Ceremonial dancer also works for U.S. senator

By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Staff Writer

Matthew Shunkamolah poses Friday for a portrait after the Inter-tribal Indian Ceremonial Parade in Gallup. Shunkamolah, a Gallup resident, recently returned from participating in the Barbara Jordan Health Scholars Program in Washington D.C. this summer. He is a recent graduate of New Mexico State University. [Photo by Jeremy Schneider/Independent]

GALLUP — There is a story behind every drummer, every dancer, and every artist that comes to the Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonial.

Matthew Shunkamolah's story has to be one of the more unusual ones.

Shunkamolah, whose last name comes from the Osage tribe, is one of the young men who dance with the Kiowa dance group each year. He and his three brothers and his father, along with relatives from Oklahoma, make up the dance group that was founded in the 1920s by Bill Koomsa Sr.

But his trip to the Ceremonial took a circuitous turn this summer - he arrived back home in Gallup recently after nine weeks of working in the Washington D.C. office of Senator Jeff Bingaman.

Shunkamolah, a 1999 graduate of Rehoboth Christian High School and a December 2004 graduate of New Mexico State University, was one of 15 students selected nationally to participate in the Barbara Jordan Health Scholars Program in Washington D.C.

The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation established the program to honor the legacy of the former congresswoman and to encourage minority students to pursue careers in the field of health policy.

About 500 college seniors and recent graduates applied for the program, and Shunkamolah was one of four Native American students selected.

According to Shunkamolah, the other three students were Aaron Begaye, who is Navajo and Apache, Candice Donald, a member of the Navajo tribe, and Ta-shina Williams, a Mississippi Choctaw. Shunkamolah is Navajo and Tohono O'odham on his mother's side and Osage and Kiowa on his father's side

While earning his bachelor's degree in government from NMSU, Shunkamolah had been active in several Native American student groups and had served as the president of the United Native American Organization.

He was also one of three Native American students selected to participate in a cultural exchange program with indigenous people of the Khanty-Mansiysk region in Siberia.

According to Shunkamolah, the native people of the region are very similar to Native Americans.

They share a lot of the "disparities and problems that Native Americans have here," he said, particularly in terms of their relationship with the Russian government and receiving educational programs, economic development, and health care for their communities.

Students in the Barbara Jordan Health Scholars Program are assigned to work in congressional offices to learn about health policy issues and federal legislative procedures.

Shunkamolah was assigned to Senator Jeff Bingaman's office. Shunkamolah said he answered the phones and the mail, ran errands, assisted one of Bingaman's legislative assistants, and toured many government offices. In the process, he said, he learned how federal health policies are developed, and he gained particular insight into the Indian Health Service.

Shunkamolah had high praise for Bingaman and the program. However, he did not have positive things to say about many of the policy makers in Washington, D.C., particularly those who develop policies for Native American healthcare programs. Many of them, he believes, don't care how their policies affect Native American people.

"Our voice is never heard," he said, "our voice is never considered."

His experience in Washington D.C. has deepened Shunkamolah's interest in the field of Native American health policy. Now that he is back home, he's taking a break from school and looking for a job that will give him work experience.

But in a year or two, Shunkamolah would like to begin law school. His goal, he said, is to work as an attorney in the health policy field.

Shunkamolah credits his parents, Cleora and Joe, for their influence on his life. His mother is a family practice physician at the Gallup Indian Medical Center, and his father, who describes himself as a Native American activist from the 1970s, commutes to Albuquerque where he teaches history for Wayland Baptist University.

"They've always taught me to stand up for what you believe in and never forget where you come from," he said.

— Reporter Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola can be contacted at (505) 863-6811 ext. 218 or ehardinburrola@yahoo.com.