Keyen Singer or Keke, is an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR), a mentor for the CTUIR Youth Council, the 2023 - 2024 Miss Indigenous UO, Community Relations Co-Director of NASU, and a future environmental lawyer. To celebrate Native American Heritage Month, I interviewed Singer about her many roles and how she is hoping to make a difference through her work.
Tell me about your position as Miss Indigenous UO
“My [main] responsibility as Miss Indigenous UO is supporting Indigenous youth to pursue higher education! I attend powwows with the crown and dance fancy shawl! This promotes the crown but most importantly lets other tribal students know that pursuing higher education and staying connected with our culture is possible and is my own priority. I am also busy this month of November presenting my dancing and some stories to an elementary school and continue organizing events prioritizing Indigenous voices and issues on campus. I really enjoy this position with the crown! Not only am I busy with events that make me happy and are empowering, I get to meet new people and dance along with other tribal members and veterans!”
I hear that you do work advocating for both salmon and Native youth, could you tell me what this entails and where your passion for this advocacy work comes from?
“I am a mentor for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation Youth Council. I lead a project to advocate for protecting and preserving the salmon in our rivers. We have started a petition in 2019, Stand with Native Youth, that advocates to remove the 4 lower Snake River dams. The importance of keeping the salmon alive and thriving is a part of our treaty rights because salmon is a part of our first foods. They are a part of our culture and traditions, protecting the salmon is vital and very important to me. This project is ongoing and I work with many organizations and present this petition and youth council all over. Our last trip was to Washington D.C. to meet with PNW representatives and other departments. I plan to continue this work as it is the reason I also wanted to pursue higher education and hope to see our salmon safe in the future.”
How can people support you with your research and advocacy, as well as the Many Nations Longhouse and NASU? Any upcoming events with these organizations?
“So far signing the petition helps with this current project and spreading the information or supporting our events the NASU and the longhouse organizes. The many Native groups have put together a calendar with all the native events all this month.”
You can further support Keyen Singer and other UO students and alumni by purchasing the Home Flight Blanket. The Home Flight blankets are a collaboration between the UO Alumni Association, the Many Nations Longhouse, and The Duck Store. They were designed by Kale’a Calica-Younker (Coquille/Coos/Warm Springs/Yakama) who is an art student at the University of Oregon, and her father Shirod Younker (Coquille/Miluk Coos/Umpqua).