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The Daily Aztec
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Oct. 20 - Oct. 26, 2021 EDITOR: Katelynn Robinson • news@thedailyaztec.com
Native Resource Center new in-person presence serves Indigenous students by Lucelis Martínez STAFF WRITER
The Native Resource Center at San Diego State was founded in 2019 and is located in the Arts and Letters building in room 202, according to their official Instagram. The room is decorated with Indigenous artwork and smells of incense. Swirls of the smoke curl around a paper tree on a back wall, and a blue couch sits in the center of the room. The NRC aims to provide students with connections so they can build community with organizations like the Native American Student Alliance, according to their official website. Amanda Flores is the NRC Program coordinator and member of the Oglala Sioux Nation. “You don’t have to be Native American or Indigenous, we respect all individuals that come in here and allies that wanna learn and just be a part of a community separate from what they’ve ever been part of or if they’ve never even been part of a community,” Flores said. Kinesiology third year Leah Chavez is the program assistant for the NRC. Chavez got her start in the NRC through the Elymash Yuuchaap (EY) Program. According to their Instagram, they are “committed to the sovereign identity and academic success of Indegenous students at SDSU.” Santino Arellano is a fourth year student at SDSU, studying comparative literature and is a program assistant at the NRC. According to his Linkedin, he’s placing special focus on American Indian studies and literature. Arellano transferred to SDSU from City College and recalls signing up for emails from the center, given that he put down his identity as Native American on his application when he transferred to SDSU. “Last summer when I saw that they were hiring, I applied and here I am,”
Accessibility:
continued from page 1 ‘oh, this isn’t the [one].’ They only have one wheelchair-accessible bus so it’s not always there,” Blvd 63 resident and SDSU student Tamara Udayakumar said. Udayakumar said she has had a positive experience overall since moving this August. She said some pros of living at Blvd 63 include timely repairs, resident activities and roommate selection. Bushnell said she has been pushing for change in the apartment complex for approximately two months. When she posted a petition on Wednesday, Oct. 7, the building management called a meeting the following Friday to inform her of a new laundry unit was being shipped to them. She said she has yet to see it. They also said in this meeting they do have a pool lift, however, it needs to be serviced, Bushnell said. “I had been pushing on these issues for two months and within two days the petition got that action,” Bushnell said. “I just want equal access to the facilities here that I pay for, that the other residents pay for and enjoy. I mean my rent here is $1800 a month, I should be able to live here.”
Arellano said. Part of Arellano’s family are Texan Apache. His paternal grandfather is from Mexico, and has ancestry in the Tarrahumara nation from Chihuahua. According to an online entry, the Tarrahumara call themselves Raramuri which translates to “light feet.” According to the same entry, they moved there after the arrival of the Spanish and their language is sweet, full of descriptive and poetic language. “I learn everyday that I work here, just meeting new people and hearing their stories and their thoughts on everything,” Arellano said. Arellano said the NRC is important because it provides a space for Native students to come hang out and talk to other students about whatever is going on in the world, or on campus. “Even when I’m not working, I’m in here all the time just because it’s a comfortable place for me to be,” Arellano said. Out of all the events they’ve put on, Arellano said he enjoyed a recent one where the NRC interviewed Rodrigo Reyes, the director of a movie called “499.” The event was a collaboration between the NRC and the Latinx Resource Center (LRC) on campus. Arellano explained why a group like the LRC would work together with the NRC on an event. “For example, the ‘499’ film is about colonization and its effects on the descendants of indigenous people and indigenous people in Latin America, in Mexico specifically,” Arellano said. The movie follows a conquistador as he navigates through modern day Mexico and hears people’s stories. “Stories of violence, trauma, abuse, and throughout the entire film he calls everyone ‘Indios’ which is the Spanish word for Indian because everyone he meets, who most people would just see as Latin American, to him are just ‘Indian’ because in his time there was no such thing as Latinx, Chicano, none
Her petition has accumulated over 300 signatures, including SDSU Professor Rachel Schlesinger, who teaches a Disability and Society course. “I found this petition because of a student of ours,” Schlesinger said. “I teach the Disability and Society class at State, I co-teach it...Housing is one of those things that is kind of taken for granted in the sphere of education......I feel very passionate about [it] in terms of you know this student is fighting the battles of just getting access to her own house.” International security third year, Valeria Hutchings is a friend of Bushnell’s and said she has witnessed the management’s treatment towards Bushnell. “They were definitely talking down,” Hutchings said. “And I am so glad I went with Elizabeth that day, on the day when she was getting really frustrated because she had to yell to basically get them to realize it was a serious issue.” Both Hutchings and Bushnell described management’s response to these issues as “dismissive” and as “talking in circles.” The Daily Aztec attempted to contact management at Blvd 63, and was referred to a manager who asked to be referred to as Nick from Residential Service. He said Blvd 63 is working to make accommodating changes. He said Blvd 63 is currently in the
Photo by Lucelis Martínez
The Native Resource Center made a tree and added leaves to the tree to honor children on Orange Shirt Day.
of that,” Arellano said. Arellano said the movie touches on necessary topics. “It gets to the root of everything,” Arellano said. “A majority of people in Latin America are of indigenous descent and show it on their face every single day and it’s something that’s inescapable but at the same time it’s something that those countries try to escape.” Arellano said there is no such thing as a racial/ethnic checkmark. “All of us who identify as indigenous definitely can feel that way, because we live in that medium every single day of being not only indigenous but living in the United States, a westernized system, a colonized system and having that be a majority of what we do all day everyday is colonized systems and living that
western lifestyle because that’s what we’ve been forced to,” Arellano said. Flores said building community is about respecting and honoring all the different nations that exist. “All of us are very unique,” Flores said. “We each have our own traditions. It’s [The NRC’s] a safe space to do that in.” The group tries to honor and embrace their differences. “Everybody in the world is indigenous to somewhere,” Arellano said. “Just because you’re not indigenous to the place you live in if you’re, you know, European-American living in the United States or otherwise, you’re indigenous to somewhere, your ancestors came from somewhere.”
process of getting new amenities to make their space more accommodating for residents with disabilities. When asked about Bushnell’s experience with management being dismissive, Nick said that is not their character. “That is not our character… a lot of us are brand new so we are trying to change a lot of things because things weren’t getting done with our previous management and stuff like that,” Nick said. According to Nick, previous management did not make much progress when it came to accommodating needs. “I feel like we just started,” Nick said. “We are taking those steps to get there. We are not pushing them to the side to say they are not getting their needs met.” Hutchings asked management if they were working to have any temporary alleviations that would help disabled residents for the time being. “They said ‘no, that’s not our responsibility,’” Hutchings said. “I think even though it is not in the lease—which was their reasoning—it just shows their character and their groundings.” In her petition, Bushnell said the only change she has seen in the apartments is a change in her stove which she is now able to use. Bushnell said situations like this
“don’t exist in a vacuum.” “Because when a space is not designed for you it carries the pervasive and distinct message that you do not belong here, you are different, you are less than,” Bushnell said. “And coming from your living community in particular, that is toxic.” She said the people in power need to be stood up to for “needlessly complicating” lives. “Change starts with your voice, so that’s what I am doing,” Bushnell said. “The management has attempted to get me to take this petition down but I refuse until all of my issues are addressed.” SEE ONLINE
Pachanga:
continued from page 1 “I don’t come from a family of musicians,” Rodriguez said. “My career aspiration was to become a music teacher and so it allowed me to teach in the Southbay where I came from.” Cardenas was accompanied by her friend, Melissa Perez, who had invited her. Melissa Perez is a member of the LRC SEE ONLINE
