Preserving the White Mountain Apache Culture

In honor of the Thanksgiving holiday here in the United States, I wanted to interview someone whose people lived here before the country was “discovered.” Someone whose people have creation traditions based on this continent. Someone who works day in and day out to preserve her own culture. Despite colonization.

The White Mountain Apache Tribe lives in the central southeast of Arizona on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation. In this episode, you will meet a member of the White Mountain Apache Tribe who grew up on the reservation and now serves as the Executive Director of the Fort Apache Heritage Foundation. Her name is Krista Beazley.

In this episode, you’ll hear how Krista went from being a wolf biologist and ecotourism guide for the Tribe to being an Executive Director with a small staff, overseeing the restoration of 20+ buildings, and wearing a bunch of different hats at the Foundation.

In addition to hearing about Krista’s journey into nonprofit leadership and the work her organization is doing to preserve White Mountain Apache culture, you’re also going to learn a little more about American history when we discuss the boys’ and girls’ dorms and the culture when Krista shares the traditional foods served at a White Mountain Apache Thanksgiving dinner including things like acorn stew and tennis racquet bread.

I can’t wait for you to meet Krista Beazley, the Executive Director of the Fort Apache Heritage Foundation in Arizona.

🎧 Click here to listen to this episode:

About Krista Beazley

Krista Beazley, is presently the CEO at the Fort Apache Heritage Foundation at Fort Apache, AZ. Previously, I served as the Regional Director for the First Things First-Arizona Early Childhood Development and Health System. Prior to that, I was the Mexican Wolf Biologist (10 years) for the Sensitive Species Program at the Game & Fish Department-White Mountain Apache Tribe. A basketball coach for Blue Ridge Unified School District in Lakeside, AZ, a counselor for the WMAT-Diabetic Wellness Center in Whiteriver, AZ, a wildlife technician for both the WMAT-Game & Fish Dept. and the Rocky Mountain Research Station in Flagstaff, AZ, served as a technician for the WMAT-Watershed Program, and a secretarial assistant for the Tribal Council.

My educational background includes an MBA in Operation Management from American Intercontinental University Illinois, an Introduction to Business coursework from Northland Pioneer College in Whiteriver, AZ, a BA degree in Biology from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, AZ, and her high school diploma from East Fork Lutheran Mission School in Whiteriver. Professional courses include Introduction to GIS for Natural Resource Management, Assertive Communication Skills, Business Ethics, Anger, Conflict, and Confrontation Management, Snowmobile and ATV Training, Certification on the Federal Lacey Act, Eagle Protection Act, and Migratory Bird Treaty Act, Safe Capture Chemical Immobilization of Animals, and Capture and Chemical Immobilization of Wildlife. I’m also certified as a substitute teacher through Arizona State University and scuba-diving certified through Northern Arizona University.

Community service and involvement includes work with the Tribal Plan and Project Review panel, Advisory Board Member (Boys and Girls Club of Whiteriver, the Native Nation Sport Authority, Strategic Economic Development Planning committee WMAT), membership in the Northern Arizona University student Chapter of the Wildlife Society, substitute teacher at Blue Ridge Unified School District, volunteer for the Show Low Youth Basketball League, participant in the Pinetop and Show Low Softball and Volleyball Leagues, organized an Elemental Awareness Skate Crew Demo and Skate Tournament for the boys and girls on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation, a Survival Wilderness Traditional Skills Camp, volunteered with the USFWS at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge with a Mexican wolf capture for releases in Arizona and New Mexico, and was also a volunteer for AZGFD and the Arizona Bighorn Sheep Society on a Water Project Development project.

Krista is a mother of two boys and a girl, and is very involved with her children in the community, especially in the areas of sports, hunting, sport shooting, outdoor recreation, survival skills, and social/artistic skills. She is a talented and gifted person, fluent in English, Apache, and limited Spanish and interested and personally involved in basketball, volleyball, disc golf, softball, fishing, camping, shooting, native arts and crafts, dancing, and rodeo. Krista is an enrolled member of the White Mountain Apache Tribe.