Page Unified School District held its annual Multicultural Celebration Day the last week of November. The event incorporated several different indigenous nations, including Diné, Hopi, Apache and Filipino. Each group performed a number of their traditional songs and dances. 

The purpose of the Multicultural Celebration Day was to provide an opportunity to commemorate the rich and diverse cultures, traditions, heritages and histories of American Indians and acknowledge the important contributions they bring to society.

The celebration was an all-day affair. It took place in the Page High School gym. Throughout the day, the groups performed for students from Lake View, Desert View, Page Middle School, Manson Mesa High School and Page High School. The groups gave an additional performance in the evening that was open to the public.

The event was organized by Carlos Begay, PUSD’s Indian Education Office coordinator, with help from his assistant Lorraine Allen. Planning, organizing and executing the event took months of phone calls and emails to organize the logistics of arrival, departure, lodging and travel.

Begay said the long hours and effort were well worth it. It’s a chance to bring back many things that were lost or hidden during the decades when Native Americans were killed, removed from their ancestral lands and forced to assimilate into white culture.

“American Indians have been severed from our language and culture for so long, for many generations, and now our young people have a real hunger to learn their language, their traditions, heritage and culture,” said Begay. “We have young people who are seeking out their traditions, heritage and culture. They’re yearning for that knowledge. And that knowledge, that heritage, those traditions are vital and important. Our children need that.”

The Multicultural Celebration Day was just one of several events Begay, Allen and the Indian Education Office organized in November, which is National American Indian Heritage Month.

The Indian Education Office also held its annual UNITY Pageant, held an evening of traditional storytelling in the high school Hogan, and played the Shoe Game, a traditional Navajo game.

If the indigenous youth see that such things are still important to the older generations, it reinforces to them that these things still matter, that they’re still important, said Begay.

All the events for National American Indian Heritage Month were also open to non-natives. It was a great chance for non-natives to witness and take part in the rich heritage of their indigenous neighbors.  

Because the new generation of Diné students have a deep curiosity for their history and heritage, engaging with them on those topics is a great way to empower and motivate them, Begay said. 

Page High School and Page Middle School offer Navajo government and Navajo language classes, and they are some of the best-liked and most well-attended classes among PUSD’s Diné students. They are also increasingly popular with many of PUSD’s non-native students.