Over the summer several NHS Native Americans students traveled to Minneapolis, Minnesota to attend the national UNITY conference. The UNITY conference lasts over a span of 5 days and has about 2,500 Native American youths in attendance yearly. UNITY stands for United National Indian Tribal Youth. The goal of the  conference is to bring the Native American youth together and give them an idea of what other tribes do and experience. “I loved the workshops, they gave you a chance to meet new people,” said Gloriana Collier. Every year the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe’s Youth Council, or FMITYC, sends representatives to the conference. In attendance this year was Christopher Jenkins, Carissa Collier, Gloriana Collier, Bresies Holmes, Ezekiel Hemmers, Emilee Mills, Katie Smith, Isabella Harvey, Amelia Jackson and Audi Andrews.

While there, the members were able to participate in may activities such as a formal dance, the largest mall in america and the Nickelodeon theme park. A highlight of the trip was getting to meet a famous Native American actor, Stormee Kipp. will appear in the the new movie Prey, which is part of the Predatover vs. Prey series. On the last day at the conference, the students attended a “Culture Night” where every tribes there shared a piece of their culture. The FMITYC shared a traditional song and dance, performed by bird singers Chris Jenkins and Ezekial Hemmers. Many of the of the girls danced and were joined by other members of the conference. Ezekiel Hemmers commented that, “My favorite thing about UNITY was attending the culture night. Seeing all the other cultures and their traditions and being able to share ours.  We were able to put our tribe further out there.”

Our students had different yet fun experiences and enjoyed their time at the conference. “I’m definitely going again because it was very inspiring and eye opening.”, said Isabella Harvey. UNITY is definitely a memory they will cherish forever.