Glennwilde resident Cassie Harvey proudly represented the Zuni tribe at the opening ceremony of the Final Four in Glendale last weekend.
Harvey worked with her friends and family to create her dress and jewelry, traditional to the culture of her ancestral land in western New Mexico, just for the occasion.
“It was not just for me, but for the community we represented,” Harvey said of the event.
The NCAA reached out to Arizona State University’s indigenous-serving organizations to track down some students and alumni to represent their communities on college basketball’s biggest stage.
Harvey was joined by another local woman, Ak-Chin Village resident Jennifer Boehm-King.
“She is a phenomenal representation of leadership within the Ak-Chin/Maricopa community,” Harvey said of Boehm-King. “She is a true representation of our home community in the city of Maricopa.”
The UConn Huskies earned their second-straight chip knocking off top-seeded Purdue, 75-60, in just the second-ever Final Four in Arizona Monday.
