What An Experience!

The week of jam-packed events is over and we have much to celebrate! Thank you to everyone who participated in the ASU commencement and Native American Convocation. You guys were rock stars (quite literally) and it was a great experience for the children and adults. We want to say a big thank you to Jolyana for shepherding our group through two major events. We also want to say thank you to ASU for having us show our culture and treating us very well.

This post will be picture heavy since we have A LOT to share! We had a great time being part of the event on Wednesday, which was historic in and of itself with President Obama set to speak at the Commencement that evening. We had a great time preparing, singing, and enjoying the event from the suites in Sun Devil Stadium.

We arrived at Sun Devil stadium the day before to do a soundcheck and practice. We all started to get the pre-show jitters and reality started to sink we were actually going to sing on a BIG stage. The girls (Amy, Kahara, Sophie, Larissa, Zoey, Allisa, Kaitlin and Monica) practiced the basket dance.



Valerie, Petra, Ann and Antonio helping check the mikes and sound.



It was a scorcher of a day with 102+ degree temps and more than 70,000 people expected to show up for the ceremony. It was quite a sight to see so many people there to check out our singing (J/K).



All the adults and children lined up ready to start the performance.



Kahara, Monica, Zoey and Sophie striking a pose (Leontine and Ann in back).



Our group on stage. We did Shikeyah Nizhoni Benashniih, Dzilth Dadiyinii, and the Basket Dance. We give credit to everyone for learning the Basket Dance and song in less than 2 weeks. It was a lot of work but it really paid off. We thank the girls for putting in so many hours of practice!



After our performance, we got a chance to relax and enjoy the show. Allison, Jackie, Jeron, and Kaitlin watching the festivities. We want to say a huge thank you to Jackie for helping get us prepared and dressed. You were a big part of our performance and appreciate all your help!



Larissa, Jaime and Judy also catch their breath and unwind.



President Obama delivered a great speech and it was wonderful to be there in person to hear him deliver it. There were a number of Native American graduates in the ceremony (more than 300).



Antonio and his girls, Allison and Kaitlin, gearing up for another performance at the ASU Native American Convocation ceremony on Saturday. This was a neat event since we performed at the Gammage Auditorium (where Broadway plays usually are performed in the Valley). The acoustics were great.



We had the chance to meet Peterson Zah, former Navajo chairman and now special Assistant to ASU President Michael Crow. He works on Native American student issues at ASU and we were happy he was there to catch our performance. He said everyone did a great job and was glad to see us perform.



Great job everyone!