ASSISTANT SECRETARY JOANNIE SUINA: I bring with me into this role, over two decades of working in culturally responsive education. I started my career as a native language teacher in my community of Cochiti Pueblo, teaching our language, Keres, which is orally based. And I did that for about seven years, and then taught at the post secondary level at the Institute of American Indian Arts. And in looking at the kind of leadership that I bring to the role, it's very much grounded in my Pueblo values as a Native woman, and along with that, comes with being a mother as well. So, I couldn't have been better prepared ultimately.
KUNM: As you're coming into this role and seeing where the state stands now in overall child well being, why is it important to you to center this type of early intervention and support for families across the state?
SUINA: Well, I think that early childhood care is where cultural continuance and the future and sustainability of Native lifeways meet the future of education as a whole. And I am very much centered in this work, because I believe that we're not only raising our next language speakers, who are seeking that belonging within themselves or communities that they come from, but we're really affirming the sacredness of what we know and practice as Native people, that our children are sacred. So centering those along with being able to collaborate across our sister agencies with New Mexico Indian Affairs Department, and ensuring that we're aligning with the State Tribal Collaboration Act to lead and support government to government consultation across the 23 nations, tribes, and pueblos of New Mexico. I believe that this also further supports that integration of culturally and linguistically responsive practices in our early learning systems.
KUNM: The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Native American Early Childhood Education and Care is the first in its nation to work towards strengthening state and tribal collaboration and early childhood education. What does that mean to you, and where do you see these partnerships going in the future?
SUINA: I think in the current climate, it's important to bring previous policy experience, but also to focus on a healing-centered leadership approach that is rooted in my own previous work, which was on Indian boarding school policy, and looking at how that trauma in itself has created ripple effects for families, not only nationally but globally, and how language revitalization and cultural continuance being centered within curricula across early childhood programs in New Mexico are what our families and our communities need to truly achieve that healing. And being able to carry some of those stories of trauma with me and keep those at bay as I enter this new role, allows me to further be deeply relational, because I've lived it, I breathed it, I've created it. And ensuring that our children are able to experience something much different from what our ancestor relatives experienced.
KUNM: And as you mentioned, you've only been in the role now just for a few weeks. Have you encountered any issues so far that may have changed your goals while in this position, or even sparked new ideas?
SUINA: There’s no denying that we're in a difficult time and that our families are facing immense challenges, economic stress, overall health needs, and looking at that lasting impact of intergenerational trauma that I shared. But I truly believe in our collective power and coming on board with ECECD seed, and I believe that early childhood is where we begin to shift that story.
Support for this coverage comes from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
