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I think the most important thing I learned from the conversation with Mr. Francisco wasn’t as much a specific fact or idea, but was instead just the general awareness and experience of getting to speak with someone who is Native American and is so connected to one of the cultures we’ve read about. It’s easy to read chapters in a book or articles about what modern culture is like for Native Americans but it’s a whole other thing to actually get to communicate with someone. This may seem like a naive or uncultured answer, and in some ways it is, but as someone who has never actually spoken to a Native American active on a reservation, having Mr. Francisco come was enlightening and a great new experience.

If I had to pick one thing that he discussed that I felt was most informative or important, it would probably be the discussion about education and the recent wave of desire young people now have to be in school and go on and get college educations. This is probably in part because I enjoy learning about children and youth (I hope to work with children one day), but I also found it to be important because these are the next generation of Native Americans. It is this age group that will either continue to identify and align themselves with the culture of their families, or they will choose to leave and immerse themselves in white American culture. Hearing Mr. Francisco discuss the desire for youth to go to college through Native American scholarships leads me to believe that the connection to their group and culture will continue.