Lessons for, and from, elders

IAIA workshops help bridge generations by teaching practical, traditional skills

Kay Lockridge | For The New Mexican

10/4/2008 - 10/5/08

Tribal elders came to the Institute of American Indian Arts to listen and learn, and wound up teaching each other and IAIA faculty, staff and students.

More than 300 Pueblo, Hopi and Apache elders and leaders gathered recently to greet old friends and meet new ones in an educational environment that encouraged keeping in touch and handing down traditions. A variety of workshops provided hands-on experience and opportunity to share experiences.

For instance, Comanche artist Nacona Burgess led a computer literacy workshop, assisted by IAIA students. Burgess is Student Activities Coordinator and student government adviser at IAIA, a full-time position.

"The whole point of this workshop is to help participants become familiar and comfortable with computers, if only to send e-mail to their children and grandchildren," Burgess said. "Then, they can take this information back to their pueblos or reservations and put what they've learned to work on computers there.

"Even if they don't have personal computers, they can use computers owned by the tribe in their libraries or community rooms," Burgess said. "We give them (elders) the basic information to get started."

Approximately 12 to 15 elders, mostly women, worked two to a station, while five to six IAIA students answered questions and gave directions on the road to computer literacy.

Hopi/Tewa potter Darlene James provided clay and basic tools for her 15 students, who immediately set about creating small pieces of pottery to take with them. James also showed her pottery in various stages of creation, to give students an idea of the work and imagination involved in the medium.

"It's a lot of work but also a labor of love," James said. "They can see from my finished pieces why it's worth all the effort. Some people are defeated by that effort; others are inspired."

James learned how to make pottery from her family, starting with gourds and working up to clay that she digs herself. She is the great-great-granddaughter of famed Hopi potter Nampeyo.

Cochiti Pueblo drummaker Arnold Hererra told stories of his heritage while carving a log of wood. This workshop was a demonstration of drummaking, starting with a piece of log and culminating in a finished drum. Like James' pottery workshop, Hererra had about 15 students; in this workshop, however, most of the participants were IAIA students who sat in between or after their regular classes.

Several arts-and-crafts sessions gave participants an opportunity to create small gifts, while workshops on stress reduction and tai chi encouraged participants to focus on themselves.

Other workshops focused on more serious concerns to the elders, including elder benefits, grandparents' rights, living wills and health issues. These sessions featured panels of experts on the various subjects and, after basic introductions, opened the floor to the 35 to 50 participants who shared experiences and advice.

Local, state and federal programs were explained, and attendees were encouraged to explore what their localities have to offer. Cautionary tales included some horror stories about insurance coverage and referrals provided too late to save lives.

Besides IAIA faculty, staff and students, the conference drew in volunteers from Northern New Mexico to help with registration, lunch and anywhere else they were needed. Chama resident Roxanna Bayer said she heard about the conference through the community-based service center where she works with seniors.

"The conference sounded exciting and informative, and IAIA needed help," Bayer said. "I was interested particularly in the workshop on domestic violence against women and elders. Unfortunately, there's a lot of violence against the elderly — often by their own families — that goes unnoticed because it's not reported or is ignored."

Jennifer Coots, an IAIA professor of business, said she was helping out during the day, although she was not a presenter "because that's what we do at IAIA ... whatever needs doing, we all pitch in."

The day concluded with entertainment by tribal and IAIA members. Prayers opened and closed the conference.

The conference, held at IAIA for the second year, is free. The program is supported by grants, donations and volunteer efforts, according to Ramus Suina, tribal-relations specialist for IAIA's Center for Lifelong Education, and is sponsored by the Eight Northern Indian Pueblo Council's Senior Services and Peacekeepers, the Santa Clara Pueblo Seniors' Program and CLE.

Suina said he expected next year's conference to be held in the new CLE center, a state-of-the-art building that will house conference facilities, a cafeteria and dining room, administrative offices and bookstore, for which IAIA recently broke ground.