As part of Soboba’s annual six-week Summer Youth Academy, about 15 participants aged 13 to 17 explored community awareness and service with the help of the Soboba Tribal Environmental Department. On July 14, Environmental Specialist Micah Knox and Administrative Assistant Angelica Rangel spent the day educating youths with a hands-on lesson at Indian Creek and the presentation of a documentary about the effects of climate change.

The students learned about the oak trees that grow on the Soboba Indian Reservation. Conducting a mock tree tagging exercise, the students were asked to note the size, canopy health, insect and fungus presence, injury presence and nearby saplings for six trees. Knox said the exercise was designed to highlight the importance of tree health on and off reservation.

“I think the overall idea was to help the students understand that things in nature are not as temporary as we are,” Knox said. “People go around destroying their natural habitat and taking it for granted. In reality, these oaks and all other natural habitats will live on well after we leave. With this, we need to learn to treat nature with kindness and respect.”

By definition, tagging a tree is nailing a number tag for the purpose of research. In this way a database can be created of the oaks on the reservation that will identify their canopy cover, crown rating, insect emergence, external damage and other factors.

Knox said there are well over 1,000 oaks growing on the Soboba Indian Reservation and only 136 are actually tagged and accounted for. Of the current amount, he said about 80% of them have health issues, big or small. Of those 80%, he feels about 95% of them are salvageable.

He said that thankfully there are no signs of the Goldspotted Oak Borer, a buprestid beetle which is native to oak forests of Southeastern Arizona, or Sudden Oak Death tree disease anywhere on the property.

“It’s up to the natural ecosystem and human intervention to make sure our oaks are happy and healthy,” Knox said.

He believes that hands-on learning is by far the best way to go about teaching kids, especially if that topic is hands on to begin with.

“I know I wouldn’t want to learn about tree tagging from a Powerpoint; I want to learn about it out there in the wilderness!” Knox said.

After the field experiment and a hearty lunch, students viewed the documentary “Before the Flood,” which goes into depth on the effects of climate change, large corporations’ hand in environmental degradation and what we as a planet are doing to stop this despite pushback from billion-dollar corporations. The students were given questionnaires to complete alongside the documentary to help them fully understand the information presented.

National Geographic’s “Before the Flood” features Leonardo DiCaprio on a journey as a United Nations Messenger of Peace, traveling to five continents and the Arctic to witness climate change firsthand. For more information, www.beforetheflood.com.

“This documentary is by far the most recent and relatable to a younger crowd of high school age students and I believe one of the most important pieces of media of our generation,” Knox said. “It all ties into the message conveyed with the oak trees: we are destroying something that came before us and will be here after us. We need to take a moment and think before we continue our actions.”

The key points he wanted the students to take away from watching the film were understanding that big shell companies are partly to blame for climate change, as well as agriculture; to understand the significance of the Paris Agreement (Paris Climate Accord); and to understand the severity of their actions and what the future holds if we continue doing the things we are doing. For more information, https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement.

One fairly easy thing people can do to lower their carbon footprint is to eliminate beef from their diet since cows take up 40% more land than a chicken and are one of the leading producers of methane on the planet.

Another significant fact that was communicated in the film was the fact that if the world becomes four degrees warmer, we could see coastal communities underwater and mass migration inland causing drought, famine, disease and infrastructure issues. The ice caps could fully disappear, Greenland’s country size would diminish significantly and many ice dwelling mammals would go extinct. There is also the idea that fish migration associated with temperature change could see our countries experiencing border wars over who has rights to the fish as they move closer to the poles.

“The movie suggests lowering your carbon footprint by any means necessary, educate yourself on alternative energies and be mindful of our planet,” Knox said.

He said creating an all-day lesson plan that meets the interest level of all students is not difficult as long as the concept is relatable and exciting to a wide range of people.

“I’m 24 and I enjoy the topic as much as someone a decade younger than me,” Knox said.

Other areas of focus during this year’s Summer Youth Academy included team building, culture, STEM, health and fitness and leadership. Most also attended the National UNITY youth leadership conference in Minneapolis, July 7-12. With a theme of “Restoring the Spirit of Native Youth” many guest speakers provided information and activities about ways to maintain strong spiritual, social, mental and physical health.

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Made possible by Soboba Tribal TANF, the annual SYA program focuses on culture, leadership, higher education, wellness, prevention and community service. This year’s event was from June 17 through July 24 and included 20 youths from Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians with others being from the Cahuilla Band of Indians, the Santa Rosa Band of Cahuilla Indians and the city of Riverside.

Regional Prevention Manager Harold Arres said whether the youths had attended previous academies or if this was their first time, they all had to attend mandatory classes during the first week. These included an anti-bullying workshop, team-building activities and a visit from motivational speaker Joseph Matthews of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians who spoke about building a healthy relationship with the Creator.

Field trips for eligible participants included a visit to Catalina Island after a tour of the Aquarium of the Pacific and Queen Mary in Long Beach at the end of June. The three-day, two-night excursion at Catalina included hiking, snorkeling, kayaking and exploration of nature. It was a SYA highlight for many including Soboba’s Ronald Morillo and Luisa Rivera.
“We went to a new island and saw buffalo,” said Rivera, 13. “It was so calm over there.”
July 2 found the group working in collaboration with Soboba’s Tribal Environmental Department and Public Works departments for a community clean-up day. Elders signed up if they needed help with items to be hauled away and the youths pitched in. On July 16, they went to the Jr. American Indian Chamber of Commerce Youth EXPO at Agua Caliente Resort in Rancho Mirage.

Soboba’s Hattie Arres, 15, enjoyed the cooking segments that were offered on July 11 and thought this year’s participants interacted well with each other and were very friendly.
Everyone enjoys a trip to Disneyland but SYA attendees got the bonus of seeing the park as part of the Disney Youth Education Series. The three-hour leadership experience on July 21 enabled them to discover Walt Disney’s secret to making dreams come true. Students learned how to develop their own leadership legacy, become confident in their ability to accomplish goals and be motivated to achieve the impossible. They were challenged to discover their personal brand, develop core values, have the courage to step out of their comfort zones, and understand the importance of diversity as they explored the park and experienced exciting attractions.

“There were Disney cast members who were very energetic and explained that you have seven seconds to give a first impression,” said Ariana Caratachea, an intern with the Soboba Tribal TANF program. “The topic was ‘Creating a Leadership Legacy’ and they were asking the kids what they wanted to be known for and what words they would use to express themselves and characterize themselves.”
She said the lessons were tied to different Disney characters to help the youths relate to the concepts, such as Belle from Beauty and the Beast representing intelligence and the Lion King’s Mufasa signifying strength.

During the academy’s final week, youths were taught the basics of arrow making with Tony Soares, who had also led a pottery-making workshop the previous week. Caratachea and other adults from the program assisted the youths when and where needed, encouraging them to ask questions as the lessons progressed.
Soares has been teaching Native American techniques for about 25 years at many reservations and schools. He has been making pottery and arrowheads since he was very young after making trips to many Southwest museums and ruins with his grandmother and great aunt.

For his workshop at Soboba, the students were taught how to make big pinch pots using puki bowls, which he said is more of a Pueblo method.
“The kids did great; it does take a few tries to learn the language of clay,” said Soares, 50. The Joshua Tree resident has made a movie about paddle and anvil pottery, available on YouTube at TonySoaresNativeClays.
For the arrow-making class, some chose to make them out of Carrizo cane or Arrowweed and others chose a more modern material – wooden dowels, which could be painted. While students used sandpaper and other methods to prepare the wood, Soares explained how it was traditionally done, using rocks.

“It is amazing when you think of the time, effort and ingenuity that went into making bows and arrows using only natural tools that were available to them back in the day,” Soares said.

Andrew Alto, from Santa Rosa, said he really enjoyed all the culture-related activities offered at the academy and enjoyed this year’s SYA better than the one he attended last year.

“I like anything that has to do with our culture,” said Alto, 15, as he continued to work on his arrow.

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