Program celebrates CCSD’s Indigenous graduates of 2024

Esteban Dominguez is bound for college this fall with the blessings of his Navajo ancestors and the support of the Clark County School District’s Indian Education Opportunities Program.

Dominguez is graduating in the top 10% of his class at Advanced Technologies Academy, one of CCSD’s high-achieving magnet schools. He will study next at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. And he was one of about 60 Indigenous CCSD seniors representing more than 20 bands, tribes and nations who earned recognition from the Indian Education Opportunities Program last week as high school graduation season accelerates.

In a portion of the ceremony where families shared stories with the room, Dominguez’s father, Joaquin, said his son had surpassed where he was at the same age.

“How grateful I am for the examples of my parents and also my grandparents, because that has trickled down and I’ve seen him become the honorable person that I would and that his ancestors would have expected him to be,” he said.

Every senior who came to the ceremony at UNLV received two cords, hand-beaded by a parent volunteer, to wear with their caps and gowns at graduation. Some, like Dominguez, were also presented with intricately patterned woolen blankets for their exceptional achievements. Beadwork and blankets are both significant across Indigenous traditions — as symbols of friendship and respect, spiritual protection, connections to natural resources, storytelling and heritage.

Event emcee Ashley Hemmers, a member of the Fort Mojave Tribe, said that in her culture, beadwork carried the dreams, prayers and hope of the artisan who made it.

“When you put that on, remember that it’s not just a decoration,” she said. “It’s a piece of the network that is here to support you. It’s a piece of your tribe, and it’s a representation of your resilience moving forward as you make those great decisions.”

Before giving an invocation — an opening prayer — Chris Spotted Eagle, a member of the Las Vegas Paiute Tribe, reminded the youths that they might be the first and only Indigenous person someone might meet, and to comport themselves accordingly.

“Remember, you’re here because of your ancestors, regardless of the colonial blood quantum, or however they want to label you or label us,” he said, referencing the method of fractionally quantifying Native American heritage, established long ago by white-led governments in the United States to legally determine race. “Remember, you’re here because of them. And you have to honor them each and every day.”

The Indian Education Opportunities Program offers academic and social and cultural resources, with locations in Las Vegas and the Moapa River Indian Reservation, to support Indigenous students connected to any tribe and living across the sprawling district.

The honored graduates attended smaller rural schools, larger city and suburban schools, and specialty and magnet programs. Some were looking forward to college. Others were considering learning a trade. Their families and educators all exuded pride for their determination in getting to the young adult milestone.

One girl went to night school to get all the credits she needed to walk with her class. Another young woman is a jingle dancer at powwows.

Shadoe Henry, the eldest of 10 siblings and a member of the Moapa Band of Paiutes, is graduating from Moapa Valley High School. He said his aunt beaded his cap in his favorite colors — purple, black and white — and affixed two hawk feathers, anchored at the cap’s button with a gemstone.

His mother said he could be friends with anyone. While at Moapa Valley, he was a member of Hope Squad, a peer-to-peer suicide prevention program. Alongside his beaded cords is a braided cord earned for donating blood. He said he was considering enrolling at UNLV or College of Southern Nevada, and also had an interest in the culinary arts.

He also received a blanket, and a reminder to continue to accomplish great things.

CCSD graduations started earlier this month and peak this week, with the larger high schools conducting ceremonies at the Orleans Arena, Thomas & Mack Center and other venues around the valley through Saturday.

 

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