By Carrie Naughton | Director of Development
Dear Friends,
NAAF’s After-School Program (ASP) kids have been busy! We went back to in person sessions as of Mid-April, and the students hit the ground running - literally. Outdoor activities and games in Ruth’s Oidag included soccer, scavenger hunts, tending to the chickens, our first Sober Movie Night of 2022, and garden planting and harvesting. The students held a naming contest for the chicken flock, with notable winners Bubbles, Chocolate Dip and Valkyrie. We have improved access to the garden with a new walkway ramp addition, and the NAAF crew is almost done finishing up a long-term project - our outdoor wood-fired pizza oven! For the Easter holiday, the kids participated in Easter egg coloring and watching a STEM-centered video about how Peeps are made. In late April, we had a Ho’okmal (butterfly) Release Party in the Oidag.
We are continuing to incorporate Tohono O’odham language and culture into the ASP program, and this Spring the students learned the parts of the body, colors and numbers in O’odham. They played the O’odham game kahoot, practiced making toka sticks (for the traditional game similar to field hockey), and in May they participated in i:ibhai (prickly pear) and ciolim (cholla bud) harvests. Climbing and exploring in the desert was probably the best part, but everyone also received a packet of ciolim and several recipes, including Spice Dip and Fruit Salad. In Ruth’s Oidag, everyone planted gepi (watermelon), pumpkin, huñ (corn), and hiv haj (sunflower seeds), and in May/June the harvests brought broccoli, cabbage, spearmint, and zucchini, which were shared among the students and the community. The final day of ASP 2022 was May 27. NAAF is so proud to announce that we had two graduations! Autumn graduated from Maur Hill Mount Academy, and she plans to continue her academic journey in the Fall, studying the O’odham language and elementary education. And, Olivia is our first ever graduate of Ce:ce:m A’al O O’odham Ñeñok (NAAF’s Early Education program). She is ready to start attending SAP and ASP with the big kids!
NAAF is thrilled to share that we held our first ever Language and Culture Summer Immersion Camp from June 20-24! NAAF hosted 32 students between the ages of 2 and 18 for five days of learning, art, music, games, crafts, and sports, with lessons in O’odham language, culture and jewed (land/geography) woven throughout. Each day had a different theme and guest teacher - basket weaving, ha’a (pottery), toka, e’esa (traditional gardening and songs), and Sawku:d (gourd rattle making). The big kids also did O’odham vocabulary drills, and played soccer and musical daikud (chairs). The little ones of our Early Education cohort sang songs such as “head shoulders knees and feet” and held hands for traditional dancing, made pottery, beaded shell necklaces and traditional dolls, and learned colors and numbers by practicing pencil control on O’odham worksheets. NAAF provided healthy snacks and lunches every day, including snow cones with sitol (saguaro fruit syrup), and lots of water for everyone to stay hydrated! Held in Ruth’s Oidag beneath our two shady mesquite trees, the camp was a rousing success, offering the students of GuVo District the opportunity to learn and have fun together and honor their ancestors while making new memories with ancient traditions.
Links:
By Carrie Naughton | Director of Development
By Jen McCormack | Sr. Director of Research and Development
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