New Experiences in YIG from the Menominee Nation Tribe

By: Vanessa Madosh 

Today, Saturday March 7th, I interviewed three people; LaRaine RedKettle, Kayleigh Cloud, and Gabby Beaupery, all of whom are from the same delegation as me. We are all from the Menominee delegation, and we all represent Menominee Nation tribe. LaRaine and Kayleigh are sophomores in the Legislative Branch and Gabby is a freshman in Media.

The first person I interviewed was Gabby Beaupery, who likes the way YIG is going so far.  Her thoughts on being in Madison are good; she likes being in the Capital and being in Media “it’s something new to try” she says. She didn’t expect that it would be this fun, and she can’t wait for tomorrow. One downside to Gabby, is that she is a very quiet person and she keeps to herself, but now that the first day is over, she’s not so nervous and feels comfortable to start talking to others.

The second person I interviewed is Kayleigh Cloud, who is in the Legislative branch. Her bill is about having clean drinking water for the schools around Wisconsin. She is very passionate about her bill and really connects to her. Kayleigh’s thoughts about YIG so far: “it’s a new thing for me and I’m really liking it so far” she likes how her opinion matters in a way, and her favorite thing so far is being with her friends and how close it’s really bringing them together.

The final person I interviewed was LaRaine, who is in Legislative branch. LaRaine uses her voice to advocate for native people. Her favorite bill so far is an act to increase Indigenous cultural respect and education. “Coming from an Indigenous person, I think this is an important thing to recognize because not much is talked about or even shown about other native tribes, all that is shown is Navajo and Sioux tribes. I want to be the voice for the other tribes, even my own. Being my tribe’s “Ms Menominee” means so much to me and participating in Legislative means that I can go and be open minded and be open to listening to other people.” Hearing what LaRaine had to say, I felt very connected to how she was feeling and her emotions towards Indigenous representation. 

Experiencing new things can be scary, but coming in open minded and willing to listen to what others have to say is so important. This being my first year in YIG, I feel that I’m doing something that is important and that is going to get heard. But so far, I’ve made so many new memories that I will remember for the rest of my life.