Mid-year meeting unites Tribal youth

Scott Csernyik

2/27/2002 12:00:00 AM

Several area high school students met recently with their peers as part of a national group dedicated to unifying Native American youth and developing their leadership skills.

The United National Indian Tribal Youth (UNITY) mid-year meeting took place Feb. 13-17 in Washington, D.C. The Oklahoma City-based organization is comprised of about 225 youth councils operating in 34 states and Canada. The councils represent 16,500 Native American youth.

Six students from mid-Michigan attended the meeting, including Oasis High School students Riki Durfee and Joelle Peters (Saginaw Chippewa Honor Organization of Leadership and Responsibility); Robert Pego Jr. and Nikkole Garnett (Saginaw Ojibwe Anishinabe Youth Leadership Council) from Mt. Pleasant High School, as well as Anishinabe Youth Council representatives Chase Stevens and Kecia Bautista from Shepherd High School.

From identifying and prioritizing Native American youth issues to leadership training, the conference helped foster the spiritual, mental, physical and social development of its participants. The conference also highlighted pending legislative matters, as well as included presentations and interaction with representatives from the Office of the Surgeon General, Office of National Drug Control Policy, Department of Justice, Indian Health Service, the Department of the Interior, plus other key governmental agencies. The conference also featured visits to Capitol Hill, including contact with respective legislative representatives.

"They covered quite a lot of stuff at the conference," stated Peters, who attended the national UNITY gathering in Grand Rapids last year. "We need to make a strong stand for the future of Native American youth."

For Bautista, this was the first time she had been to a UNITY conference. The Bluejay freshman said she met many interesting people. Like Peters, Bautista stated she learned a lot about parliamentary procedure.

"I now know the proper way to start meetings, and call for new business," explained Bautista.

The three also agreed it's nearly impossible not to make new friends.

"What made the conference interesting was the people that attended it with me," explained Stevens. The SHS senior has attended three national conferences, as well as two mid-year meetings. "The different mix of all the people and personalities made for a good time. Some of the people are familiar, but you always meet new people."

Besides education and culture, conference participants prioritized sobriety as one of the top three important issues facing Native American youth today.

"I think drugs and alcohol are the biggest problems we face," explained Stevens.

Bautista shared those same sentiments.

"The drinking needs to stop, as well as the other drugs that are being used." she stated. "Native Americans should know that if it's wrong, then they shouldn't do it."