grew up hearing him and our family talk about history. Yet, there was something in his background he did not share until later.    One day after elementary school, I came home and told my dad all the things I learned about the Vietnam War. I talked non-stop for 10 minutes.  My dad simply replied, "I know, I was there."  He took his time, but he began to tell us more of his time there....

  This is the story we need to tell Natives live in a vast amount of land, now called America. The Yakama people view their world then and today as "Ichi tiichum iwa nimi" (this land is a part of us). This phrase is a Yakama compass. People are not perfect and sometimes we make mistakes. This phrase and the religion, songs, and ceremonies orientate us. We must remember our promise to speak for the resources that cannot speak for themselves. It is a reminder that by caring for the resources, then eating them, they become a part of us,...

  Increase Native language in our daily lives with these ways of learning and teaching. Shiyax Mytski! (Good Morning) Greetings are a common phrase that may be used with children. In our communities, kids offer such a refreshing way to view and describe the world. Long before, I had three little munchkins, I was an auntie. When I would have those few minutes with them, I would want to describe the world around them in the language that has been spoken on this land since time immemorial. Our Native language resources may be limited. Our time and ability to teach...