Tempe Union High School District Implements Tribal Flags

TEMPE, AZ - Tempe Union High School District was one of many schools that observed Indigenous Peoples Day on Monday, Oct. 11 by not holding classes, but the school district is taking steps to improve its inclusivity of Native American cultures.

Indigenous Peoples Day, which was previously referred to as Columbus Day, celebrates the Native Americans who Christopher Columbus and many other colonizers removed forcibly from their homelands and caused harm to when settling in North America.

Over the past ten years, it has become more widely accepted to call the day in October Indigenous Peoples Day, and the City of Tempe officially took in the name for the holiday in 2021.

This year, in Tempe Union High School District, there is more to celebrating Indigenous Peoples Day than just having the day off school.

“We deeply believe that part of the enrichment of a TUHSD education comes from the widespread and varying backgrounds of both our students and staff, exposure to different viewpoints and cultures, etc,” said Megan Sterling, executive director of community relations for the school district that serves nearly 14,000 students in the City of Tempe, the Gila River Indian Community, the Ahwatukee Foothills area of Phoenix, the Town of Guadalupe, and parts of Chandler.

Tempe Union celebrated Indigenous People in their community during a flag ceremony that dignified and installed flags of five tribal communities they represent during a school board meeting on November 10, 2021.

The display of these flags has been in progress for a while now, thanks to parent and Pascua Yaqui Tribal Member Ismael Osuna. Osuna, whose two children are students in the district, said that he was inspired to take action to get tribal flags installed at Tempe Union High School District after seeing it happen at Tucson Unified School District a couple years before.

The introduction of these flags has been an ongoing project after Pascua Yaqui Tribal Member Ismael Osuna saw it happen at the Tucson Unified School District a few years ago and was inspired to bring the idea to Tempe.

“For years, Tempe Union has educated many of our Yaqui students. Many of them have gone on to have great careers and we are very proud of them. But, at the same time, there was always something not quite there. If you look, there is nothing that highlights or acknowledges any of our Native American communities at Tempe Union,” Osuna said during the school board meeting.

In addition to the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, the Navajo Nation, Gila River Indian Community, Ak-Chin Indian Community and Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community had flags put up at the school board meeting. Each tribe had representatives at the meeting, except for the Navajo Nation since travel restrictions barred them from attending the meeting in person.

“We are here to acknowledge our friends, our students who represent a number of our tribal community members, and it’s a pleasure to have this opportunity in our district to honor these five flags that represent our native children within Tempe Union,” said Dr. Kevin Mendivil, superintendent of TUHSD, before the ceremony began.

“Family, community and friendship are things that we uphold in our core values as a school district and we strive each day to embody that in what we say and do and in the decisions that we make on behalf of all of our students,” Dr. Mendivil said.

The flag ceremony was an achievement for Indigenous People who have tribal members who are students at Tempe Union and who can feel represented and seen by these flags being put on show.

“In the past, our tribes have been afraid of flying a flag. Only because of oppression. For a long time, once our families started fighting for the right to education, fighting for their voting rights, fighting for their right to live,” said Peter Yucupicio, Pascua Yaqui Tribal Chairman.

The meeting, although nearly a month after Indigenous Peoples Day, acted as a reminder of the rich heritage and cultural standing the tribal groups have within Tempe Union High School District.