Granger’s Native Nations club has collected all of Utah’s tribal flags, and this means a lot for the club. It is the first school in Utah to have all the tribal flags. These tribes are the Confederate Tribes of Goshute, Navajo Nation, Northwestern Band of Shoshone Nation, Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, San Juan Southern Paiute, Skull Valley Band of Goshute, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, and the Ute Indian Tribe.

The United States is home to 574 tribes, and Utah is home to eight. All of these tribal flags are now part of Granger’s school collection, alongside other cultural flags in the Commons. The Native Nations club has been waiting for years to collect all the tribal flags. Now that this goal is complete, they have a great sense of the future. With these flags, Native Nations can represent their tribes and other tribal communities.

When the Native Nations club hosts events for their communities, they can hang flags to show others that Granger represents all Native peoples in Utah, not just as a club, but now as a school. Although these flags might just seem like flags, they mean more than that to the community of natives. The native community is small and is losing its culture and language, so this is a step in the right direction.

The Native Nations members feel good about these flags; it’s a new upgrade for them. “It represents our community and where I come from. It lets people know who we are,” Joslina Duran (9) said.

Some native kids are embarrassed to say they are native, because they don’t know anything about where they come from and what their culture is. As the native community recognizes this heartbreaking truth, they are trying to be heard more so that their culture does not get forgotten. Mario Platero, the club advisor, is excited to display the cultural flags alongside other flags from around the world in the Commons.

He says it’s important for students and facilities to be recognized and for our local tribes in Utah to be highlighted. He is excited to be the first high school to hang all the tribal flags of Utah. He sees that the younger generation, who are members of our state tribes, will feel included, seen, and respected. He’s glad each tribe has a flag to represent who they are.

“The flags are a great way to recognize the tribes; it is part of their identity. The flags are a powerful image of their culture and a symbol of their sovereignty, ” Platero said. Sovereignty means an independent group of people who voice their opinions and want to be heard. Flags are a great way to embrace sovereignty. Something he wants to do for the club is to help native students be recognized and seen around the school.

Flags provide a powerful identity for all native tribes. “For years, the Native Nations club has been working on this project, using club money to save up to get these flags for the club and school, finally,” Platero said.