dancers. (drums). good to see you. our southern and northern dancers. welcome ladies. welcome. followed by our jingle "dancing with dancers. welcoming our dancers as well. our northern traditional dancers followed by our grass dancers. how about a big round for applause for all ours dancers? good to see you.

(drums). going over to our group over here. flag song. please.

long before the national anthem composed by francis scott key the 50 people that this land. >> >> the first people that this land had these fight songs, national anthems for these tribes, paying homage to the first flag of this land, the eagle staff. remembering our veterans as well, the warriors whether going to battle or returning from battle paying homage to their service, paying homage to this flag. always

honored our veterans, our warriors. (chanting) (spiritual

chanting). remember our fallen veterans and those still in battle. going into a victory song. here we go. everybody dance. (drums).

go dancing rocking san francisco city hall indian way. how about a big round of applause for all our dancers? all right. [applause]

all right. once again let's hear it for your singers, our dancers from everywhere here in the san francisco bay area. [applause] all right. good singing. good dancing. posting the eagle staff at this time. be shout out to larry harrison for taking care of our eagle staff. you maybe seated. calling up to the podium at this time michael

lupdtin and vice president of the marketing and branding for this station. >> hi everyone. can you hear me? hello everyone. i am from kqmd and i wanted to welcome you to this eighth annual indian heritage celebration. we are honored to be honoring four heroes from the community who have tirelessly worked throughout the year to provide the kind of service that admissible media is about and engaged community and robust heritage is about. nominated by community leaders they have worked at the grass-roots level and share the highest values we all share. as a public supported media organization we are committed to this and in

november we are celebrating american heritage indian month with special programs on our television channels including kqed and plus and world. many are provided by native american public television which is actually an organization that produces indian producers and countries with partnership with public television and radio, so it's a fantastic organization and they have shared a lot of unique programs with us. two highlights are racing the redses, a rare view into reservation life homeland, native americans in the armed forces. you will get to meet the four local heroes. that's the term we like to use and people in the community that wins a award that is very special and i think it's

important to thank the city of san francisco for hosting this event. -- plawz. thank you. this is really quite a beautiful space and honor to be standing at the base of the stair case and this incredible rotunda and i want to thank the dancers and singers and drummers for sharing their heritage with us and just adds to this special event and be sure to tune in through november. thanks. [applause] >> all right. thank you michael and i would like to call to the stage at this time mr. joaquin torres the director of neighborhood service from the mayor's office. good to see you again. [applause]

>> well, good evening everyone and just to reaffirm on behalf of mayor lee it's a pleasure to have you here tonight in city hall, our humble abode. to all of the musicians and performers and nice to bring life into sometimes these cold walls and we we can. kqud and to all of you for coming out of the studio and brings your presence into here city hall. i know the broadcasting world is happy from the election results last night and we can continue to deliver programming for our communities. [applause] and i know we were inspired by the president's words last night when we talked about the importance of diversity and

here in san we are no stranger to that language when we celebrate all the different communities we have here in san francisco and the filipino and native american community here in san francisco. we continue to build upon our city's long standing history and celebrate diversity and multiculturalism as a part of our lives and here we celebrating the american indian and enriches the great history of our city. these events are special to us and gives us the opportunity to recognize the unsung heroes whose work goes unnoticed and it's an opportunity to share with the larger community and i would like to thank the native american organizing community and the health center, the

health center of santa clara, our office and i would like to make a special note of one of our employees who has been diligent for serving communities in san francisco and lois figueroa and thank you for the work that you do on behalf of the communities and of course you recognize the american aids project. [applause] to borrow from the president's words and our san francisco and our bay area community moves forward because of you. we move forward because of you, and the honorees and your work that rerecognize tonight and recognizes the triumph that left from depression to the greatest heights of hope. the belief that each of us will pursue our

dreams we are a san francisco, a bay area family and we rise or fall together as one nation and one people, and so i would like to invite up to the stage to receive what we present in recognition of this important event lynn hunt, the ceo -- [applause] -- of the indian health center of santa clara county. on behalf of mayor lee and recognizing and honor of the committee we would like to say on resolve on behalf of the mayor and city and county of san francisco we recognize this as national indian month here in san francisco. [applause]

>> smoky bay singers. two starts, napsters. two starts. here we go. (drums and chanting).

>> how about a big round of applause for all our dancers. here we go. indian way. [applause]

napsters, keep it going. make them dance. dancer style. there you go. get it.

the dancers were lead in by larry harrison and will be lead out. ( chanting). >> all right. one more time. how about a big round of applause for all our dancers, for all our singers? [applause] >> all right. it's a great honor to bring to the stage at this time liz hunt on behalf of the american indian health center santa clara valley. [applause]

>> thank you earl and thank you everybody. it's an honor to be here. i am liz hunt and we have been honored to serve the american indian community in the south bay for over 35 years. it is my pleasure to introduce our first honoree. izatzi hernandez. [applause] she is the program prevention substance abuse coordinator at the health center. she is a mother of two and she is pursuing a bachelor's degree in psychology. she serves as a board member for the american indian alliance of santa clara county and actively engaged with san jose

inter community and works with healthy styles and life choices and has been chaired san jose power wow and held in year. each her they hold a sporting event to bring natives together to promote wellness. she believes in these events lie the developing in youth the sense of self worth and resiliency necessary for them to succeed. she prides herself in the design and implementation of an art curriculum that includes, but not limited to bead work, dancing and sewing and a firm believer in these traditions and intrinsic values instill solidity and pride in being

responsible individuals in a contemporary landscape. in addition her years of dance experience has lead her to be a respected and decorated and sought after resource for many bay area presentations. she regularly has theater performances and in leading discussions and after hour mentorship activities. she is a member of the ingenuity project developing a documentary about native american social issues. she founded a area of bay area artists and honor those who have given the permission to share these traditions and does so through her work and involvement and let's now watch a video. >> i am anacita hernandez and i

work with this program. there are great things about dang and on the surface it feels good. and brings a sense of pride and for myself and for other people. it's an honor to dance in the arena and wear the regalia. when things happen, when we face those obstacles or hit those speed bumps we will have something to look at. we will something to fall back on. this is where i am and i have my daughter and making her proud of me, you know, doesn't happen everyday but it feels really good, and when i was able to share that information with her, and have her blessing and her

proud of me -- [inaudible] but to give back and that kind of thing [inaudible]. all the different groups and teams and all the people that i am able to share like my life with and be a part of their life i just really -- very fortunate. >> and let's welcome her to the stage. [applause]

>> so i want to present this award on behalf of kqmd and the native american community to this amazing young woman and does so many important things and does wonderful things for for our community. thank you anacita. [applause] >> thank you. pepperoni, crackers -- oh wait, this is my grocery list. i was really trying not to be emotional, but all the work they do and all the time that i spend, and it really is just me being a mother, and

i'm very fortunate to have my family, to have all my friends, and the greet teams that i work with. i am really fortunate to have them in my life and without them, without having support i wouldn't have been able to do a lot of the things i have been able to do, and also to be surrounded by dreamers because you know to have that inspiration, to see them, to see other people dream and dream big it really inspires me and i always feel that i'm not doing enough because i am surrounded by these amazing people. and -- i'm happy to see my family

here. because you are my family. i'm so far away from home. my family -- they live in arizona, and today i have my son with me and this is chanto and he is representative. i get to have home with me everyday. i love my children and my grandmother -- one of the really important lessons that i learned and i carry with me a lot is when my daughter was born she was only a few months old, and we were with my grandma, and she was helping me take care of her one day, and my baby brother was about four

or five, and the living room was just full of toys. every room had some toy in it, and my grandmother she was carrying my daughter lily anna and we were coming into the room at the same time and as she came through the door she tripped over a toy and i was so scared because my daughter was only a few months old but boy did she know how to fall. she just rolld and my daughter -- she was still fully intact. she didn't hit the ground. she wasn't even crying. i was so amazed by the way she was able to roll and fall, and so as an adult thinking back on a lot of my memories and remembering like the different

lessons that people have brought to me. i remember my grandmother -- she knew how to fall but she knew how to fall, and so when i come to those points in my life where i feel like i'm falling i just know that we know how to do that. we know how to roll and we know how to roll and when we work hard we know how to work hard and do it with some style, so i am really fortunate to have just a great family and i am really honored. thank you. [applause]

>> is this somebody's purse up here? i know it's not mine. i went through it. there is no money in it now. it's nice when they leave gifts up here for me. with great pleasure i would like to introduce michael dur ran. michael dur ran come on up, a good friend, colleague. [applause] >> good evening. i would like to thank everybody for being here today. i can't hear myself. my name is michael dur an and the counseling director

at the health center in san jose california. i am here to speak on behalf of gwen spriar and the american indian alliance. it was created in the 90's to provide voice to the community in santa clara valley and started by laverne robert and provides two annual powwows and numerous fundraisers. gwen has been part of the alliance for about 15 years now. gwen is a elder and retired from the american indian district titles four, seven and nine of the indian education act. she has moved beyond the limits of her duties for the families in her district. she spends time volunteers for all community functions that the alliance puts on. the families that she

serves remember her fondly and all that she did for them. she offered her talents to powwows, food booths, graduations and dinners and let's watch a video on gwen stirrer. >> i am [inaudible] known as the keepers of the western door. they're on the western side of new york and they're the biggest of the tribes. i'm the one -- i'm the one that creeks that runs through our reservation now. indian community -- there was nothing in the beginning. for 20 years that i work in the school district helping the children understand that their heritage was important, and important to be