Diversity Camp

Plain, ordinary sticks can be pretty amazing-when they're used to play games that bring people together and share cultural memories. That's what happened at 4-H Day and Diversity Camp for Yuma County Cocopah Indian young people.

In one game, the chosen sticks were angled, somewhat like a golf club. A ball was buried on a volleyball-sized court. Two teams competed to dig up the ball with the sticks and move it around the court. It's a traditional game Cocopah youngsters used to play-and enjoyed learning all over again.

Around the campfire that evening, even the adult counselors joined in another stick-game with a long tradition. Eight sticks were wrapped in leather and hidden in someone's hand. Which way were the sticks pointing? They guessed, just as long ago, adults had guessed in all-night games used to trade goods-or gamble.

Carole Rush and other organizers tried to bring a diverse group of young people together to learn more about their own and other cultures. Increasing a sense of trust and providing a basis of belief in nature and the environment was the serious purpose behind the games and other activities at Diversity Camp.

Several Yuma groups worked together to organize the camp. As extension 4-HYD instructional specialist, Carole arranged for the campsite, bought insurance, and found a $500 grant for miscellaneous expenses. The Boys & Girls Club furnished food and the transportation van. The Cocopah Tribe supplied another van and materials-and most importantly, the 20 camp-going children between the ages of 10 and 13.

"We're Looking For Help"

Paul Soto talks in mystical terms about what the Cocopah Tribe wants to do for the Colorado River.

"We're known as the River People," says the tribal planner, "and we want to take care of our river. We're looking forward to getting help from the university."

"We want to bring indigenous plants back. We want to establish a habitat for better hunting and fishing. We want to harmonize people and the river, attune ourselves to harmony with the earth and mountains, and get some sense of what we can do. We have the responsibility to protect the land."

His tribe has a history of subsistence farming that, Soto says, they'd like to get back to. "We want to use our land most efficiently-use less water, recycle it and still make a profit."

Document part of 1999 Native American Programs in the College of Agriculture
Located at http://ag.arizona.edu/pubs/general/azlp47-2/diversity.html
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