{"id":132,"featured":0,"modified":"2026-07-10 22:25:40","latitude":30.635290844786904784768921672366559505462646484375,"longitude":-97.66584410845752017849008552730083465576171875,"title":"What is SU NATIVE?","subtitle":"Remembering a vibrant recent student organization and advocating for its revival.","fullsize":"https://placingmemory.southwestern.edu/files/fullsize/578fe034e7491b2f2d0863377886486a.jpg","address":"","all_locations":[],"zoom":17,"creator":["Sally Beglau ‘26"],"description":"Ben and Lisa Nava have been away from the campus of Southwestern University for several years, yet as we climb the steps of the Smith Library to the second floor meeting room, an excited voice calls out to them. <br />\r\n<br />\r\nOne of the staff here at the library has recognized her friends, and the three chat for a moment about how life is going. Ben inquires about the woman’s daughter as he remembers that the little girl used to hide behind her mother’s legs from shyness. She is doing well, the woman tells him. All three are visibly delighted, and there are big smiles shared between them before we turn and finish walking to the meeting room.<br />\r\n<br />\r\nWe sit and I thank them both for their willingness to speak with me about SU NATIVE and the Pow Wow, and the role that Indigenous People have held here at Southwestern. I hand Ben a packet of loose tobacco, a gift of gratitude for their help. A smile spreads across his face, and he affectionately pats the packet of tobacco, a gesture akin to greeting an old friend with an embrace. “Xasteô,” he says, “thank you,” in Lipan Apache. He is clearly a bit surprised at the gesture. I make a mental note to thank my professor, Dr. Ken Mello, for letting me know that this gift would be the best way to express my thanks to the Navas.<br />\r\n<br />\r\nAfter I introduce myself, I ask how SU NATIVE first began–a question that has been burning in my mind since I first heard that there used to be an active campus organization for the support of Indigenous culture. Ben laughs as he recalls that it was a student, Suncerae Smith, that approached him in 2004 with a request to serve as the staff advisor for the group. He let her know that yes, he would guide the group. He was made aware that because he was a member of the grounds crew, there would need to be a faculty member who also advised, and Professors Dr. Mello and Dr. Tamakehra agreed to take on that role.<br />\r\n<br />\r\nIn the beginning, there were four students whose number made SU NATIVE a registered organization: Suncerae Smith, Paul McCammond, Sarah Smith, and Ashley Cole. They talked about what they wanted to achieve by forming the organization, and the acronym SU NATIVE was created; Southwestern University Native American Teachings and Indigenous Values Everywhere. In the official Proposal of SU NATIVE, one of the documents involved in the official registration process, the goal of the organization is laid out with powerful intention, “The purpose of SU NATIVE shall be to raise awareness of Native American and Indigenous teachings, values, and cultures; to build a connection between SU and the Native community in the Georgetown area.” <br />\r\n<br />\r\nAlso included in this document are the earnest goals that SU NATIVE shall seek to “host a space for Native students, advocate for resources for Native students, in form SU and surrounding communities about Native American issues,” and “to allow questions to be raised about any Indigenous subject in a diversified group of Native and non-Native students, staff, faculty, and citizens of central Texas.”<br />\r\n<br />\r\nIn their first year as SU NATIVE, along with the Navas, the students participated in a fashion show that featured regalia from the all cultures of the different student organizations on campus. Ben helped a student make leggings in the traditional way, and they finished a ribbon shirt so that SU NATIVE would have a representative on the catwalk with other organizations like the Asian Student Association. <br />\r\n<br />\r\nFrom there, they made plans to host Native crafting workshops; including beadwork, dream catchers, and other traditional items. They organized traditional sweats, facilitated opportunities for traditional smudging sessions, and met at the Navas’ home for a pipe ceremony on Sundays to observe the beginning of each new week. “We would pray together,” says Ben, “eat together. And that’s how we would start our week.”<br />\r\n<br />\r\nBen remembers that early in the formation of SU NATIVE, he asked the students about what they wanted to learn about. “I basically asked them, ‘What do y’all want to learn? Because there are some things I’ll show you, and there are some things I will not. One of the students wanted to know about Medicine, and I’m like, hmmmm, that’s a tricky tricky thing.” <br />\r\n<br />\r\nBen goes on to explain that Indigenous Medicine doesn’t work like just going to the drug store and buying cough syrup. A plant that might benefit one person would be dangerous to someone who was pregnant. So Medicine must be a relationship between the practitioner and the person seeking help, a highly individualized process embedded within a set of traditional practices.<br />\r\n<br />\r\nLisa Nava, Ben’s wife, served as an administrator for the group and a “community advisor.” It was her attention to detail and strong communication skills that served as a foundation for SU NATIVE. Her dedication to ensuring the group had forms needed and grants completed led the organization to hosting a Pow Wow on campus (eventually include a link to that entry here). The SU NATIVE Pow Wow was, from its first year, the most highly attended campus organization event, drawing people from all over the region in addition to Southwestern community members. <br />\r\n<br />\r\nNot only was SU NATIVE host to the Pow Wow and on-campus workshops and meetings, but they also went out into the community to teach about Indigenous culture. “We would go to elementary schools and middle schools and high schools,” says Ben. “I would take the students out and we would go and educate some of the kids.” These community education events started with Ben sharing and answering most of the questions, but both Lisa and Ben remember that as the members of SU NATIVE learned, they took on more of a teaching role themselves, too.<br />\r\n<br />\r\nThere are several things that led to SU NATIVE taking a hiatus from being an active campus organization, including COVID, but most notably Ben Nava’s departure from his position on the grounds crew. I did not ask Ben to go into detail about the events leading to his departure, but from our conversation it was clear that from the beginning he had not been treated well by some members of SU’s administration. Lisa was intentional about emphasizing it wasn’t the professors who gave Ben a hard time. “People higher up felt that just because he was maintenance, he didn’t know what he was talking about,” she shares, “and he didn’t have the credentials that he needed to be able to talk.”<br />\r\n<br />\r\nAs of summer 2025, there are two students who have expressed a desire to revive SU NATIVE, and are in active communication with Dr. Mello, who has agreed to once again serve as faculty advisor for the organization. Towards the end of our conversation I asked the Navas if they would want to serve as community partners when SU NATIVE makes its comeback, and they immediately answered that they would. <br />\r\n<br />\r\nMy hope in creating this entry remembering SU NATIVE is to inspire other current students to join me in honoring their legacy by reviving the group.  With a little luck as well as the new energy and passion from students, the mission of SU NATIVE will be present on campus once again: Native American Teachings and Indigenous Values Everywhere.<br />","sponsor":null,"accessinfo":"","lede":"Ben and Lisa Nava were instrumental in the creation of the SU NATIVE organization on campus 21 years ago. They facilitated the Southwestern Pow Wow and worked with students, faculty, and staff to foster a spirit of sharing Indigenous traditions, values, and spirituality. Though Ben is no longer an SU employee, he and Lisa both stand ready to help support and educate from their position as Georgetown community leaders.  <br />\r\n<br />\r\n<br />\r\n<br />\r\nPlease note that this entry is located at the flagpole in front of McCombs to put emphasis on the things that SU NATIVE has stood for, including the recognition of Indigenous Tribes as sovereign nations–something that the US and Texas governments repeatedly promised to the peoples who have made this place home.","website":"","related_resources":[],"factoids":[],"files":{"https://placingmemory.southwestern.edu/files/fullsize/578fe034e7491b2f2d0863377886486a.jpg":{"id":644,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Dancers at the SU Pow Wow hosted on the SU Campus in Robertson Gym, including Ben Nava, right. Members of SU NATIVE were instrumental in planning and hosting the event.","description":"SU MarComm | circa 2010s | unknown","thumbnail":"https://placingmemory.southwestern.edu/files/square_thumbnails/578fe034e7491b2f2d0863377886486a.jpg"}}}