Today, I own a consulting firm, Kituwah Nighthawk, LLC. I either consult with tribes on developing programs surrounding Preservation Laws or I serve as a tribal liaison between federal agencies and tribes. OU contributed to my success by providing an overall study into every aspect of tribal interest. The Native American Studies degree plan gave me the opportunity to learn from tribal instructors who specialized in areas like tribal economics, tribal healthcare, tribal sovereignty, philosophy, and language classes. I was also given the opportunity to join tribal-led student organizations that created environments that felt like home.
We played marbles on the South Oval and there were so many opportunities to join our sister nations in sharing their cultural activities. Stickball was played on the lawn, and while I never played, it was fun to watch.
One of the monumental cultural activities that I volunteered for was the Language Fair—it was hosted in the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History. It was inspiring to hear all the different languages spoken by school-aged children, who were competing against each other.
For me, it was OU's Native American Studies Department's investment in the Native American Studies degree. When I was a student, it was under the Dodge Family College of Arts and Sciences, but it was led by tribal scholars. We lobbied for a department from 2011 to 2012 in our Council of Fire Leadership and Debate group, and it came to fruition as a stand-alone academic department under the Dodge Family College of Arts and Sciences. And now with the Native Nations Center, whose focus is to provide outreach between community and campus, OU has shown a tremendous intent to be inclusive.
The Native American OU family is just that, it’s family. I have had so many opportunities to support native initiatives in areas of interest that I never knew about. But when we sit down to learn from our professors, we are also learning from the students sitting next to us. The bond created during events or class time reinforces the fact that Indian Country is taking education seriously and that we are here, and we are here together.
The Peggy V. Helmerich Great Reading Room. I loved sitting in the still and quiet. I lost my nephew, Ricky Bird, to cancer the summer before I came to OU. We used to talk about him studying in the Great Reading Room when he attended OU, so when I would visit the Great Reading Room, I felt a closeness to his memory. It is a special place regardless, but I feel a warmth knowing I carried his passion for learning with me.
