Kangan Batman Welcomes US Exchange Students
16 March 2007
The Koori Programs Unit of Kangan Batman TAFE is hosting two exchange students of Native American descent who arrived on March 3rd for an eight week visit.
Wesley Toya and Jennifer Toledo, both aged 18, come from Jemez Pueblo and the Walatowa Charter High School in US state of New Mexico.
For Jennifer and Wes, a large Institute such as Kangan Batman is a new experience. 'We live in a rural area and have only sixty students at our school' said Wes.
The Pueblo of Jemez is a tribe located in north-central New Mexico, approximately 80 kilometres northwest of Albuquerque. They are one of the remaining 19 pueblos (traditional villages) of New Mexico, with more than 89,000 acres of land and home to over 3,400 tribal members. The people of Jemez cherish their ancestral traditions, and are proud to integrate their culture with modern society.
They have also preserved their complex traditional language, a language the anthropologists and linguists refer to as 'Towa'. Jemez is the only culture that speaks this language, and the people also speak English and Spanish.
Jennifer says 'We have come on the exchange to expand our knowledge of Australian Indigenous people, and to see what we can learn about their way of life and their culture and to compare with ours.'
Both students have a research project to work on while they are here. Jennifer is researching programs targeting Diabetes in Indigenous people, while Wes will look at the role of the media in portraying Indigenous people.
They will also be attending some classes at the Koorie Programs unit, and, on their first day, they sat in on a session of the Certificate course on Conservation and Land Management, and are keen to see some of the Koori art classes.
Jemez people are internationally known for arts and crafts. Pottery such as bowls, seed pots, elaborately polished and engraved vessels, wedding vases, figurines, holiday ornaments, and their famous storytellers are now in collections throughout the world. In addition, Jemez artisans also create beautiful basketry, embroidery, woven cloths, stone sculpture, moccasins, jewellery and traditional music.
The people are also known as 'runners', many of whom still holding unbroken records at major national events, and continuing to set new records with each generation entering into track and field competition.
Both students are aiming for tertiary education, with Jennifer planning to study nursing and Wes looking at media studies and public relations. While on the exchange program, they are staying at the homes of members of Kangan Batman staff.
