4-H Youth Travel to Nation’s Capital

By Susan Etxebarria

WASHINGTON — The Seminole 4-H youth helped pioneer something new in Washington, DC. The 4-H’ers, their leaders and parents gathered for four days near the nation’s capital where they met with Cherokee and Muskogee Creek 4-H youth and their leaders. It was the first national gathering of Native American 4-H youth.

“This was an idea five years in the making,” said Seminole Tribe of Florida’s 4-H Coordinator Polly Hayes. “We achieved a new goal. It was an accomplishment. National 4-H officials agreed this was a historic event. Our goal was to have our 4-H youth meet and exchange ideas with other Indian 4-H youth at the National 4-H Youth Conference Center.”

Hayes had visited the 4-H national offices before, and she was eager to expose the Seminole 4-H leaders, parents and members, to the opportunities of 4-H on a national scale. She suggested the idea several years ago at a meeting of Native Women in Agriculture, where she serves on the Board of Directors. The event came to fruition Aug. 8-11.

“The youth and their parents learned that there is a broad scope to 4-H that offers many different types of programs and projects that inspire children to get more out of life,” she said. “I definitely believe that this exploratory trip to Washington, DC can only grow and will have a lifelong impact on their lives.”

As the events unfolded, Seminole 4-H leaders and parent chaperones were all giving the experience an overwhelming thumbs up.

“I learned more about 4-H than I ever knew,” said Kim Chalfant, mother of Brighton 4-H member Dylan Chalfant. “I discovered what is available for kids besides agriculture; things like public speaking and photography.”

Sarah McClellan-Welch, Cherokee agriculture agent, worked with all the extension agents to organize the logistics, accommodations and itinerary for the meeting. The 52 Tribal youth and leaders stayed in dormitory style housing at the national conference center located in Chevy Chase, Md., just six miles from downtown DC.

Participating in the round table exchanges from the Seminole 4-H were: Christian and Christopher Alexander, Dylan Chalfant, Jacob Cotton and Irina and Breanna Billie. Parents Kim and Robbie Chalfant with daughter Chloe, and Kathy and Charles Alexander were also in attendance. Group leaders Dionne Smedley, Crystal Burkette and Donnie Hayes also participated as well as Seminole 4-H Extension Agent, Michael Bond and 4-H Secretary Lizina Bowers.

Kathy Dugan, another Cherokee extension director, said the gathering gave the 4-H youth a sense of empowerment and leadership experience.

“It got them out of their comfort zone to see what else is out there in this world for them to do,” she said.

Joe Schaefer, the district director of county extension agents in South Florida, was also present.

“This year there were a lot of adults involved in planning the event but all of these youth will take over the leadership, planning and organization in following years,” he said.

Schaefer also mentioned he was particularly impressed with all the sharing that took place at the meetings so the youth could learn from one another. There was a session, in fact, where youth from each Tribe and their leaders talked about their organizational, economic, geographic and traditional differences.

Many had no idea about the enormity of the Seminole Tribe’s cattle industry. Michael Bond showed a film of the 2007 Annual Seminole 4-H Show made by Seminole Broadcasting. The Cherokee youth were surprised that the Seminoles have their own TV station and said they would ask their Tribal Council if they would start one.

Seminole youth were intrigued by the idea of creating a Youth Council like the one in Cherokee, N.C. The Cherokee Youth Council founders and officers joined the 4-H gathering and explained their mission to start recycling projects at their reservation.

Cherokee 4-H does not raise livestock because of the mountainous region where they live. They are working on creating a native seeds and garden center. Their 4-H Extension Agent Heather James said they have also formed an entity called Qualla Financial Freedom that teaches youth financial responsibility.

The geographic location of the Muskogee Creek in Oklahoma was explained. This Tribe does not have reservations but the members are scattered among communities in 10 different counties of the state and their residences blend in with non-Tribal society.

Their Muskogee Creek Nation 4-H Coordinator and Oklahoma State University Extension Agent Rick Clovis explained that their most successful 4-H project is raising goats. The Muscogee Creek youth attend a regional 4-H show and sale, and this year 600 goats were entered from all the clubs in the entire region. He said they also do water rocketry projects under the science and technology programs offered by 4-H as well as emphasize public speaking.

This trip was primarily social and educational and included exhilarating once-in-a-lifetime experiences like riding the spooky underground subway system that took everyone to the National Museum of the American Indian.

The Seminole youth participated in a whirlwind schedule of meetings and field trips. Immersed in the tightly packed business district of historic architecture, including the White House and the Capitol, with crowded streets and the beehive traffic, the kids and chaperones moved along with the tons of tourists streaming into the various museums. They took a night tour by bus to the famous Lincoln and Jefferson Monuments and the Vietnam, Korean and World War II Memorials.

Some Seminole youth spent their free time at the National Pow-Wow taking place at the Verizon Center. Others spent time at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum or the National Zoo. But the trip wasn’t all play. There were meetings to attend as well, and the 4-H’ers listened to impressive speakers who dispensed their advice and motivation.

Day one, Aug. 8, was a travel day, with the attendees flying from Orlando to the immense conference center where they met other Tribal 4-H youth groups. Later that evening, they met up with other visiting Tribal youth for introductions, games and other fun icebreakers. The itinerary was also handed out. 4-H leaders conferred while the kids tripped off to the recreation room to play pool, air hockey and video games.

On the morning of day two, Aug. 9, the youth met several VIPs in the 4-H world. These professionals who head up 4-H worldwide at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) came to the conference center just to welcome the Native American youth.

Cathan Kress, the 4-H national youth development director, said she is impressed with the first Native American 4-H gathering.

“We are excited you are here and would like to see more of your delegations involved on the national level,” she said. The youth learned from her that there are 7 million youngsters in 4-H, here in the USA and in clubs at U.S. military installations worldwide.

Another speaker was Chickasaw Tribal member Janie Simms Hipp, an agricultural attorney at the USDA and National Program Leader who originated from Oklahoma. She worked her way up through college and then law school on her own. It was a tough road.

“Don’t ever be ashamed of where you are from because that’s going to take you somewhere,” she said. “Do you realize how special you are? Do you realize how few Native American youth have been here at the 4-H National Center? How few Native American youth have been to Washington, DC?”

She told the youth she was a co-founder with Polly Hayes of Native Woman in Agriculture and that they had talked several years ago about bringing together Native American youth.

Hipp urged the youth to consider careers in agriculture and talked about the many possibilities, such as being an agricultural economist, agriculture engineer, animal nutritionist, botanist, plant pathologist, or veterinarian, just to mention a few.

“Most farmers and ranchers are 57 years old,” she said. “The career paths are incredible. We need you. Someone has to carry on the traditional work of agriculture. We don’t want foreign countries to feed us, do we?”

Gifts were exchanged and others spoke and soon the youth were on the road for another meeting in downtown DC. Once there, the 4-H youth visited the swanky law offices of Native American attorney and lobbyist Wilson Pipestem, a partner in Ietan Consulting.

Pipestem told the youth how he works on behalf of the Seminoles and the Eastern Band Indians to make sure the federal government abides by its treaties. He fights for the rights of sovereignty. He said he visits many elected officials in the U.S. government to educate them about Indian issues and to persuade them to vote favorably on these issues. He said his firm has helped the Seminole Tribe with casino issues and the Cherokee’s reclaim land that belonged to them by treaty rights.

“The federal government can be difficult, but it can be helpful, too” said Pipestem. “The federal government broke every treaty it made with Indians and so now we have to hold their feet to the fire and do it in a smart way and understand how to show the Feds that Indian rights are lawful and it is to their advantage to honor their promises.”

The children had many questions for Pipestem who also volunteers as a board member of National Indian Tribal Youth (UNITY). He said that UNITY tires to encourage youth to form youth councils in their communities to address the needs of youth. He said the youth councils always rate drugs and alcohol as the biggest threat to Indian youth.

Pipestem also shared how going to college created the career path for him to become a lawyer. He told the youth to be successful as a lawyer or a lobbyist, they must be able to write and speak persuasively.

“It is important to educate yourself about your Tribe, your culture and to know how your Tribal government works,” he said. “When I was a kid nothing scared me more than public speaking,” he said.

Today he is an inspirational speaker and he held the attention of the youth.

His wife, Juanita Pipestem, also spoke to the youth about her position as an Associate Justice of the Tribal Supreme Court in Cherokee.

“You are the ones who will follow us,” she said. “You are the ones who will take over and become the lawyers and lobbyists for Native American tribes. You all have a role to play and big shoes to fill.” Mrs. Pipestem said too many of the program directors at the reservations are not Indians. “We need to be in control of our own destiny. So, get your education because nobody can do it better than Indian people and you can do it.”

American University Political Science Professor Jack Soto (Cocopah/Navajo) also spoke. It is his job to encourage Native American youth to apply for summer and yearlong internships at this prestigious university located in DC. He told the youth there are many opportunities in Washington DC to work on Native American issues.

“We will pay your tuition and housing while you work on topics facing Indian Country,” said Soto. “It takes drive and determination but you will learn what you can do to make good policy that will help Native Americans.”

On Days three and four, Aug. 10-11, there was much activity and more meetings, but mostly touring. The Seminole youth split into vans with parents and chaperones heading out in different directions. The children had different opinions about what impressed them the most.

“We had a lot of fun,” said Dylan Chalfant. “We found out there’s a lot more to 4-H than just steer and swine. I found out that Washington DC is shaped like a diamond. And when the subway got crowded my dad said they don’t even pack cows that tight!”

Irina Billie only had one thing to say when asked what she thought of the four-day event, that “it was very good.”

Parent Kathy Alexander of Big Cypress said the sight seeing they did with the 4-H youth was very educational.

“We went to see the Arlington Cemetery and the Pentagon,” she said. “I think Seminole 4-H should do this again next year.”

Polly Hayes summed it up: “Being at the capital, and being at the national 4-H center as well as meeting and listening to national speakers and officials on the capital level showed the kids the great opportunities that await them out there.”