As the Red Power movement swept across the United States in the 1960s and ’70s, Native American students at Fresno State also took steps to become more visible and empowered, creating the Tewaquachi American Indian Club in 1969 (now named NEUM Native American Student Association).
The club helped make Fresno a focal point in the Central Valley for Native Americans as it sponsored the first American Indian Heritage Week and Fresno State Pow Wow in 1983.
Since then, Fresno State’s Native American students, staff and faculty have continued to work to uplift and celebrate the Native American community on campus and across the Valley, including through hosting the annual Native American Youth Conference.
Open to students in grades 6 through 12, the Native American Youth Conference provides an opportunity to explore pathways toward higher education. Hosted on Nov. 2, this year’s conference also emphasized the importance of community and belonging.
Amber Esquivel said, “Belonging became my vision [for] the day because across the Central Valley there are Native students who, for multiple reasons, may be experiencing othering which will then become a domino effect, [leaving] us at the university wondering why Native students aren’t pursuing higher education. My goal became to focus on belonging and the messaging of: ‘I am worthy, you are worthy and we are worthy.’”
Esquivel serves as an outreach counselor for the university’s Native American Initiative and a co-adviser for NEUM Native American Student Association. She is a two-time Fresno State alumna.
“Growing up, [I] didn’t have these events or opportunities in school, and I remember walking my high school campus feeling like I was the only Native student there,” Esquivel said. “I enjoy giving back to future generations by guiding them through the motions of higher education. My grandmother was a big advocate for education, and I’m continuing her legacy of working in education and helping all Native students accomplish their goals.”
With Native students continuing to make up less than 1% of Fresno State’s student population, Esquivel’s mission is to create a sense of belonging for Native students. Studies show the stronger a student’s sense of belonging at the university, the better the chance he or she will stay in school and ultimately earn a degree.
Throughout the day, the Native American Youth Conference provided students the opportunity to connect with peers from other schools and tribes — working in small groups to imagine a Native student club of their own creation, complete a scavenger hunt and partake in cultural games and activities.
The conference also hosted a resource fair and a workshop where parents and family members could get more information about financial aid, A-G requirements and how to support their students’ pursuit of higher education.
To end the conference, Esquivel facilitated a session of the Belmont Process. Attendees were asked to answer aloud the questions: What did you see? What did you hear? And what did you feel? Answering these questions was a way to collectively process the day’s activities.
As attendees spoke of a sense of solidarity, trust and spiritual medicine, the room filled with hums of agreement. And there was a palpable shift in the room as one student answered the question, “What did you feel,” by saying, “A part of me is meant to be.”
To learn more about Fresno State’s Native American Initiative and resources for Native students, visit https://studentaffairs.fresnostate.edu/outreach/nai/index.html.
