Visions and Voices

Beverly Dani Honanie

The major influence in my life has been my family. Having their love and support and most of all encouragement to continue with my studies is what keeps me going. My role models are my grandparents. They have lived through many experiences, it seems they know everything. They have made something of themselves and I feel it's my turn.  

I grew up on the Hopi Reservation, I have witnessed the issues concerning teen pregnancy, teen drinking, the good and the bad any society encounters. Living on the reservation, there isn't very much to offer. I attended a BIA school, where most of the time, the school system academic-wise was limited. I took every opportunity that came my way for summer school. From my 7th grade year up until my senior year, I cannot recall a summer when I was home working with my village or baby-sitting. Because I wanted to succeed in school, I took advantage of the summer schools offered out of state.

I plan to graduate from college with a BA in architecture. I want to go back home and start my own firm. I want to show high school students that in going to college you can become anything. That being successful is possible and that there are opportunities out there besides dropping out of high school or turning to drugs and alcohol. Through education, those with degrees who return to the tribe for work will have a better opportunity of finding a job. They will have better knowledge of changing trends and they could improve the tribal system to make it better and more efficient.  

I plan to work on the reservation--to design homes that are constructed to meet the needs of the people and the area in which they live. I want to do this because I see more and more homes being built which are moving farther away from the techniques or styles of Hopi architecture. Homes are becoming more modern and seem to be out of place. They are not built with the culture and landscape in mind. I want to design homes that take these into consideration. As a child, I was always interested in art. Growing up, my mother would ask me and my sister to clean our room and before we did anything I would first draw a floor plan of how our room looked with our beds, drawers, etc. Then I would make another drawing of how our room was going to look. In high school, I never liked band so I became interested in architecture... I saw all these new homes, being built that didn't fit the Hopi landscape. I always felt that homes should reflect a person's culture, land, and tradition. I wanted to change that.

For fun, I like to spend time with friends at a movie or go out and eat dinner. I like shopping, but most of the time I'm really concerned about what I spend my money on so usually it's just dinner out with friends and a movie or cookouts. My happiest times are when I'm with the people I care about.

There's nothing better than being with my family and friends. I look forward to visits from my family. Being away from home too long, I get lonely sometimes.

Tribal affiliation:  Hopi

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