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Celebrating Native Voices: Honoring Native American Heritage Through Employee Experiences

As part of our ongoing effort to cultivate an inclusive and equitable culture for all, we look for ways to amplify our team members’ voices. One way is recognizing holidays that invite us to take pause and recognize our diversity.

In honor of Native American Heritage Month this November, we are highlighting the experiences of three GM Financial team members who represent the Navajo, Choctaw and Comanche tribes.

We appreciate Summer, Chelsea and Jessica for their willingness to share their insights on their native heritage, how they celebrate their tribes’ past and present, and the ways they hope to share their knowledge with future generations.

Summer Allen (Navajo)

Customer Experience Advocate II
Chandler, Arizona

Q: Can you tell us a little about your heritage and the role it has played in your life?

A: Yá’át’ééh shik’éí dóó shidine’é. Shí éí Summer Allen yinishyé. Naasht'ézhí dine'é bashishchiin dóó Áshįįhi dashinalí. Ákót’éego diné asdzáán nishłį́. Chandler Az kééhasht’į́. Tó Dínéeshzheeʼ déé’ naashá. Ahéhee’. [Hello, my family and friends. My name is Summer Allen. I am from Zuni clan on my father’s side and Salt clan on my paternal grandfather’s side. I am a Navajo woman. I reside in Chandler and am originally from Kayenta, Arizona.]

I grew up Diné, Navajo like most of my dad's side of the family. I lived on the reservation my whole life and visit whenever I can. The Navajo reservation is one of the biggest reservations in the United States. It's as big as West Virginia.

When I visit my family, we do things like have our ceremonies and sweat lodges. We talk about our clans and the things that are important to us. It really brings our family together. We're big on tradition and storytelling. It's not just, “Oh, this is our tradition. These are things to do.” It's also getting to know our people and being involved with our community.

Q: How have you been able to bring your Navajo heritage into the workplace?

A: Being able to run into members from my tribe has helped me embrace my culture a bit more in the office. Like today, my co-worker Kirsten was doing a presentation for a meeting, and she was speaking Navajo. People are like, “Oh, that's cool!” And I said, “Yeah, she's in the same tribe as me.” We're from the same area in Arizona, but I’m from just outside of town and she lived in town. That's how we got connected. Because we're both Navajo, and we can relate to each other. And now she supports me ¾ because I do beadwork.

I also found out there's another Navajo lady downstairs in our funding department. I ended up running into her during fundraising for a volunteer event. I was wearing some of my traditional jewelry, and she asked, “Oh, are you Navajo?” We connected that way. It's a small world.

Q: How do you celebrate Native American Heritage Month or how do you prefer to celebrate your Navajo heritage?

A: I’m planning to take almost a week off in October to go home and see my grandma and be out in the environment where I grew up, especially during the fall season. Our tribe is very big on harvesting season. We go all out for our Navajo Nation fairs where we sell steamed corn, do piñon [pine nut] picking, eat traditional foods and harvest for our creations, like Navajo baskets.

One thing I love is the first snow, because that's usually in November, and then with the first snow, we can play string games. It's not just playing with string and making figures but manipulating the string to create certain designs. They come with stories, and we learn that from a young age.

Q: What are you most proud of about your heritage?

A: I would say the kinship because we're all closely related. It's not just like blood relation, it's our clan relation. It's knowing I have family, and if you need help, you can ask them for help. It just brings everyone together. Everyone's so welcoming. When I was back home and riding my horse, and I happened to stumble upon someone's home while they're having dinner, they would always welcome me in. I'd be riding back home with a plate of food for my grandma.

Chelsea DiPardo (Choctaw)

Remarketing Solutions Auction Operations Manager
Arlington, Texas

Q: Can you tell us a little about your heritage and the role it has played in your life?

A: Unfortunately, I wasn't very familiarized with my heritage at a young age. My grandmother is 100% Choctaw Indian. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer's when I was baby, and she passed away when I was about 7.

My first memory, or the first time I realized that maybe there was something more to her, was at her funeral. There were three older men sitting in the front row with me, and I didn't know them, but they did some chanting during her funeral. Then there was a bag of what my mom said was tobacco that they were passing around. Everybody was grabbing a pinch, and that's when I realized there’s a different heritage that played a part in my family's life.

Q: That's quite a way to discover a part of your heritage you weren’t aware of. In recent years, how have you reengaged with that?

A: My mom never really talked about how it was like for my grandmother, or how it impacted her growing up, going to the special schools and stuff like that. So it's been a self-guided journey for me. I've been up to the new complex up in Durant, Oklahoma, where there's some opportunities to experience parts of the culture. I've been to some powwows to learn more about it, and I've done some reading as well.

Native Americans are called the invisible minority. We talk about Thanksgiving and cowboys and Indians. But no one really focuses on who we are today and the impacts of the people that come with this heritage. It’s important to me that we stop looking so far backward and start having discussions about how we got here.

Q: What are you most proud of about your heritage?

A: There's still so much more that I want to learn. Learning that the Choctaw were known for farming, I didn't really realize that. I guess what's kind of interesting is that around 85% of U.S. schools don't even cover Native American history past 1900. So it's up to you to want to learn about it.

One of the things that I appreciate the most about the Native Americans is their resourcefulness and self-sustainability, and that's something I think we could all learn from. And how people who live on reservations still carry out a lot of the same values in the way that they care for their family and live day to day. They're also known for being warriors, and although that definition is different now, I still like to think of myself as a warrior ¾ someone who continues to move forward, doesn't give up, and can fight to the end and come out on the other side on top. That resilience is wonderful.

Q: What is a great way for readers to learn more about Choctaw heritage?

A: I really enjoy going to the powwows ¾ all the colors, the drums and the dancing. Even at Choctaw Casino, there is an art walk where you can see art that was created by the Choctaw people. And so even just taking a moment and trying to connect with the past is important to me.

The complex in Durant is a great place to start because you can go through the museums, look at the art, eat some native food, as well as take classes to create some of the things. I don't do well sitting down and reading a book, so engaging and being able to look at the art really helps me to connect. Go to a powwow. You can feel the experience and spirit of the Native heritage, and it's pretty powerful.

Jessica Lopez (Comanche)

Leasing Servicing Account Representative I
Arlington, Texas

Q: Can you tell us a little about your heritage and the role it has played in your life?

A: I found out I was adopted when I was 14. During the time that I didn't know I was adopted, I always felt like something was different with me compared to my adoptive family. When I reconnected with my birth mom, she told me that I'm Comanche. I'm told that I'm distantly related to Quanah Parker, the last Comanche leader. My birth mother and my three sisters have been very involved with the native culture, and they go every year to Lawton, Oklahoma. This year, they invited me to come with them.

Q: You mentioned you will be attending your first powwow. Can you share a little more about that?

A: Yes, I will be attending my first Comanche powwow in Oklahoma this month. I'm excited to learn more about where I come from, of course, so I can teach my 5-year-old daughter, Layla. For me and my daughter, it’s about going to the powwow and the museum, and showing her where her roots are from and expose her to our culture. It's something that I wasn't exposed to growing up, so I'm excited to show her, and this is something that we are going to do every year. I want her to be proud of where she came from because my sisters and birth mom are so proud of where they came from. I want her to experience that as well.

Q: What are you most proud of about your heritage?

A: My birth mom talked to me about our tribal history. When I did my own research, I was pleasantly surprised, but not shocked, to hear that the Comanche people were one of the most feared and strongest Native tribes, the “Lord of the plains.” They were known for their expert horsemen and fierce warriors.

I truly feel it’s in my DNA to be fearless. Once I found out about my tribe, a lot of my strengths started to make more sense. I grew up not knowing who I was or where I stood or who stood with me in life, but once I connected with my birth mom and half sisters, it all started to make sense. I feel like I finally have somewhere where I belong.

Five Fast Facts: Native American Heritage Month

1. Dr. Arthur C. Parker, of the Seneca tribe, was the first to propose the establishment of a national day to honor Native Americans in 1915. His advocacy resulted in the establishment of “American Indian Week” by President Gerald Ford in 1976.
2. In 1990, President George H.W. Bush officially designated November as “National American Indian Heritage Month,” which later became Native American Heritage Month in 1994.
3. There were more than 7 million American Indians and Alaskan Natives living in the U.S. as of 2020, and it is projected there will be more than 10 million by 2060.
4. There are 574 federally recognized tribes and 324 reservations in the U.S. today.
5. Twenty-eight states and many cities, lakes and rivers have names with Native American origins.

By Jessica Llanes, GM Financial

Jessica Llanes is an off-road adventurer, EV enthusiast and bon vivant raised in New Orleans. When she’s not traveling, she enjoys sharing a homecooked meal with friends, curling up with an Agatha Christie novel, or binge-watching classic episodes of Top Gear (or Top Chef).