Wonder Makes Us Proud
“Today is a significant day for our Wildcat community and our tribal nations in Arizona. Today marks the day that our 22 sovereign nations have a place to honor their flags on the University of Arizona campus. This has been years and decades in the making. And many stakeholders in our Native American community, including our Native American alumni, have fought all those years to make today a reality.
Our students will be proud when they see their flags and will be reminded how significant their tribal nations are to this university. We’ll be proud when our tribal leaders come to campus and see how their flags fly above campus, not just on the day they come, but every day of the year.”
— Jonathan Rios, President, American Indian Alumni Club
Chris Richards photo
On Nov. 12, a long-held imperative — to recognize the flags of Arizona’s 22 tribal nations on the University of Arizona campus — came to fruition. The flags, displayed in UArizona BookStores, acknowledge that UArizona sits on the original homelands of the Tohono O’odham Nation.
Jonathan Rios '08, president of the American Indian Alumni Club, shared his remarks at a ceremony to celebrate the display. He was joined by university leadership and Ned Norris Jr. and Peter Yucupicio, chairmen of the Tohono O'odham Nation and the Pascua Yaqui Tribes, respectively. They spoke words of thanks to the Tohono O’odham and Pascua Yaqui peoples upon whose land residents and visitors to Tucson are guests.