We have twenty-two beautiful tribes in the state of Arizona that surround us from every corner. That makes people feel like they are relatives. There are over ten thousand children in foster care in Arizona. Reports show that about ten percent of that population is Native American, those numbers do not reflect the vast numbers that we have. We have thousands of Native American children who can be cared for and connected to culture. When we incorporate our culture we can have a sense of identity. Your world changes. Mexican and Apache. I always knew I was Native American, but I didn’t know much about my culture. Growing up I always felt like there was a link and connection to my heart that was missing. In my own childhood I never had that false sense of belonging. I am so grateful to my husband and his family for having such a profound impact on me.
One woman said, “My husband is an enrolled member of the Killer River Indian Community. I always wanted to be a mother, my husband wanted to be a father. Put in the prayer and God said I’m going to bless you in a different way. We became licensed foster parents eleven years ago. When I tell people I was blessed so much within six months I became a mother of children. All of whom were under the age of two. When the case manager said you have forty-eight hours. We need this car seat back. I think about what happened, I knew where the gap was and we needed to make a change and beat our opponent. So what’s happening here today, you can come back whenever you want. Leave the community, they started providing just basic resources, clothes, shoes and diapers. I tell my family don’t throw your stuff away, there are people. who need it, let’s wash it and clean it.
This is my crazy chaos, this is what I call it this is our place where we can keep all our good stuff. Usually we get a request for clothes or if a request comes in for a new baby we get a request for diapers. If we have the size or if we have the staff. We will give you, we started the quilting blanket project. We will make quilts for our elders and individuals, so that children can wrap them and keep them safe. But also they have a tribal connection. That really goes with all of these children. We know that they will always be accepted, they will be loved. I was once one of those children too and I understand what they go through. When I was in foster care, I wanted to reconnect with my culture and traditions. At least I get these hearings and it really means a lot to me.
I want to be an advocate for those children in foster care. Grandparents who are raising grandchildren. They know how much it means to be with a lack of resources. I wanted to do more out there, there is such a huge need that non-native foster parents and grandparents are raising children. Even some people through the phone say I don’t know how to connect my kids to the culture. I think we should do a lot more. One Power is a cultural gathering from all nations. That’s where natives from all over can come together It’s a cultural ceremony of blessing song. Which means there’s a lot of dancing going on. I really wanted to create a family bonding cultural experience. But also vendors could come out, and participate. Our jewelry ribbon skirts wanted to promote their native October New Year. So that they could come out and do whatever their craft is.
When I was four years old and I was removed from my home most of my connections that I could have had with my passwords. They were broken think about going into subjects like law like political science when I was adopted into my mother’s home. So she took extra steps to make sure that I was connected back to my rules. It was a surreal experience like a feeling of déjà vu like a power. A lot of it is about us and anyone else in a similar situation to mine or someone who has been adopted as a foster child. But I know that those elves are struggling to find themselves which inspires me to find out as much as I can about who I am as a person, what I can do.
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