Native American history is mostly left out of modern education in the U.S. As a small step in counteracting this unfortunate situation, the three-day Native American Heritage Days event in the Arizona Western College courtyard last November aimed to inform the community about the history of native peoples in the desert southwest.

Joe Rodriguez, director of the Cocopah museum, spoke briefly about the museum and the tours it offers to educate school groups about native heritage.

“Our people are not just something from the past, but a continuous growth of people that is still important to this community,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez also manned display of Native artifacts and antiques such as bows, arrows and flutes.

“We get items for the museum from donations by the community,” he said.

Quechan tribe members Deborah Tourtillott and Leona Marquez gave a presentation on Bird Dance, a best-selling book written by their sister-in-law Eleanor Flores. Marquez illustrated the book, and Tourtillott leads frequent discussion groups, passing it down from generation to generation. It has drawn the attention of animators looking to recreate the story in video form.

“Bird Dance reminds you to trust your wings when you want to fly to reach your goals, knowing that you always have family or friends to share your life experiences with,” Tourtillott said.

The women told bystanders of the table that the book is available for purchase at the Red Moon Ale House located downtown. Tourtillott mentioned that she has another second book in the works based on the stories her mother told.

Becky Stevens, instructor for AWC Cocopah language classes, informed the crowd that, beginning January 13, a 16-week Cocopah language course will be available at Vista High School.

Native artwork was displayed at the event, including beading art, jewelry and a unique piece of art, the daisy chain, which represents new beginning.

Yuma-area tribes were not the only ones represented at the event as staff from the Colorado River Indian Tribes Museum in Parker, Ariz., displayed art and held a raffle for a native cookbook.

The Indigenous Student Association, a club that most AWC students don’t even know exists, attended the event to publicize the club and invite indigenous students to join.

In addition to the wide array of native culture, traditional native fry bread was served free to all attendees of the event.

One important takeaway was that Native culture isn’t taught anymore, and the only way for Native Americans to prevent their history from being lost is to educate others.

Rodriguez finished his time emphasizing the importance of indigenous history.

“We must learn our history to revive our culture,” he said, “or else we are doing a disservice to our youth.”