First trip to the skate park!

We finally made it to the Washington Street Skate Park!  Check out pictures at here.  My apologies for the blurriness of some of the pictures; I'm still working on my skateboard photography skills.

"Native Youth Honoring Our Elders" a momentous occasion!

Thank you to all who attended our conference/celebration, "Native Youth Honoring Our Elders: A Celebration of Wellness, A Recognition of Vickie Gambala's 33 Years of Service" this past Saturday.  The event drew ~450 participants on May14th, which was proclaimed "Vickie Gambala Day" by the City of San Diego.  Visit our Photobucket account here for pictures of the event.  We also have a Youtube video featuring the event here.  With so many activities and people, the day went by too fast!  We are truly honored and grateful to Vickie for all of her dedication and the tremendous work she has done for San Diego's American Indian and Alaska Native communities.  Happy retirement, Vickie!

"Native Youth Honoring Our Elders: A Celebration of Wellness" in just over a week!

Join us on Saturday, May 14th at Admiral Baker Field for our annual youth conference.  This year's event, "Native Youth Honoring Our Elders: A Celebration of Wellness, A Recognition of Vickie Gambala's 33 Years of Service" will take place from 9AM-4PM.  The celebration will include sports activities, martial arts/self-defense, arts & crafts, food, and most importantly, appreciation of Vickie Gambala's work in San Diego's Native American community.  Hope to see you, your family, and your friends there...remember, the event is FREE!

SDSU Sports Tour

Our partnership with SDSU has allowed us to visit the campus various times over the past two years. We have been to Men’s and Women’s basketball games, a tour of the KPBS building, concert by the music department, a dinner & school tour and softball & baseball games. We would like to thank our sponsor Dr. Aaron Bruce and the Office of the President! On Friday April 15^th 2011 our Youth Center visited the athletic facilities & Alumni Center. We took a tour of the new Alumni center inspiring the youth to graduate and become a part of the SDSU Alumni Association. We toured the Aztec Athletic Center looking at the weight room, football offices and trophy room. We even got a chance to talk with Head Football coach Rocky Long!!! We toured the aquaplex and got a glimpse of the college life! We were able to watch a few matches at the Aztec Tennis Center before the main event. Some of us went to the softball game against BYU and the baseball game against TCU. We had a great time and everyone in attendance will one day become an Aztec!

April showers bring photo battles...

Last Friday, we chanced the on/off San Diego weather and went for a walk around Balboa Park in two teams for a photo battle.  Each team had an hour to take as many quality pictures as possible, which would then be judged back at the Youth Center.  Congratulations to Kellen's team, whose team took the winning picture at left.  Each team took a plethora of pictures, but due to space, only 18 pictures from each team are posted in the 2011 April Photo Battle album here (the album has two sub-folders for Daniel's and Kellen's teams).  As you'll see, each team took very different aesthetic approaches.  Can one really "win" in creative artistic expressions?  Honestly...anyways, have fun browsing, and you be the judge of which picture was the best!

How to build a skateboard, our way.

After weeks of agonizing, near-unbearable waiting, we got the chance to build their own boards!  Thanks to Route 44 Skateboards & Records, members of our skateboarding group learned how to assemble skateboards, from blank decks and miscellaneous parts to rideable contraptions that members can ollie, flip, carve and grind on!  With help from staff, members applied their own grip tape, trucks, and wheels, then personalized the boards with stickers, also from Route 44.  Pictures of the skateboard building workshop can be found in the 2011 Food & Fitness Fun album here.  Thank you, Route 44!!!

San Diego State University & Music of Peru

Miyuyam SDAIYC Fans,

On April 4th 2011 the Youth Center was able to visit San Diego State University for a musical called "World Music: Sounds of Peru with the Inca". We were able to attend the performance for free because of our partnership with SDSU. We would like to thank our sponsor and Dr. Aaron Bruce Director of Diversity at the Presidents Office. We went as a group of 15 youth members, families and staff. We took a tour of the campus and visited the Visual Lab, Scripps Cottage and the meditation area. While we were relaxing we ran into starting point guard for the Aztec Basketball team DJ Gay! He was nice enough to take a picture with us.  The performance was awesome and the music was special. Everyone enjoyed the music and the different instruments the performers played. We like to support other cultures and learn about different types of music.  We would like to thank SDSU and we all had fun. All of our members love SDSU and are future Aztecs!!

Go State!

Thomas Jefferson School of Law

Miyuyam SDAIYC Fans,

On February 18th 2011 youth counselor Kellen and youth members Lissette & Cheyenne attended the 2011 Thomas Jefferson School of Law conference "Gender Justice and Indian Sovereignty: Native American Women and the Law". There were some of the most famous and influential Native women in Federal Indian law. Some of the guest speakers were law professors, lawyers and Native law activist.

"We learned about the struggle and stories about how they got to where they are today... One quote that I found rather interesting was language is culture and that affects your behavior".

" I learned many issues being addressed about Indian Country and what's going on today. Issues such as economic development, gaming, taxation and what I thought was most interesting, the role Native American women have in Law and Leadership. One woman said language is important, its your culture, if you change the language you change the culture and if you change the culture, you change the behavior.

Former TJSL dean Mary Lynn Perry pointed out "everyone who is important to Native American Law is here."... including the SDAIYC.

Girl power at CSU San Marcos

Our female-bodied, female-identified members represented yesterday! The Youth Center was closed yesterday for a special field trip to Cal State University, San Marcos, where we attended a screening of "Two Spirits," a documentary about two-spirit identity that chronicles the life and murder of Navajo two-spirit Fred "F.C." Martinez. "Two Spirits" will be airing on PBS in June. The film was followed by a two-spirit panel discussion, which included our very own Youth & Family Services Coordinator Christopher Scott. Among the topics discussed were personal experiences of two-spirit people, the difference between gender and sexuality, the importance of self-identification and the politics of terminology. The event was presented by the University Student Union Advisory Board, Women's Studies, and the Women's Center. Check out more pictures in the 2011 CSUSM Two Spirit album here.