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Spirit Catcher

Belonging to the Badger and Spider clans of the Hopi Tribe has always been a source of pride to Nikishna Polequaptewa ’05, perhaps because he knows what it’s like to be a tribe of one. His mother left home when he was a baby; his father went to prison when he was 3; and he grew up living in foster homes or with relatives on and off the Arizona reservation.“Even though I moved around, I knew my American Indian identity,” Polequaptewa says. “I always felt closely tied to my reservation, my tribe and its customs.”

Today, as director of UCI’s new American Indian Resource Program, he works to instill the same sense of pride and belonging in American Indian students at UCI and in Southern California’s elementary and high schools.

Nikishna Polequaptewa Spirit Catcher

“I want American Indian students to have the kind of role models and resources I didn’t have,” he says.

Established by the Office of Student Affairs, the resource program aims to increase the number of American Indian students at UCI by reaching out to students in kindergarten through community college. Polequaptewa also wants to offer current students and alumni access to campus events that highlight relevant issues and customs. A special graduation ceremony to be held in May, for example, provides recognition to the accomplishments of American Indian students.

Outreach projects focus on preparing young students for university life. The FIRE Mentorship Program encourages American Indian high school students to attend college. Summer academies introduce high school and transfer students to UCI, and an Anteater Bridge program launches sixth- through eighth-grade students on the path to academic success. Polequaptewa manages all of that.

He knows firsthand the importance of outreach. While in high school, he attended UCI’s American Indian Summer Institute in Computer Sciences residential program. He also signed up for the Summer Science Academy sponsored by the California Alliance for Minority Participation. In both programs, he found mentors who helped him gain practical skills, such as how to build Web sites and become a successful student.

“I always knew I’d go to college, even though I had no parents or way to pay for it,” he says. “I did it by doing the best I could at school.”

He enrolled in UCI’s information and computer science program, switching majors to environmental analysis and design to “build things that help people directly.”

He served as American Indian Student Association president all four years, with only a few active members to help him tutor high school students, expand summer programs, stage the annual UCI powwow in June, and present workshops to elementary and middle school children to “let them know the culture’s still alive.”

“Nikishna has never forgotten his origins. His spiritual connection to the Hopi Tribe is a big part of who he is. And he’s a great mentor. He’s inspired a lot of American Indian students to look at UCI. The program he started is so innovative; it’s put UCI on the map.”

– Kika Friend, California Alliance for Minority Participation director

After graduating, Polequaptewa earned his master’s in resource management from Central Washington University, and then developed an air-monitoring program for the La Jolla Band of Luiseño Indians. He returned to UCI in October after Manuel Gómez, vice chancellor of student affairs, supported his proposal for the program.

“Nikishna’s story is a testament to the power of a university educa- tion to transform lives,” Gómez says. “Every student like him, who opens doors for others, reminds us of how important educational equity is, not only for individuals, but for society.”

Polequaptewa runs the program out of the Center for Educational Partnerships and hopes to establish a permanent center. His wife, Yolanda Leon, serves as program coordinator, and they have a young daughter, Nahui Numkina. His tribe is growing.

He hopes the program will become a model for the UC system.

“I grew up with nothing and I made it. I want other American Indian students to know they can make it too.”

– Kathy Bold

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