On top of the world, headed to the bottom
Cochiti Pueblo student at Institute of Indian American Arts earns scholarship to study in New Zealand
As a child, Hailey Suina of Cochiti Pueblo wondered if she would ever travel to the bottom of the globe. That’s where her ancestors — those who emerged from the world eons ago in her Pueblo’s creation story — traveled to find their own sacred homeland.
On Tuesday, the creative writing major at the Institute of Indian American Arts got a double dose of surprise: not only is she headed there, but on a $15,000 scholarship fund, with travel included.
The senior will be attending Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand next semester, thanks to a scholarship check she received in a surprise ceremony that one eyewitness dubbed “IAIA’s version of the Publishers Clearing House.”
Family members, friends, teachers and others gathered to jump out of hiding and hand her a huge check as she walked into the campus’ welcome center Tuesday afternoon.
“It’s surreal,” Suina said, her eyes full of tears and her face still expressing shock as she clutched a New Zealand flag and a stuffed kiwi bird that she also received in the ceremony. “I can’t believe this is happening. I thought I wouldn’t have a chance.”
Suina, 22, is the first IAIA student to receive the scholarship, which has been in existence for five years. Students from Europe and America can apply for the funding to study in New Zealand by submitting an essay and photo applications.
Suina’s two-page essay spoke of childhood dreams thinking about her “ancestors far across the ocean. I’d picture myself alongside them, gliding across the waves, following that sacred energy that beckoned them to their land. I learned later that this was New Zealand, Aotearoa, the Land of the Long White Cloud.”
In Auckland she will study “how to incorporate contemporary values and the cultural aspects of the indigenous people there into the modern urban world.”
Izzy Weisz, marketing manager for Go Overseas, an entity that encourages travel, study and volunteering opportunities overseas, helped coordinate the scholarship with the New Zealand government. Weisz said Go Overseas received thousands of applications
this year. She helped judge the applications and recalls Suina’s entry standing out for the powerful words and imagery conveyed in her essay.
“My elders have always said that if we want to learn from a community other than our own, we must go there ourselves,” Suina wrote in that piece. “Speak with the elders, be a part of the village, listen directly to the words of the people, share in that energy — it is the only acceptable way to learn. There is no better place to learn from than New Zealand, where the energy of the land and its people are felt miles across the sea.”
Jennifer Love, who teaches creative writing at the college, said Suina brought that essay to her at least five times for editing and writing tips.
“She’s able to take feedback; a lot of students here can’t,” Love said. “She’s always willing to put in that extra effort to make her work strong. She did all the research and follow-up on this application herself.”
Hailey’s mom, Jennifer Suina, was equally surprised at Tuesday’s outcome. “I can’t believe she did this all on her own,” she said moments after her daughter received the check. “It amazes me what a strong woman she is. But I told her that the Pueblo tradition is that, if you follow in the footsteps of your ancestors, it will happen, and it has.”
The award also includes airfare to and from New Zealand. Hailey departs in early February and will return five months later.
She said she’s scared. “It’s my first time overseas,” she said.
Plus, her grandfather said he heard that New Zealand is full of “big lizards who like to bite humans.”
But her ancestors survived them, she said, so she will, too.