Vanessa Yava is Hopi, Navajo and Tewa on her father’s side, and her Native roots have always been a big part of her identity. Because of her father’s alcoholism, her parents divorced and Yava was raised by her mother. Yet her Native culture, tribal involvement and Indian education were a constant.

She has been active in the Bay Area Native community for years. Prior to her current position teaching science to 7th graders (and previously math and art), Yava was the coordinator for the Native American Studies Program for Fremont Unified School District and worked with Native children to improve their academic skills, with an emphasis on Native culture and identity.

Now, Yava infuses science with Native studies and helps make updated Native resources, including historically accurate curriculum, videos and land acknowledgments, accessible to her peers. She tries to imbue her culture in her teaching, so students understand there are different viewpoints. “In science, they’ll say that things are living and non-living. I’ll follow the curriculum, but I’ll add that ‘in our culture, there are not things that are dead and alive. Everything has a spirit, everything is sacred.’”

She creates Native videos for her students and peers and works on a Native curriculum task force. A participant in CTA’s 2022-23 Ethnic Minority Early Identification Development (EMEID) program, she is also a certified California naturalist and strong LGBTQ+ advocate.

Yava is also an artist whose Native-themed work has been exhibited at local museums and whose murals grace several public buildings. She believes in giving back to her students and community by sharing her passion for education, the sciences, the environment and Native history by sharing herself and her art.

Watch Vanessa Yava’s short video here. Read about the other Human Rights Award winners here.