Last winter, Talking Stick announced that Amerinda would be offering a $500 scholarship to a Native American student for the Fall 1999 semester. We received many letters from many very eligible candidates - sadly, our funds only allowed us to provide the one scholarship. After careful consideration, a decision was made. Amerinda is honored to be able to award our first scholarship to Monica Antone - Watson, of Oneida Nation, New York.

Monica (Mohawk) has shown tremendous resilience and determination in achieving her goal of attaining a strong education. While undergoing personal tragedies, severe financial hardships, she managed to raise a family and still keep her vision strong.

Monica lost her parents in a car accident when she was 5 years old. She was raised, along with her sisters Wanda, Roxanne, and Phyllis by her grandparents, Betsy and Harry, on Oneida Reservation in Canada. Her grandfather passed when she was 14, leaving the four sisters to care for their diabetic grandmother, who died in 1981. Monica was 17 years old.

She received her GED in 1983 and soon after began attending Mohawk Valley Community College. By this time Monica was a single mother and unemployed. She carried on, keeping her dream of getting an education intact. Unfortunately, the 80’s proved difficult for her to continue her studies - she decided she should use this time to concentrate on raising her children. She knew, when the time was right, she’d pick up where she left off. In 1994, when her youngest was in school, Monica did just that.

She graduated from Mohawk Valley with an AA in Applied Sciences in Spring 1996. Last Fall, she started studying for her second degree, and she will complete her studies for a Bachelors in Elementary Education from SUNY Oneonta in two years. Her next step is to attend SUNY Cortland, where she plans to receive her Masters Degree

Monica spent the two years between receiving her first degree and commencing on the second working with children at Stockbridge Valley Central School in Munnsville, NY. While doing volunteer work in her community, she was offered the post of chairperson of the Title IX Native American Mentor Program at the school (which she still holds). “What the program is about is attendance. I want those kids to stay in school. The Native American students are in a minority at this school, and I think it’s important to have this program there for them.” Monica works with the littlest ones all the way up to high school age. From the figures, the program is a success. When the program began the dropout rate was 6 or 7 a year. Last year, only one Native student left without graduating.

Having worked in the schools in similar programs, I asked Monica how she manages to reach the students. “For one thing, we try to teach them who they are. We try to involve the parents, the teachers, and we emphasize our culture. We helped the high school students make their own traditional regalia. The younger ones - we got them to make theirs out of paper”. Monica gives a hearty laugh here, one full of pride and satisfaction. I asked how they come to trust her - “I live in the community. They see me every day, I’m not a stranger to them.” It was partly this experience that led Monica to her decision to be a teacher after she gets her Masters.

A wife and mother - her husband’s name is Kirby - Monica seems to be so busy that trying to reach her by phone is always a major task. When we finally got connected, we made arrangements for a chat. She laughed and said “I can’t do it before 7pm. I’ve got a group of children coming over to practice Iroquois social dances around 6 or so for a program we are doing at the New York State Fair.” Monica is the mother of Kirby Jr, 20 and in college; Kevin,17, soon to graduate high school; Martina, who at 11 is a 7th grader. Her youngest is Kyle, in 5th grade and 10 years old. With a family to care for, a committed relationship to the children in her community, and an education to continue, I asked her to look back and tell me how she kept (keeps) going. “The big thing behind it is I always wanted an education. I wasn’t exactly sure what I was going to do with my life, but I knew that whatever I was going to do I had to have an education.”

I spoke by phone with the person who referred Monica to the Amerinda Scholarship, Brenda Hicks, who is an Education Counselor at Oneida Nation. “ Monica is so dedicated to continuing her education and making life better for her family. She is very outgoing, always laughing, and always happy.”

Monica is a strong Indian woman. She is passing on knowledge and skills to the next generations. So, where will the future take her? After she gets her Masters and her teaching credentials, Monica would like to teach “at an Indian school, maybe on the rez...with a lot more Native American students.” What would she like to teach? She laughs her hearty laugh and says “Home-Ec. I like home economics. I think we should all know how to sew, how to cook. These are life lessons, survival skills.”

Survival skills - teaching our children how to live..the gift Indian women keep giving...our mothers, our grandmothers, aunts, sisters, cousins...We at Amerinda are proud to be able to assist Monica Antone-Watson in continuing this tradition. Congratulations, and thank you, Monica.