Hard choice to make: stay or go?

"I want to be the first in my family to go into nursing. I want to be the first in my family to go to college," she said.

Yazzie, who serves as student body president, wants to go to college far away from home at Georgia State University. Not that she wants to distance herself from the tribe, but she sees no career opportunities in Monument Valley.

For the past couple of summers she has gone to Phoenix to work because there's "practically nothing" near home.

Michelle Yazzie, a Monument Valley High junior, sees college in her future. She wants to be a dentist. But she doesn't see herself working on the reservation because "they make more money out there."

Like her classmate, Michelle Yazzie, 16, wants to move away someday, though not too far away. Her mother's side of the family holds to traditional Navajo ceremonies, dances and language. She speaks a little Navajo but says she really hasn't figured out the role her heritage will play in her life.

"I'm not really sure how important it is, but I do attend (a traditional event) if it is for my family," she said.

Michelle Yazzie and Chasitty Yazzie would be the first members of their families to attend college. They realize they have a difficult road ahead, and the odds are against them.

"It isn't going to be easy," Michelle Yazzie said. "It's going to be tough for a while because my mom says life is tough."

Nino Reyos knows about tough. He struggled in school and battled drug and alcohol addiction in his younger days.

After a stint in the Marines, he decided to sober up and go to college. He doesn't really know why. "I just felt like I wanted to try it," he said.

Starting with remedial classes, Reyos, 46, stuck with it for six years, earning a bachelor's degree in sociology and master's in social work from the University of Utah. The youngest of 11 children growing up on the Ute reservation in eastern Utah, he is the only one in his family with a college education.

Reyos, who works at a Salt Lake methadone clinic, never has returned to the reservation to live, but 13 years ago he went back in spirit to embrace his culture. He received a flute as part of his initiation as tribal dancer. He taught himself to play and has recorded three CDs. He recently was named a Grammy voter. He is in demand as a teacher of American Indian crafts, dance and music.

"It's my calling," he said.

Living on or off the reservation, he said, comes down to choice. Some tribal members are comfortable with the lifestyle and stay because that is where their roots are. Others leave because opportunities are limited. But Reyos said it's important to "not forget their identity and Indianness."

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E-mail: romboy@desnews.com