UA News

Native Perspectives is a new Native American publication printed with the help from the publishers of The Navajo Times.

Candace Begody reads and processes the news not only as a student of journalism at The University of Arizona but also as a Native American, and that background has given her a calling.

Begody, a junior, is the editor of a new student publication, Native Perspectives, which focuses on news issues relevant to American Indians. The first edition was unveiled on Thursday evening during a celebration at the Student Union Memorial Center.

The difference between the Native publication and mainstream media Begody said "is that mainstream media may cover a story that is a Native Issue, but my goal is to humanize the issue.

"While one person can't speak for a whole tribe, they can speak to how that issue affects them personally," Begody added.

Begody said she had the idea for Native Perspectives upon visiting the University of Montana's School of Journalism. There she saw that the university had a Native publication and a class dedicated to covering stories on Native people.

"They have eight tribes in Montana. We have 22. Even that total is something that many people in Arizona are not aware of," Begody said. She was impressed with the publication and the University of Montana in that it sends students out to the reservation to get the story and that each paper published has an overall theme.

She began contemplating how to bring coverage of American Indian issues to Arizona and the UA. Upon meeting with UA journalism advisers she decided her first step would be to start a UA student chapter of the Native American Journalists Association and the next step would be to seek the support of her mentors at the Navajo Times.

Begody, a Navajo who is a minor in American Indian studies, said her inspiration to become a journalist stemmed from the publisher of the Navajo Times taking a chance on her.

"I came to the UA thinking I wanted to be a chemistry major," Begody said, but tragedy struck her family. Her brother died two summers ago and the time spent consoling with her family and avid journal writing led to a career change.

"I knew I wanted to write and immediately thought of the Navajo Times which was only 30 minutes from my home," Begody said. It took her three visits to the office to convince publisher Tom Arviso Jr. and editor Duane Beyal to give her a chance.

Arviso remembered the encounter and his initial hesitancy to bring Begody on board.

"I remember how soft-spoken and shy Candace was when she first came to my office and I wondered if she could handle the responsibilities of being a reporter for our newspaper because people can be rude and mean at times. I knew she was a good writer; she just needed to learn how to write for a newspaper, like a journalist," Arviso said.

"I am proud to say that Candace has demonstrated that she has remarkable talent and a great attitude. She is a quick learner and she understands the importance of what we do for our people and our readers everywhere, as Native journalists. We are the story tellers and we provide a much needed service to our people and to our readers," Arviso added.

The Navajo Times is the backbone of Native Perspectives, providing inspiration as well as layout and design assistance and free printing.

"I spoke with Candace many times about starting a Native student publication at The University of Arizona and how it could reflect their Native pride and heritage, as well as serve as a meaningful and informing voice. I told her that I and the Navajo Time staff would help her as much as possible to get the publication started and she was enthused about the idea," Arviso said.

Begody said representatives from the paper also have become regulars at the UA journalism school, providing insights to journalism students on covering news for Native Americans.

For the publication, Begody had to work on getting students involved and learn to make tough decisions as an editor, but said her mentors were there to help her along the way.

"Candace put a plan in motion and the end result is that they now have their first publication ready for distribution," Arviso said. "I wanted her and her staff to see and feel the magic of that first copy and to realize that they could do it." he said.

Native Perspectives is a 12-page tabloid with essays, interviews and articles, with contributions from Native and non-Native UA students as well as Tucson community members. Begody strove to recruit younger students to ensure the publication's lifeline.

Arviso said he is happy with the publication and its content.

"They did a wonderful job with their first issue and we're proud of her and the staff. I know that they will improve with each issue and that it will get bigger and better.  We've done this same thing with the University of New Mexico and they've been publishing their paper for three years now," Arviso said.

Begody said one of her favorite contributions to the publication is an essay titled, "Who is an American Indian?" She said the essay is an example of stories that mean something to Native American people.

During her last two semesters at UA, Begody will work to publish Native Perspectives both in the spring and fall semester of 2009. She will graduate in December 2009 and hopes the publication will outlive her time at the University.

The hope that the publication will continue was expressed by Arviso as well. "Hopefully, the UA and the Native students there will help to keep Native Perspectives going for a long time," Arviso added.

"I don't think it has sunk in how important this publication is. It is history in the making and I couldn't have done it alone," Begody said and added her hope for the incoming journalism students to carry on with the work.