Yuba’s Native American Student Association

After two years of dormancy, the Native American Student Association, or NASA Club, is back.

It was the end of September, and the NASA Club was electing officers. The atmosphere was good natured, with friendly joking as they talked. It was a quick election, ending with Natalie Scott as president, Jesse Harris as vice president, and Heather Michealson as secretary.

The newly elected officers then opened the floor to ideas of activities for the club. Ideas were bounced around, and almost all met with positive response.

“We are re-vitalizing the club after two years, and giving a fresh perspective of community and cultural enrichment,” Vice President Harris said.

The NASA Club is passionate about its purpose. While they do have fun, the members are productive and know what they want to see done.

The club is involved with different campus activities. During the Cultural Food Fair at the beginning of September, they provided music with a powwow drum performance. They have also been asked do a presentation in the theater on October 14 at noon.

The officers discussed how they would like to go to elementary schools to perform for and talk to the students. Another of the ideas they have is a mentorship-like program to help Native Americans in High School. This could in turn lead them to become part of the club when they enter college.

They also go to powwows in and around the area.

The club plans to set up a craft class for every other week between scheduled club meetings.

The NASA Club is not a new club; it has been at Yuba Community College since the early 1990s. It was created out of the desire to help the people in the Native community.

This club is also not exclusive to Yuba College. The NASA Club is available in other colleges across the nation.

There are a wide array of representative Tribal Affiliations. For the club members, these are Konkow Maidu for Christine Michealson, Natalie Scott and Heather Michealson, and Choctaw and Nez Perce for Jesse Harris.

The NASA Club’s advisor, Kelly Boren, said that the club had formerly focused on helping Native students through mini-scholarships used to help buying books and supplies

for college. These mini-scholarships were made available through fundraising. However, these have not been offered for a number of years.

The NASA Club has held fry bread sales for fundraisers. Last spring they held a fry bread give-away.

The NASA Club meets bi-weekly at noon in room 117 in the Building 100 B. You do not have to be Native to be in the club; it is open to everyone. Kelly Boren can be reached at (530) 741-6709 for questions.