P-Russ's recap:

Greetings, all,

I'm a bit behind the eight-ball on this, but I wanted to send along another story on our team done by Alx Lee of the Tri-City Record. The article, which broke earlier this month, focuses on Natashia Anderson's recent success at Nationals, but also chronicles our delegation's performance there as a whole and the team more generally. Here's the link:

https://www.tricityrecordnm.com/articles/how-this-navajo-prep-senior-interpreted-native-alcoholism-at-a-national-level/

Also, I wanted to share a bit more exciting news. We have now learned the exact position Tash finished in for Original Spoken Word Poetry: she was 46th overall. That's right – a Navajo Prep student was top 50 in the entire nation!

Looking forward to seeing everyone on campus in a few weeks, though I'm certainly going to enjoy these last few days of summer. Hope you all will too!

Best,

Russell 

Full text of article:

How this Navajo Prep senior interpreted Native alcoholism at a national level 

Speech and Debate brings self expression and awareness

By Alx Lee Tri-City Record Reporter

Friday, Jul 5, 2024 12:47 PM Updated Monday, Jul. 8, 2024 9:30 AM

Natashia Anderson will enter her senior year at Navajo Preparatory School with two National Speech and Debate tournaments under her belt and no intention of quitting the extracurricular endeavor, which has provided a space to uplift Native issues for herself and her teammates.

It was Anderson’s second year at the National Speech and Debate tournament in Des Moines, Iowa, and she was returning in a new chosen category of Program Oral Interpretation.

Although she did not break out of the preliminary round in Program Oral Interpretation, she did break through in her supplementary event, Original Spoken Word Poetry.

“In doing so, she was one of just a handful of students from the entire New Mexico district to break past preliminary competition,” said coach John Russell. “In my six years of coaching, I’ve never had a student of mine break past preliminary competition, so it’s like going up against the Yankees.”

It was not always interpretation for Anderson, as she was once in the Debate category with teammates until last year’s National Speech and Debate tournament.

“Last year, I got into a new event called Dramatic Interpretation, and it was really fun. I could act out however I wanted, like bigger emotions,” Anderson said.

Anderson said she entered the event fairly late in the season but after seeing a competitor in a final round at the national tournament, she knew the event would be her focus for the next year.

“Drowning Indians” was the title of her program. It consisted of five types of media performed in 10 minutes.

The event was centered on the alcoholism in Native communities, coming from a personal and large part of her life, Anderson said.

“I talked about how alcoholism was always like this big, scary monster for me growing up and the impact it had on my life, and not just through like family, but friends,” she said. “In my introduction, I dedicated my program to my father.”

In her 10 minutes, Anderson used a novel, song, article, poem and therapy scripts to convey the message of alcoholism in Native families.

Anderson said she started the process of choosing her types media last summer and know she would use the novel “Ceremony” by Leslie Marmon Silko.

A part of using different sets of media was also to bring multiple perspectives of what alcoholism looks like, Anderson said.

“You're also bringing a different perspective,” she said. “It's not just one type of thing – it can mean different things to different people.”

At the national tournament, Anderson had the support of her family, including her paternal grandparent.

Although some family members had seen her event from competition or practice, the content still brought some tears, Anderson said.

“As a white coach of Indigenous students, I always want the kids to really perform what matters to them and what they're comfortable with,” Russell said. “I never want them to feel like they need to wear their identity on their sleeve or that that’s what people are expecting them to talk about.”

In Original Spoken Word Poetry, Anderson wrote a poem titled “Whitewashed Navajo,” speaking to meeting expectations of her non-Native peers while being enough of a Native to others.

“Indigenous students don't have a large presence yet at the national speech and debate tournament,” Russell said.

Russell, who is under consideration to be appointed co-chair of the Indigenous Persons Coaches’ Caucus through the National Speech and Debate Association, spoke to the efforts to provide space for Indigenous students.

Land acknowledgments and shedding light on biases that may affect judging are just some examples of the change that has happened.

“We are we’re generally bringing 15 to 25 students to a tournament, despite the fact that there’s a three-hour ride down and back, despite the fact that for many kids, that means not going home if they live somewhere out on the reservation,” he said. “It's kind of mind blowing how much devotion we have.”

A personal bias Russell noticed was Anderson’s approach to what’s referred to as “blocking,” in which a performer uses their body during their event.

“A lot of her blocking is inspired by the sort of dance of the Navajo culture, the different sorts of physical expression, that is traditional,” he said “To someone who's not familiar with the Navajo culture, it can feel abstract compared to what a lot of blocking looks like, and I think there's a tendency for some judges to see that and assume it's lazy.”

Russell appreciates the insight Anderson brings to her competition events as they challenge judges and audiences to think about the subject matter.

‘A growing number’

Russell said there’s no doubt for continuous growth with the Gavelin' Eagles in numbers and potential.

The trip to nationals included three other students, each accomplished in their own capacities and competition.

Marcus Nahalea, a recent graduate, qualified as one of New Mexico's four House Congressional debaters, and later competed in Extemporaneous Debate.

“Marcus spent a good amount of time leading up to the tournament just researching, and sort of thinking deeply and grappling with each of these topics, so that he could be prepared to add what was needed to each debate,” Russell said.

In his supplemental event, Nahalea won one of the four rounds without having prior experience, a tremendous achievement in itself, Russell said.

Senior Haylei Redhouse qualified as a member of one of New Mexico's two World Schools Debate teams, and later competed in Original Spoken Word Poetry and Impromptu.

Russell said he considered the investment of time and energy from Redhouse as the largest.

In partnership with Los Alamos High School and Albuquerque Academy, Redhouse participated in virtual practices and scrimmages throughout the school year.

“There's six preliminary rounds for World Schools – to advance you have to win four of the six, and Haley's team won three,” Russell said. “So they were only a single win away from advancing, which again, just a tremendous achievement.”

Junior Aspyn Kaskalla was invited as recently reappointed Student Leadership Council member and competed in Storytelling.

Kaskalla had the opportunity to meet members she had only met virtually before the tournament.

Russell said Kaskalla brings a unique voice to the organization coming from a small community near the Navajo Nation.

“I think there’s a real positive feedback loop that I'm hoping will continue to make them successful,” he said. “I always want to emphasize to everyone that I do speech and debate because I think it's fun, and I think it's beneficial, and if kids do it because they want medals, I want to help them get those medals.”