The following story is reprinted from the Baker City Herald.
By Mike Ferguson
Nixyaawii Community School, a four-year-old charter school on the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Mission with 58 students, was named for a nearby spring.
So it's no wonder that so much hope springs from the mouths of the school's fans, players and coaches — hope that wasn't diminished by Wednesday's 62-50 loss to top-ranked Joseph in the first round of the Class 1A state basketball championship at Baker High School through Saturday.
This year's appearance at the state championship is the school's first.
"I'm proud of our team. We've got nothing to hang our head over," said Mariah Watchman, a junior who led her team Wednesday with 17 points.
"I think we sent a statement," said her teammate, Cheridy Edgmand, the team's only senior starter. "They'll be back next year."
The Eagles enjoyed support from a large rooting section Wednesday, a group that was in full voice when Nixyaawii pulled to within 9 points of undefeated Joseph with about three minutes remaining.
Watchman's father, Lindsay, a Nixyaawii school board member, had the unenviable task of yelling encouragement while simultaneously explaining the virtues of the school's education model.
While most of the students grew up on the reservation, Nixyaawii is a publicly funded charter school and open to any student. Students come there not only from the Pendleton schools, but from smaller communities including Athena and Pilot Rock.
Courses are taught by infusing the languages and culture from the three tribes of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation — Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla.
So a PE class might involve a hunting trip, and drumming can be a very physical way to learn social studies.
While other teams arrived in Baker City Tuesday — the day before the tournament opened — most Nixyaawii basketball players participated in a ritual sweat ceremony the night before their opening game in a sweat lodge at Lindsey Watchman's uncle's house.
"Most of these kids grew up on the reservation," Watchman explained. "It was their parents' dream to start this school."
Language and customs are integrated into academics, said Modesta Minthorn, a tribal linguist and substitute teacher at Nixyaawii.
"You almost have to learn a new alphabet to speak our languages," she said as she watched Nixyaawii players battle the taller Joseph squad. "The languages have a lot of different sounds" but many differences are almost imperceptible to nonnative speakers.
Still, students must learn one of the three languages if they expect to earn a diploma.
Bobby Van Pelt is one of two students to have completed all four years at Nixyaawii. A basketball player in his own right, Van Pelt will be part of Nixyaawii's first-ever graduating class in May.
"We have clubs just like any other school. We hang out, eat pizza, do stuff and have fun," he said. "What I like about it is we are all friends and we've been able to stay together all these years."
School principal Fjell Ley was on her way to be a principal in Alaska when she learned of the job opening at Nixyaawii last summer.
"This place is special for a lot of reasons," she said from her aisle seat in the BHS bleachers. "We're a charter school, and it's our mission to focus on specific areas of native culture, language, arts and performance. We get a lot of community support and involvement, and the staff and students care about academics."
So much so, she said, that the school remained open while the girls team plays in Baker City. And the cook staff put in extra effort, she said, to pack meals for the players and other students who traveled the 90 miles to the state tournament.
The girls coach, Jeremy Maddern, has brought intensity and a pressure defense in his second year with the team, said athletic director Aaron Noisey.
"The girls play and work well together," he said while standing in the corner of the court watching the girls play. "They've come a long way in a very short time."
Like Lindsey Watchman, Noisey praised the parents of current students, whose dream led the Oregon Department of Education to grant the school's charter four years ago.
"I don't know if these students realize how good they have it here," he said. "But their fans and their parents sure do."
Reporter Mike Ferguson can be reached at 523-3673 or mferguson@bakercityherald.com.
