Donald Nelson grew up in Prescott and still loves it here, but part of his heart always stays on the Hopi mesas to the north.
Nelson has shared his rare ability to bridge two cultures with hundreds of other people during ventures to Indian lands throughout Arizona, and that is why he recently received an Arizona Culturekeepers award.
The Barry Goldwater Center for the West, State Historian Marshall Trimble and the Kierland Resort & Spa in the Valley of the Sun give the annual awards to people who have made a positive impact on Arizona's history, culture, environment or economy.
Nelson's parents both were Hopi, but they didn't talk about their culture at all with their five children. Nelson figures it probably was because federal Indian boarding schooling pushed them to integrate into the white society. And they wanted their children to have more than what they had.
Nelson was searching for his identity while attending Northern Arizona University in 1973 when he decided to ask his mother to arrange his entry into the Hopi Katsina Society. She reluctantly agreed.
But he didn't understand the society ways. In fact, he couldn't figure out why people lived like that on the mesas, without indoor plumbing or electricity.
After years of teaching art at Yavapai College, Nelson helped found the Elderhostel program at Yavapai College in 1978 with Melissa Ruffner and Chris Wuehrmann. It offers educational experiences to people 55 and older.
Nelson doesn't really know why, but the following year he started going back to the Hopi lands every summer to learn about his native culture from his maternal uncle and aunt, who is his clan mother.
Years later, Wuehrmann suggested Nelson start a Native American program within Elderhostel, and Nelson took off with it.
He would take people from throughout the country to White Mountain Apache homes to eat delicious acorn soup. He took them to the Hopi Reservation to see his aunt Janice Day make baskets and help her Anglo husband Joseph pick corn.
"I tried to give the Elderhostel group a very different, real view," Nelson explained.
Joseph Day also taught an Elderhostel segment called "Pahaana in a strange world." Pahaana is a Hopi slang word for white people.
"He could tell them things that Hopi are too polite to tell," Janice explained. For example, white people should ask fewer questions and instead use their eyes and ears more often, Joseph related.
Native elders would come to Prescott to tell their stories, too. Nelson would challenge the students to tell their own grandchildren some stories.
The Days and other native people who participated in Nelson's program were sorry to see Yavapai College terminate the entire Elderhostel program this past year.
"This is the time of year they'd be coming," Janice said. "We really looked forward to seeing them."
Some of the Elderhostel participants still visit on their own, she said.
Losing his Elderhostel job didn't stop Nelson from continuing to support native cultures, however.
He has worked on field study programs with museums throughout Arizona as well the Audubon Expedition Institution of Lesley University in Cambridge, Mass.
"He commands a lot of respect when he starts talking," said Dana Oswald, who teaches the Contemporary Issues in Anthropology class at Prescott College. "Donald just connects well with people. That's something that you know when you see it but it's kind of hard to describe. He's genuinely interested in people."
Nelson also created the New Beginnings program at the Federal Corrections Institution in Phoenix, incorporating traditional Indian spiritual practices into substance abuse prevention programs for native inmates.
"It brought into play all my experience from all these different tribes," Nelson said.
Receiving the Culturekeepers award prompted Nelson to contemplate his career and connections to the Hopi mesas.
"Hopi culture is not a society of rights, it's a society of responsibilities," Nelson notes.
"He has always generously and patiently shared his knowledge and love of place with others and supports the use of oral tradition among the tribes," fellow native Prescottonian Melissa Ruffner wrote in her Culturekeepers award nomination for Nelson.
For about a year now, Nelson has been the site director for the Boys and Girls Club on the Yavapai-Prescott Indian Reservation. One of his aunts married a Yavapai-Prescott tribal member, so he has relatives there too.
"It's different working with children," especially since they have more energy than the older folks, he said.
Ironically, although he has taught so many people about Hopi ways, Nelson has not shared his Massaw clan knowledge with his nieces and nephews. The elders don't go to the young without the young asking to learn.
"I have found that to be true of most Indian cultures in Arizona," Nelson said.
Contact the reporter at jdodder@prescottaz.com.
Reader Comments
Posted: Saturday, April 25, 2009
Article comment by:
Vince Horenkamp
Is there a way of contacting Donald Nelson? He led an excellent Elderhostel tour of the three mesas several years ago that my wife and I were a part of. I would love to get in touch with him. I was unaware that the program had been discontinued.
Posted: Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Article comment by:
Dave
I have known Donald since "way back when" and he is without question one of the kindest, most honorable humans I have ever encountered. After being gone from home for a few years, I was able to reconnect with him again. It was a pure pleasure to visit with him and see how he's grown through the years and just continues to amaze. He is an inspiration and it is my honor to call him Friend. Congratulations to Donald in this well deserved award!
Posted: Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Article comment by:
Pike's
I have known Donald since we were classmates in kindergarten at Dexter elementary. His desire to reconnect with his heritage is admirable. I had the honor of accompanying him to the Hopi mesas and I have watched him grow in the years since. He has truly become a man of two cultures. He deserves the honor.
Posted: Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Article comment by:
Pete
Very informative. I am glad that somebody is keeping the native Indian culture alive.
