Our children have the ability to make great things happen

(EDITOR'S NOTE: On Aug. 12, Speaker Lawrence T. Morgan (Iyanbito/Pinedale) issued the following statement after attending the dedication ceremony for a new home for Mary and Kee Augustine in Nageezi, N.M. The home was made by the Arizona State University Stardust Center for Affordable Homes and the Family, using the knowledge of Navajo students and other interested entities.)

It gave me great pleasure to see the talents of our students being used to create wonderful things as in the case of the home for Kee and Mary Augustine of Nageezi, N.M. Students from Arizona State University helped to design and build the home of the couple using the latest environmentally-sound technologies. I am writing this statement to remind each of us that as parents and leaders, it is our duty to assist our young people as they try to help the Navajo Nation.

So many times we tell our young people to go to college and then return to help our people. Many of them try, only to learn that they might not be given an opportunity to use their skills. As leaders, we need to offer our students and our college graduates an opportunity beyond words of encouragement. We need to do more than offer rhetoric in that regard and offer them opportunities.

I read a letter to the editor in the Navajo Times where there are complaints that our own resources -- our Navajo graduates -- are not being utilized to their fullest extent. I agree with that. There seems to be very few opportunities for our young people.

However, the message that I have heard from our college students and graduates themselves is that they have the capabilities and the desire to give back to our people. They are ready to take on these roles. It is our duty to help them in whatever regard we can.

In April of this year, my office had the pleasure of hosting students of the Cree Nation from Canada. As we educated them on the tenets of our government and society, what impressed them the most was that the top people of the Navajo Nation Legislative Branch were all our own Navajo people. They told us that within their nation, the top administrative positions are held by people who are not members of their nation. By attaining higher education, these young people were trying to take back such positions within their nations. They saw us as an inspiration for what they are trying to achieve.

For me, I personally find inspiration in what the students at ASU are doing. They are giving back to their community. They are finding creative ways to be involved, even though they are far from home. They are applying what they are learning at the university and integrating it with our Navajo ways for the most exceptional and unique results. Certainly they have garnered the attention of many people judging from the interest in yesterday's dedication, and they have also proven an eagerness to contribute to the betterment of our society.

This is not the only Navajo-specific project that ASU design and architectural students are working on. They also partnered with University of New Mexico students to work with area high school students in May, and they have completed and presented conceptual designs for the Navajo Nation Capitol. When Tonya Yellowhair from ASU presented to the Council on the first day of the summer session about the Capitol Studio project, we were all extremely impressed with the students' ideas and with their knowledge. To see and hear that our young children have such far-reaching ideas gave many of us an optimistic feeling for our future as a nation.

When we send our children to college, we tell them that we have belief in them. We should continue to have that belief as they graduate and as they are ready to apply their education toward the betterment of our people and nation. These students, the next generation of leaders, show the greatest promise because they believe they can be and should be of assistance to their people.

It is my belief that we are the masters of our own destiny. As individuals, we hold a power that can control the outcome of our desires. What we actually do, and how we fulfill our goals, is based on our capacity to learn and our eagerness to succeed. Our students want to succeed. More importantly, they want to help our nation to succeed.

As a nation, we the Navajo people can also control our destiny. Fulfilling that dream of self-sufficiency and protecting our sovereignty can be achieved by nurturing our young students to learn and grow. Young ladies and gentlemen have an immeasurable desire to improve their way of life among our great nation. It is our responsibility to nurture their talents and give them an opportunity.

For that reason, my office has made it a requirement of whichever firm we select to build a new Legislative Branch complex that the input of the American Indian Council of Architects and Engineers, which has chapters at ASU and UNM, will be used. We have seen the hard evidence of what Navajo students can actually design and build. We know they can help us to create a new complex where the legislative functions of our government can be carried out in the most befitting manner.

I would like to thank all the students, teachers, mentors, volunteers and each individual who was involved in the making of a very remarkable home for one elderly couple. Attending the dedication was one of the most exhilarating experiences I have had as the Speaker of the Navajo Nation Council because it showed the promise and capabilities of our own. Our children have the ability to make great things happen.

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