ZUNI, NM – The Zuni Youth Enrichment Project announced today that preparations are underway for the 7th annual Delapna:we project. This innovative project, made possible by the New Mexico Humanities Council, the U.S. Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the New Mexico Behavioral Health Services Division and the First Nations Development Institute, brings the traditional oral histories of the Zuni people to life through performances. art.
The Delapna:we project began as a collaboration between the Zuni Youth Enrichment Project, A:shiwi A:wan Museum and Heritage Center, Edaakie Arts, ShiwiSun Productions, Zuni Public Library, KSHI Radio and other members of the Zuni community; collectively they are known as Ho’n A:wan Productions, and their rich partnership continues to this day. This fall, the partners held four leadership meetings to reflect on previous seasons, discuss highlights and favorite memories, and plan for the new season.
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This year’s main story is ‘Rabbit Prays for Snow’, which was previously shown in February 2020. Live performances are scheduled for 6:00 PM on Friday, February 14 and 1:00 PM on Sunday, February 16.
“We look forward to exploring the themes of weather patterns and climate change, the importance of language and culture preservation, the empowerment of our elders, and the resilience of the Zuni people,” said Kiara “Kiki” Zunie, ZYEP Youth Development Coordinator. “We also plan to share more cultural knowledge about rabbits – how they were a clan and how they were used for meals, clothing and fetish carvings.”
Zuni community members of all ages are invited to Ho’n A:wan Park on Wednesday, January 8 to audition for roles in this year’s production. The following week, all participants and their families come together for the long-awaited Delapna:we Family Night on Wednesday, January 15.
“The leadership team will provide historical context about Delapna:we,” Zunie explains. “We will also get a glimpse of what the season has in store through storytelling activities. We look forward to involving our families so they can also learn more about the Zuni storytelling tradition and share in the fun.”
While the live showcase events are the highlights of the season, ZYEP director Tahlia Natachu-Eriacho said project leaders are exploring the possibility of reading the full script via radio during the winter storytelling season.
“A lot of people who couldn’t make it to the live performances a few years ago got to know us through the radio,” she said. “We hope that we can also show previous productions through a weekly Delapna:we Night in January and February.”
Stories like “Rabbit Prays for Snow” are invaluable to the Zuni people. After being shared and passed down for generations, they were in danger of being lost forever in the mid-20th century. Fortunately, the Doris Duke Foundation in New York provided the necessary funding in the 1960s so that the Zuni community could include 19 elders who shared more than 800 stories.
The recordings were then housed in the Library of Congress. With support from Washington DC, Zuni leaders brought them back to Zuni Pueblo.
Cultural educator Curtis Quam, curator of the A:shiwi A:wan Museum and Heritage Center in Zuni, digitized nearly 400 hours of those archived stories. He approached ZYEP in 2018 to see if there was a way to bring the stories to life through the performing arts, bridging the learning gap between the elders of 60 years ago and today’s Zuni youth.
This is critical to both the Zuni language and culture. When participants participate in the Delapna:we Project’s theater workshops and rehearsals, they learn about more than stagecraft; they also learn about the cultural context surrounding the stories, they hear the voices of the elders, and they learn and practice the Zuni language in a safe, positive, and encouraging space.
Post-Delapna:we project surveys found that approximately 75 percent of parents and guardians reported that their children spoke more Zuni at home during the project, and 90 percent of youth said they felt it was important to speak Zuni. All of them, 100 percent of respondents, said traditional Zuni stories are important to them.
More information about this year’s Delapna:we project will be available in the coming days and weeks. ZYEP will share flyers and news bulletins as more details become available, and supporters are also encouraged to follow the youth project on social media for the latest updates.
About the Author: “Levi \”Calm Before the Storm\” Rickert (Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation) is the founder, publisher and editor of Native News Online. Rickert was awarded the Best Column 2021 Native Media Award for the print category\/ online by the Native American Journalists Association. He is a member of the advisory board of the Multicultural Media Correspondents Association. He can be reached at levi@nativenewsonline.net.
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