Visions and Voices

Danon Evans

I am a woman with a Dutch and Hopi cultural identity. Listening to my Hopi grandparents tell stories of  their childhood on the reservation, Sherman Indian School at California, and their adult experiences living far away from the reservation for the sake of their children has shaped my cultural identity. My Dutch  grandmother's stories of traveling across the ocean to live in a new country and then traveling from Chicago to Arizona desert to start a new life, have also shaped my cultural identity. It is because of their experiences of trying to better their life for their children's future, that I have tried to better myself. I grew up with family being a huge part of my life. Almost everything I did was with family. When we would go to high school football games, everyone in our family went including my grandparents who happened to be my neighbors. Every Sunday my family and my grandparents would enjoy breakfast and dinner together. Whatever I happened to be doing at the time, track, choir, cross country, my whole family was there wishing me well. I am really close to my family but at the same time I enjoy my independence. That is probably why I like to travel, try new experiences alone, so I have something not everyone is involved with. Now being alone in Tucson and trying new experiences everyday it is the complete opposite of how I was raised.

Tribal affiliation:  Hopi

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