The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 42, No. 2 - 117

A Second Home

. . . the many actors involved
in the carousel process may
unknowingly practice exclusion by
imposing dominant organizational
norms upon Indigenous forms of
engagement, thereby suppressing a
Native student's cultural integrity
and its relevancy to college and
university settings.

What makes O'odham Ki: unique is the
awareness of Native experiences and the incorporation of Native value systems into the living
environment. UA residence life staff worked
closely with the NASA ofﬁce in the inclusion
of Native-centered activities, practices, and programs in the residential community. In particular, the university moved beyond conventional
approaches to serve and respect the spiritual
needs of Native students. Integrating spiritual
practices into the living space required care,
respect, responsibility, and reciprocity especially because Native peoples are diverse, with
varying belief systems and worldviews. There
are more than 566 federally recognized tribes
and hundreds more non-federally recognized
tribes, each with its own language, culture,
customs, and traditions (Shotton et al., 2013).
Therefore, incorporating local tribal protocol
and being familiar with Native students and
their views on spirituality is key.
Prior to student move-in, a prayer is given

that includes Native students, their families,
and campus colleagues. In respect for local
tribal protocol, an O'odham person is usually
invited to conduct the prayer. Depending
upon how the individual conducts the prayer,
smudging, or the burning of sage or cedar, may
occur. Residence life staff coordinate to ensure
that college procedures are in place to accommodate this sacred process. Staff work with
the local ﬁre department and university police
regarding precautionary measures needed in
order to temporarily shut down the ﬁre alarm
system during the time of the smudging and to
notify residents about the shutdown.
Following the prayer, food is often provided
by campus colleagues and Native partners.
Students and their families have an opportunity to not only eat together, but also to develop
a reciprocal exchange with university staff,
alumni, and their new classmates (Kirkness
& Barnhardt, 1991). Through table conversations, new students and their families are able
to learn more about the resources and support
available to them in their living space and at
the university. Likewise, university staff and
alumni have an opportunity to learn about
the experiences that Native students and their
families face as they transition to college.
Moreover, students, families, and staff who are
unfamiliar with the local tribal community are
able to connect and learn from local O'odham
community members. Kirkness and Barnhardt (1991) contend that teaching and learning is a two-way process, where students and
university staff have an opportunity to embark
on new levels of understanding such that university staff learn the cultural backgrounds of
students and the students formulate the "inner-workings" of the institutional culture (p.

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The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 42, No. 2

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