Comments on: Building community in Native ‘nations within nations’ http://knowledgenetwork.thunderbird.edu/thunderbirdforgood/2009/01/23/sarkozy-banoczy/ World trends in ethics, sustainability, corporate social responsibility and international development Sat, 07 Jan 2012 02:31:42 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Stewart Sarkozy-Banoczy http://knowledgenetwork.thunderbird.edu/thunderbirdforgood/2009/01/23/sarkozy-banoczy/comment-page-1/#comment-30 Stewart Sarkozy-Banoczy Fri, 23 Jan 2009 20:22:29 +0000 http://knowledgenetwork.thunderbird.edu/globalcitizenship/?p=405#comment-30 Daryl has described a very common occurence in the intersection (some may say collision) of the Native communities with non-Native communities and I really appreciate the story. We (and the clients we serve) are very concerned about the youth and so much depends on how they are treated on and off their own community and how those communities interact. Gila River (where I have been a number of times working for Oweesta as they are a client) is 'hidden in the middle of Phoenix' so you can imagine how extreme these collisions can be when the tribal members are from a very isolated, impoverished reservation, far away from the exposure to a city like Phoenix. That is not to say that every reservation or Native community has these issues or if they do they are the same as the reservation just down the road or in that same state. That's why we know that we are involved in building individual, community and 'national' self-sufficiency, independence and economic stability. Having worked, lived and travelled extensively in Russia, Germany, the Phillipines and a number of other areas, there are lessons that can be applied and help Native communities and vice-versa. It is complicated, but then when isn't it being a global citizen as TBirds are? Daryl has described a very common occurence in the intersection (some may say collision) of the Native communities with non-Native communities and I really appreciate the story. We (and the clients we serve) are very concerned about the youth and so much depends on how they are treated on and off their own community and how those communities interact. Gila River (where I have been a number of times working for Oweesta as they are a client) is ‘hidden in the middle of Phoenix’ so you can imagine how extreme these collisions can be when the tribal members are from a very isolated, impoverished reservation, far away from the exposure to a city like Phoenix. That is not to say that every reservation or Native community has these issues or if they do they are the same as the reservation just down the road or in that same state. That’s why we know that we are involved in building individual, community and ‘national’ self-sufficiency, independence and economic stability. Having worked, lived and travelled extensively in Russia, Germany, the Phillipines and a number of other areas, there are lessons that can be applied and help Native communities and vice-versa. It is complicated, but then when isn’t it being a global citizen as TBirds are?

]]> By: Daryl James http://knowledgenetwork.thunderbird.edu/thunderbirdforgood/2009/01/23/sarkozy-banoczy/comment-page-1/#comment-29 Daryl James Fri, 23 Jan 2009 19:03:49 +0000 http://knowledgenetwork.thunderbird.edu/globalcitizenship/?p=405#comment-29 I drove to the Gila River Indian Community in 2005 on assignment for a daily newspaper in Phoenix. Most community visitors stop at the casinos along Interstate 10, but I went deeper into the reservation until I found an isolated housing project called Lone Butte. Each year, a handful of children from Lone Butte enroll at public schools in the upscale Phoenix neighborhoods that border the reservation. When allegations surfaced in 2005 that the children of Lone Butte were being pushed aside and underserved at some of these schools, I decided to investigate. The story opened my eyes to this concept of “nations within nations” that Stewart writes about. The children of Lone Butte lived only five miles south of the schools they attended, but they might as well have come from faraway nations. The cultural gaps ran deep, and the educators assigned to help these children lacked proper training in cross-cultural communication. The educators couldn’t even see that a problem existed. They were genuinely surprised – even flabbergasted – when allegations surfaced of cultural insensitivity. Yet the fact remained: Children from Lone Butte enrolled every year at Desert Vista High School, but none had ever graduated. (If you want to see the story I wrote on the children of Lone Butte, the link is www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/40921.) Thunderbirds travel all over the world to experience different cultures, but Stewart is putting his global management training to good use right here in the United States. The Native communities he serves need ambassadors who can reach out and help bridge the cultural gaps that remain in the United States. Daryl James, Thunderbird Knowledge Network editor I drove to the Gila River Indian Community in 2005 on assignment for a daily newspaper in Phoenix. Most community visitors stop at the casinos along Interstate 10, but I went deeper into the reservation until I found an isolated housing project called Lone Butte. Each year, a handful of children from Lone Butte enroll at public schools in the upscale Phoenix neighborhoods that border the reservation. When allegations surfaced in 2005 that the children of Lone Butte were being pushed aside and underserved at some of these schools, I decided to investigate. The story opened my eyes to this concept of “nations within nations” that Stewart writes about.

The children of Lone Butte lived only five miles south of the schools they attended, but they might as well have come from faraway nations. The cultural gaps ran deep, and the educators assigned to help these children lacked proper training in cross-cultural communication. The educators couldn’t even see that a problem existed. They were genuinely surprised – even flabbergasted – when allegations surfaced of cultural insensitivity. Yet the fact remained: Children from Lone Butte enrolled every year at Desert Vista High School, but none had ever graduated. (If you want to see the story I wrote on the children of Lone Butte, the link is http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/40921.)

Thunderbirds travel all over the world to experience different cultures, but Stewart is putting his global management training to good use right here in the United States. The Native communities he serves need ambassadors who can reach out and help bridge the cultural gaps that remain in the United States.

Daryl James, Thunderbird Knowledge Network editor

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