Friends and colleagues of ITEP's co-founder and former director, Virgil Masayesva, gathered in Las Vegas, Nevada, on March 22 to pay tribute to Virgil's legacy by renaming a significant tribal resource at the Tribal Air Monitoring Support (TAMS) Center in his honor. The TAMS Learning Center will now be known as the Virgil Masayesva Environmental Learning Center. Virgil served as ITEP's director from its inception in 1992 until his passing in 2005. He was a graduate of the University of Arizona and Arizona State University, and was a tireless advocate for the tribes and their efforts to develop sovereign environmental programs.
Several members of Virgil's family attended the ceremony, including his son, Dr. Brett Masayesva, who noted: "My memories of my dad were things like him laying on the couch watching Sunday football. Who would have thought that he was the visionary that we've since found out that he was."
Brett pointed out that naming the Learning Center for his father was especially fitting because Virgil always stressed the importance of education, a value that his son said extends back a generation to Virgil's parents. Virgil's father, Victor Masayesva Sr. was on hand for the event. Mr. Masayesva's wife and Virgil's mother, Zetta, passed away at her home in the Hopi village of Hotevilla just a week before the ceremony.
Tribal, EPA and other guests traveled from around the U.S. for the event, which was hosted by Jed Harrison, Director of EPA's Radiation and Indoor Environments National Laboratory, a co-manager with ITEP of the TAMS Center.
Remembering Virgil and honoring him as a friend and for his significant contributions to the advancement of Native American environmental management were a series of speakers, including Bill Auberle, ITEP co-founder with Virgil and distinguished environmental engineer; Mehrdad Khatibi, ITEP's acting director; Greg Green of U.S. EPA; David Comacho, representing Northern Arizona University president John Haeger; Laurence Gishey, director of NAU's Institute for Native Americans; and Matt Haber and Elizabeth Cotsworth of U.S. EPA.
ITEP staff member Christy Nations painted a wonderful portrait of Virgil that was unveiled at the ceremony and now hangs on the Center's wall along with a plaque on which are engraved Virgil's words: "Perhaps by doing our one small part, we become part of an entire nation of people tending to their small circle of life, and in so doing we join in the most effective kind of collective, taking the local, individual actions that, together, help to improve the lives of all people."
The celebration concluded with songs performed by a Native drum group whose members included Gary Elthie of ITEP (Diné), Leander Elthie (Diné,), Herbert McCabe (Diné), and Laurence Miguel (Cree).
The Virgil Masayesva Environmental Learning Center is a state-of-the-art multimedia facility equipped with portable computer stations, modern presentation technology, and classroom space for training Native environmental professionals in air monitoring and other air quality management technologies. It is a resource, primarily for Native environmental professionals, that meets the technical and logistical needs of tribes and also provides a Native theme in keeping with its primary constituency.
ITEP's TAMS Center is co-managed by U.S. EPA and offers tribal environmental professionals support in the form of classroom training, personal and onsite technical support, and a variety of informational resources. Visit the TAMS Center website via TAMS's home page at www4.nau.edu/tams/.
Close This Window
|
