What I learned on Summer Vacation.

By Sky Vasquez

Sitting in the back yard of his Muah's
house spending time w/ his elders.

I remember when I was younger I was so excited for summer vacation. When I became an adult, summer vacation took on a whole new meaning; working through it and having to find childcare. This summer my 6 year old son and I spent our summer on the Bishop Paiute Reservation, home of our tribe in Bishop, CA.  

After being away from our family and tribe for so long, there was something comforting about coming back. I have always felt this was my home and no matter what I did or where I went, I could always come back and continue to be a part of the community. I am proud I am able to share this with my son.  

With his cousins enjoying shave ice at
a tribal community functions.

My son won't be raised on the rez as I was, but he still feels like a part of our tribal community. When we're home, he hangs out with cousins at their house down the road, meets other little boys and girls in our native community and he danced in his first Grand Entry at our tribal pow wow at the end of this summer. He gets to do things we just don't do in the city like planting corn & veggies in the garden, learning about archery or just walking down the street of the rez and saying hello to the neighbors. He feels a connection to our tribal land already that almost feels like he was born with it. He is so proud to be Native and at every opportunity he feels the need to tell people he is Paiute.

He is very proud to show his Tribal ID when going through TSA Security at the airport. He held up the line of travelers for a few minutes telling the agent that he was Paiute/Navajo and how he was going back home to the rez. During another of our adventures, we were on a tour bus in Washington DC passing by the Iwo Jima Memorial and one of the men represented in the statue was Navajo.  Our tour guide mentioned this to us because we explained to him earlier that we were Natives from California in town for a UNITY conference.  As we passed the memorial, he asked if any of us were from the Navajo tribe. I told him my cousin and I were because I believed we were the only two in our group who were.  Then my son shouts out, "I'M NAVAJO TOO!"  For that moment, I forgot he was too.  We all laughed together.

How did I instill this confidence of being Native in him? I really don't know. I suppose my family instilled that sense of pride o our culture and where we came from, in me and I have passed this on to him. I see so many wonderful things everyday on our Reservation.  Our community coming together, the many new programs our tribe has to offer and the beauty of our land.  There is always work that can be done and issues that need to be addressed but we also have so much to be grateful for. As Ghandi said, "Be the change you want to see." So I will set a good example for my son and all the other Native Youth who are watching. 

Little Sky Vasquez is Paiute/Navajo and grew up on the Bishop Paiute Reservation.  She spent her life working for a number of native organizations & Native owned businesses in California, Washington DC & Washington State.  Always a smile on her face, a mother, artist and eternal optimist.  Her and her son currently reside in Portland, OR.