Indigenous people demand to be seen and accounted for after latest census

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Sunnie Clahchischiligi has been weaving since she was 7 years old.

"My precocious grandma ever said that arsenic agelong arsenic you cognize however to weave you’ll ne'er spell hungry,” Clahchischiligi said. "I americium from Teec Nos Pos, Arizona, connected the Navajo nation."

Clahchischiligi is simply a PhD pupil and teacher astatine the University of New Mexico. She’s besides a 5^thgeneration Navajo rug weaver powerfully tied to her roots. Roots that person nourished a robust colonisation arsenic indigenous communities proceed to grow.

“This is the 1 twelvemonth that I tin honestly accidental that I've seen advertisements and campaigns to get much radical to beryllium much progressive successful reporting to the census," Clahchischiligi said.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, from 2010 to 2020, the American Indian and Alaska Native populations unneurotic accrued by 160 percent.

“Perhaps we're bushed of being successful the shadows, possibly we're bushed of being forgotten, which has happened for very, precise galore years,” Clahchischiligi said.

After years of erasure, they are present demanding to beryllium seen. Many of them are anxious to stock their civilization with others. Melvin Juanico is the operations manager astatine the Sky City Cultural Center and Haak’u Museum successful the Acoma Pueblo. We met astatine the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center successful Albuquerque due to the fact that Acoma and galore different pueblos are closed to visitors owed to COVID.

“Acoma Pueblo is considered to beryllium 1 of the oldest continuously inhabited communities successful North America dating backmost to 1150 AD,” Juanico said.

He says Acoma radical strive to sphere what their ancestors started for them.

“As we speech astir ineffable sites, arsenic we speech astir tradition, culture, it's precise important that we bespeak backmost connected however we archetypal came about, what our ancestors went through," Juanico said. "Of course, astatine Acoma Pueblo successful the aboriginal 1500s, they were invaded by the conquistadors and they faced battle.”

Because of that history, Clahchischiligi says that successful her assemblage determination person been generations of distrust. She says she doesn’t judge the fig of Native radical grew that overmuch successful a decade. Rather, she thinks determination was overmuch much information successful the census.

“A batch of radical from my ain community, whether successful Teec Nos Pos oregon the Navajo community, are truly hesitant astir taking portion successful the census due to the fact that we've been truthful utilized to being overlooked that a batch of radical deliberation it goes nowhere,” Clahchischiligi said.

However, Juanico is hopeful that’s changing. With much practice successful the census, helium is anticipating amended funding, amended healthcare and amended education.

“We privation our younger procreation to get their education," Juanico said. "Even aft precocious school, to prosecute a assemblage grade to get a bully job.”

Both accidental they can’t talk for different tribes and tin lone talk to their ain experience. Moving forward, they are acceptable to marque their beingness known.

“My anticipation is that we proceed to enactment beardown and to enactment blessed and to proceed to pass and stock with 1 different the thought that we person arsenic Native American tribes,” Juanico said.

“The United States has a past of sharing the indigenous people's stories, but we are present and we tin archer our ain stories,” Clahchischiligi said.