Renton High School hosted the Indian Education Program’s Culture Night April 30, complete with songs, dancing, storytelling, information booths and fry bread.
The evening was an opportunity for students and families to get in touch with their Native American roots and to meet the new program liaison, Tommy Segundo. Segundo is a 2001 graduate of Renton High and the Indian Education Program, which has existed in the district since 1974.
The federal program provides supplemental assistance to Native American students through Title VII funding, with one-on-one counseling, home visits, culture nights, college and scholarship application assistance and in-court assistance regarding juvenile issues. The Indian Education Program supports students in grades kindergarten through 12th grade and this year’s population numbers 281 students.
The event was intended for the younger set, with singing and dance performances by the Haida Heritage Foundation. Sondra Segundo, Tommy’s sister and also a Renton High grad, read from her book “Killer Whale Eyes.” Parents and students also participated in the dancing.
Parent Diane Moses attended last Thursday’s event with her kindergartener, second-grader and two 10th-graders. She and her family are of the Nez Perce Tribe in Spokane.
“I like the program,” Moses said. “Coming here and being able to have a place where these guys go and somebody to turn to, you know, that they can identify with, is really important. And that’s what this program does.”
This was the first of many cultural nights planned by Segundo, who is taking over the reigns from Earline Bala, who was the program liaison for 38 years. Bala was a mentor to Segundo and coming back to Renton to work with Native students has been a career goal for him.
“She really helped me kind of learn things about myself that were culturally relevant,” Segundo said. Bala took an interest in him and introduced him to the idea of attending college. Segundo took her advice, eventually attended the University of Washington, pursued jobs in Indian affairs advocacy and recruiting for the university, before he returned to Renton High.
Now he wants to help support and mentor Native students in the district the same way he was helped.
Native American students face unique identity issues, Segundo said, that the program seeks to address to ultimately build self-confidence and increase graduation rates.
“They (students) don’t necessarily feel that they’re Native enough to represent it, or they don’t feel that they can represent it because they don’t know their culture, or whatnot,” Segundo said. “So, I just want them to know that it is OK and it’s not their fault that they don’t know their culture.”
A lot of students may not be full Native Americans and not know about their culture, he said. Or, there are Native American students who do come from Native parents, but they don’t know their tribe’s language because of the legacy of boarding schools. The schools in the 1880s through the 1920s sought to assimilate Native Americans into the majority culture by replacing their traditional ways. The movement left long term historical trauma that is still seen today, Segundo said.
For example, he doesn’t know his Haida language because his grandparents were put in boarding schools.
“When you’re connected to your culture, it really does a lot of things for you,” he said. “You have a sense of pride; you have a sense of confidence in yourself. That’s again why I feel it’s important to keep that alive.”
His next cultural event will be a drum-making class for high school students. According to his predecessor Bala, families learn best through culture.
“I think the greatest thing about this program is to be able to see kids when they start very, very young and they stay with the program and you get to hand them that diploma and say, ‘We are so proud of you to continue,'” said Bala.
