http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/local/105054.php

1st student-produced Native American journal in Arizona debuts
Produced by Indian, non-Indian UA students in their free time

RENÉE SCHAFER HORTON
Published: 12.13.2008

A member of the University of Arizona Homecoming Court. A nationally
recognized barrel racer. An assistant professor determined to resurrect a
language.

These are the faces of the Native Americans in the first independent,
student-produced Native American journal in Arizona.

The young Navajo behind it is a journalist on a mission to help fellow
Native Americans connect with their culture and examine their identities.

Candace Begody, a UA journalism senior, founded a student chapter of the
Native American Journalists Association last year with the goal of
producing a news journal focused on Native voices and issues.

The first issue of Native Perspectives came out Wednesday, and about 50
people helped Begody celebrate the landmark.

Begody said she wanted to produce the 12-page tab-sized news journal
because she didn't think the mainstream media did a good job of covering
Native American life.

Also, she wanted to support Native American UA students and offer them an
avenue to discuss identity.

"People who come off the reservation get so homesick," she said. "They may
not have thought their culture was very important when they were there, but
when they get here, they realize how important it is to hold on to who you
are."

Begody said Native Perspectives is unique among other Native American
student publications because it was produced by students in their free time
with no class associated with it.

Fourteen students representing seven Native American tribes joined eight
non-Native American international students in producing the journal.

Begody found her staff through a call for authors on various university
listservs. Response was slow in the beginning, but things started to pick
up toward the end of the spring semester.

"At first it didn't seem like we would have enough articles, which is why
we decided to go with 12 pages," she said. "But then we ended up having so
much content that stories had to be cut, which was upsetting."

Because only a handful of the staff are journalism students, Begody has had
to give mini-tutorials on everything from journalism ethics to newspaper
style, as well as provide story ideas and editorial direction.

The Navajo Times in Window Rock printed the journal free and delivered it
to UA on Wednesday morning. Begody has been a freelance writer for the
Times for two years.

She was also an intern at the Tucson Citizen in 2007.

Begody hopes readers find Native Perspectives enlightening.

"When people think of a Native person trying to make a difference, they
often associate it with the term 'militant' or even 'radical,' " she said.
"But when you see these people we write about, you see them making a
difference in other ways. I hope readers will read this and see that Native
Americans don't all live in tepees and they aren't all alcoholics. They're
into sports, they're into their careers, they're into their language, their
culture, their homes and families."

The second issue of Native Perspectives will be published in late spring.