Delia Carlyle honored for lifetime achievement at Native American Recognition Days banquet

A group that included family members and friends from Ak-Chin, were on hand at the Sheraton Crescent Hotel banquet room to see former Ak-Chin chairwoman, Delia Carlyle, become the first recipient of the Phyllis J. Bigpond Lifetime Achievement Award, during the 2009 Native American Recognition Days Awards Banquet.

A visible figure in the national, state and Native American political field, Carlyle was recognized for her dedication and work in moving her Ak-Chin Indian Community forward with community growth and economic development. Also, during her time as a leader, she was a national voice in Washington on Indian gaming issues as former chairwoman of the Arizona Indian Gaming Association. Carlyle spent many hours on Capital Hill and in Arizona, successfully advocating for tribal sovereignty and gaming rights for tribes.

Carlyle, who has received numerous prestigious awards during her 20-year tenure as a councilwoman for Ak-Chin, was very emotional during her acceptance speech.

“I am very humbled today,” Carlyle said. “When I was informed that I was going to be awarded with the Phyllis Bigpond award, I was thinking to myself, ‘are they sure they got the right person?’ I knew Phyllis and the dedication and time she put into the Phoenix Indian Center and to be the first recipient, again is very humbling.”

Carlyle also recognized the Ak-Chin tribe for allowing her to represent her community.
Bigpond, who passed away in September 2009, was a former executive of the Phoenix Indian Center. Her lone surviving sister, Ruth Olney, was on hand to present Carlyle with her award. Every year, the NARD Committee recognizes individuals, organizations, and companies who have made tremendous contributions to Indian Country.

Besides Carlyle, other winners included; Joe Hosteen Kellwood, who was awarded the Kent C. Ware, Sr. Lifetime Achievement Award. Kellwood served in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1942 and served with the 1st Marine Division H&S Company, 5th Regiment as a Navajo Code Talker. In July 2001, PFC Kellwood, along with other Navajo Code Talkers were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. Kellwood worked construction in Phoenix on the Arizona Public Service building following his service. Kellwood, after receiving his award, sang the U.S. Marine Corp song in the Navajo language.

Miguel Bravo, a Community Development Consultant for the Arizona Public Service, was the recipient of the Friend of the Native American Community Award for his work as an active advocate of the urban Native American community, helping to raise the profile and level of support and connections for tribes, Native American community based agencies, people and causes.

The Outstanding Native American High School Student award went to Taylor Susan, a White Mountain Apache/Walker River Paiute, and a junior student at Moon Valley High School in Glendale. Susan is active in youth-building programs, including Native Building for Native Youth, UNITY, Gila River Youth Leadership conference, White Mountain Apache Youth Leadership Conference, Rocket Town Leadership Camp and many other programs. Susan is currently a 2009 City of Phoenix Youth Ambassador for the Phoenix Sister Cities Program to Grenoble, France. The Outstanding Man of the Native American Community was given to Robin Fohrenkam, of the Gila River Indian Community. Fohrenkam, brought tourism attention to Gila River’s main attractions such as the Wild Horse Pass Casino and Rawhide, which hosted events for attendees of the NCAI 2008 Annual Conference. He is currently serving his third term as President of the Arizona American Indian Tourism Association and oversaw a successful Arizona Indian Festival, which was held in conjunction with the 2008 Super Bowl which was held in Glendale.

Outstanding Woman of the Native American Community was awarded to Jolyana Begay-Bitsui. Begay-Bitsui, a third grade teacher at Gila Crossing School on the Gila River Indian Community, is a former Miss Navajo Nation and taught at Maricopa Elementary School and the Kyrene School District Indian Education program. She also teaches at the Phoenix Indian Center’s Navajo Nation Language and Cultural program and is a Faculty Associate with Arizona State University teaching Beginning and Intermediate Navajo courses. She is also active in sharing her cultured knowledge with the community.

Outstanding Native American College Student, Jason Francisco, was recognized for his academic achievements. He is currently a senior at Southwestern College, and is on target to receive his Bachelors of Science in Business Administration in 2010. Francisco is president of the Student Association at Paradise Valley Community College and is from the Tohono O’odham Nation.

The Business of the Year Supporting Native American’s went to the Native American Basketball Invitational (NABI). Accepting on NABI’s behalf was, Co-Founder, Gina Marie Scarpa, along with former Phoenix Sun, Mark West. Scarpa and West founded NABI to help Native American high school boys and girls to become recognized in the sport and to help with potential athletic scholarship offers.

Just recently, NABI became NCAA-sanctioned, which allows college recruiters to attend NABI games and offer scholarships to potential players.

(This story was originally published in the Dec. 4-16 issue of the Ak-Chin O’odham Runner.)

Photo caption: (From left) Robin Fohrenkan, Delia Carlyle, Johyana Begay-Bitsui, Taylor Susan, Gina Marie-Scarpa, Joe Hosteen Kellwood, Miguel Bravo and Jason Francisco.

Photo by Lee Hyeoma