FAMILY AFFAIR:  VICTORVILLE SCHOOL GETS ALL-DAY SHOW-AND-TELL FROM DISTRICT’S NAVAJO EXPERT

Tammy Turner’s first-graders at Mojave Vista Elementary School in Victorville, Calif., had never seen anything like it.

On display in the front of their classroom were Navajo dolls, an authentic Navajo code-talking GI Joe that spoke in Navajo, a replica of a Navajo windmill Navajo jewelry, flower arrangements and blankets and books about the Navajo people.  Even “stuffed” sheep and rams, so critical to the Navajo farming way of life, found their way into the room.

Presenting this unusual display to some 120 students and Mrs. Turner was District Tribal Liaison Glynn Alsup.  He traveled to the school Nov. 23 as part of American Indian Month.  For 37 years, Alsup has worked on hazardous, toxic and radioactive waste studies for various government agencies, and since 1998 has worked as a District representative with the EPA on a science-driven and boot-leather-intensive project to determine how uranium mining has affected people on the Navajo Nation.

Speaking to the kids was hardly new to Alsup.  He teaches classes in Environmental Science and Tribal Relationships for the Corps and EPA.  He has given presentations to other elementary schools, high schools, colleges and universities.  He has taught at the last four Dine College Uranium Training classes for Navajo teachers, and gives presentations at national conferences.  Earlier in November, he manned the Corps booth at the American Indian Society of Engineers and Scientists job fair in Charlotte, N.C.

The all-day presentation to four classes “was very enjoyable and educational,” recalls Mrs. Turner.  “The kids made comments about how ‘cool’ and ‘interesting’ it all was.  They came away with a lot of information.” 

Alsup asked the students questions after his talk, then handed out Corps Frisbees and rulers if they answered correctly.  Each student was also given a Corps pencil, Park Ranger hat and Junior Safety Ranger Pledge Card for Safety First.  Those were supplied by Anthony Johnson of Corps HQ, Richard Gallegos of South Pacific Division and Madeline Zamora and Dr. Fred-Otto Egeler of Los Angeles District. 

The trip was sponsored by the EEO Office’s Special Emphases Program Manager Program.

He answered such questions as, What do Navajo school kids wear?  What do they eat?  Do they have TV?  What do they do for fun?  “Jim Quinn, a CPA, loaned me a ram from his collection of sheep,”Alsup says.  “My grandkids, Danielle and Peyton, loaned me their Navajo GI Joe and their sheep.  Jewelry, pottery and blankets were loaned by my wife, Kathy.”

A real family affair, right?  Please keep reading.

Besides the Navajo materials, Alsup also showed a poster display of the Corps’ work on the Navajo Nation and a Power-Point presentation of photos and discussion about the Navajo people.  Students also watched a video, “Hear Our Voice,” made by high school students from the Navajo Nation speaking both English and Navajo, and Alsup read from the book, “A Tourist in Navajoland,” by Margarett Grimes-Isaac.  He showed a half-dozen other books about the Navajo to the students.

“He did a lot of hands-on,” recalls Mrs. Turner.  “They got to feel things and he kept asking them questions.  He had so much to tell them and to show them.  We were just thrilled.

“He’s my dad.”