Greetings everyone! My name is Ashley Pino and I come from the Pueblo of Acoma, NM. My mother is Paulette Pino and I have one little-big brother named Nicholas. Acoma is about 60 miles west of Albuquerque and my people have lived there for thousands of years. Our people continue to live on top of a 370ft mesa with no electricity or running water. This is all by choice because my people want to stay as close to our traditions and continuing to live the way our ancestors did. But don’t get me wrong, we also have contemporary villages below the mesa where our people live in contemporary housing with electricity and running water. If you are ever in NM please come visit Acoma on September 2nd during our annual feast day when we welcome everyone up to Acoma to see our dances, hear our songs and we invite you to eat in our homes.
I graduated from the Santa Fe Indian School in 2007 and went on to pursue my bachelors in Sociology and Native American Studies. Since graduating I’ve been working for a national non-profit called Playworks where I actively worked with k-8th grade students and teachers to create a fun, safe and inclusive school environment through the power of play. I am currently in transition to graduate school where I hope to obtain my masters in Public Health with an emphasis in community health education. This summer I am interning with the Notah Begay III Foundation in the Pueblo of Santa Ana, NM whose mission is to educate and prevent obesity and type II diabetes. I am looking forward to this internship because I have the opportunity to actively work with the local Native youth to help them learn to live healthy lifestyles through physical activity and nutrition. Through this program I am looking to gain more experience in working with our youth and learning interactive ways to engage and teach our youth about making positive decisions, staying physically active and living healthy lifestyles. Let the fun begin!
