Introduction of "Yah-Schay!"

What is a Rez Dog? How does the spirit of a Rez Dog inspire us as Native People? In this inaugural episode, meet "Yah-Schay", (Mike Garcia)  and hear his story about how the life on the reservation, inspires him as a storyteller and pod-caster.  Life of a Dog on the Rez, is a place for funny, cringe-worthy and inspirational stories from the rez, that uplift the soul, provide us hope, and heal our spirits.

Transcript

Welcome to the life of a dog and the Rez podcast.  I'm your host, Mike Garcia. "Indian Introduction" I come from the Pueblo of Santa Ana, also known as Tamaya in our Keres language. We are one of 19 Pueblo nations within the state of New Mexico.  I am Fox clan, and my Indian name is Yah-Schay which means early morning. I was raised in the Pueblo of Santa Ana, I attended school in Bernalillo and graduated from college with a degree in photography.  I spent three years in Denver, and I loved every minute of it.  I returned home and worked as a freelance photographer and at a custom photo lab. Although I enjoyed the work. I really felt that this was not my true calling. 

After working at the photo lab for a while. I quit because the owner's wife and I didn't get along. I was unemployed for a few months but found joy in being home with my grandpa and grandma, every day, eating tuna fish sandwiches. One of my aunts did part-time work at a flower shop during Valentine’s Day. She told the owner that I could deliver flowers, so I showed up on February 13th, 1990, to start what would be a 10-year stint as a florist.  I delivered flowers and hated every minute of it.  Calling people on a payphone, using a paper map, and had to rely on the old Indian trick of putting an ear to the ground for directions.   I quit after three days, but my aunt scolded me.  She told me, I promised that I would help my friend to the best of my ability, and I expect you to do the same, think about that. I went back to work the next day. That same weekend, the high school had a dance, and the flower shop had a huge number of corsages to make. My boss showed me the basics and soon I was zipping through the orders. I became a quick study and I learned how to design flowers.  I did wedding flowers, funeral flowers, get well soon flowers, flowers for people in love, all kinds of flowers. She eventually had the confidence in me to let you run the flower shop a few days a week.  I enjoy my time as a florist, but it ruined me to giving flowers, so if you were one of those girls that want it flowers, sorry. 

 Sadly, the shop closed and I found work delivering flowers at a wholesaler. It was an okay job but it was totally temporary.  worked for a guy that looked and acted like George Costanza from Seinfeld. He would get so worked up and say, “you're going to give me an aneurism!” I don’t doubt that he did have an aneurysm. I got a job with our education department, and after 12 years as the educational, recreational coordinator, I became the Keres language teacher for Bernalillo Elementary School. I finally found my calling.  I love my job, teaching the language, culture, and traditions of Tamaya. I always want it to be a storyteller, like our ancestors to retell the stories of our people. With this podcast, I hope to bring the spirit of storytelling, in a funny and inspirational way, with a dash of cringe-worthiness, just to keep things interesting. The title, Life of a Dog on the Rez came from one of my friends that was our delivery driver at the flower shop.  Our boss would sometimes give us a lift home. There was a dog that got hit on the side of the road. It looked injured and the boss was so shocked to see that, she said, poor dog. Should we pick it up and take it to the vet, or feed it, or something? My friend looked at her and said, matter of fact-Ly. That's just the life of a dog on the Rez. That statement always resonated with me, and I knew that would be a perfect title for this podcast. People familiar with dogs from the Rez have their opinions of what a Rez dog is.  This show is not about the dog itself, but the spirit that they embody. Rez dogs survive, thrive and are integral part of our native culture. Our Pueblo people have always used stories to learn life's lessons to show that there's always hope when things seem hopeless, there's happiness when life becomes difficult, and that we have the strength to overcome adversity and continue our beautiful way of life. If you're looking for funny, cringe-worthy and inspirational stories from the Rez, well then, you've come to the right place.

I hope that you find this podcast worth subscribing to. Please spread the word to your fellow rez dogs, family, and friends. If you have a funny, cringe-worthy, or inspirational story you would like to share with the people, please shoot me an email at lifedogrez@gmail.com. Now, let the healing begin.