Gila River hosts Mobile App Contest to Community Members
SACATON - Youth Council Coordinator, Michael Preston presented a challenge for Gila River youth to create a smart phone applications revolving around culture and community.
The criteria for the challenge includes: Original content must be created and designed by a Community member under 22 years old, incorporates O'odham or Pee-Posh songs, culture, stories, language, history or teachings. For creating the app the youth would receive an iPad.
"Young people interact with technology and I see they're always on their cell phones. Everyone wants an iPad and they mess around on their computer. They consume the content everyday. I want them to look at creating their own content," said Preston.
The reason for the challenge is to get youth interested in technological development and for them to use the resources within the Community, according to Preston.
"Also, it will get these young people to see that you don't need to work in those fields to create content," said Preston.
Android owner and GRIC youth explains what smart phone apps are used for.
"Certain applications allow you to get on to certain stuff, like music, games, New Year's applications, or check the weather," said Craig Antone.
Antone said he knows general knowledge about technology, but computers are a different story.
"If I put my time into it, I could," said Antone when asked if he would be able to create an Droid application.
Time and an idea is what it would take to make an application for the Android Market and Apple App Store according to Mike Mercado, IT Security Manager for MIS.
Mercado developed an application for the Droid and showcased the gourd music maker to the 23rd Youth Conference.
"I did a little bit of research and found that Google had an application engine that allows you to develop applications for the Android smart phone," said Mercado.
Mercado explained the methodology and idea process in making the app and putting the pieces together through the search engine.
"It was a culmination of ideas, putting together the sound the picture and understanding the logistics of the phone," said Mercado.
"It's very simple. You would think programming language would be very tedious. Understanding functions and processes and how they work in conjunction with each other, but with the Google App engine everything is labeled for you."
He sees technological advances and benefits for youth in the Community. Understanding mobile assets, how to utilize them, Mercado says will allow us to see the technology transition over the next few years.
Mercado believes that ‘dinosaur phones' will be phased out and eventually everyone will have a smart phone sooner or later.
Dallas Delowe, Cultural Coordinator for the Tribal Education Department, jokingly said all he knows about phones is that if he presses a button he can talk to someone or get something called a text message, but not too much about applications for smart phones.
Other than that, Delowe says he has does not have a problem with sharing songs or even legends as long as factual.
"I have no qualms with sharing, but just what is it? What would I be not comfortable sharing or giving the extreme not wanting to share....? I can't think of anything right now," said Delowe.
This is something that O'otham communities been asked when individuals want to put together a multimedia language program or written language. Would it be here or spread throughout the world?
Robert Cruze, Four Tribes Cultural Resources Protection Committee, wants to get orthography from the different communities: Ak Chin, Gila River, Tohono, and Salt River to digitize the information from an online interview with tohonocom on youtube.com.
"We were talking about keeping it here in the schools, but they were thinking about cyberspace," said Benny Thomas.
The big question for everyone is what can and cannot be shared. Preston said to ask people in the Community what can and cannot be shared.
According to Delowe he says culture should be shared with everyone because it has not been defined with specifics what can and cannot be told.
As reported recently in the Navajo Times, an application has been developed for the Navajo language, Speak Navajo Native Indian Language, and is both criticized and heralded, receiving remarks from app users like, "interesting, but fail." And "Some of the translations are incorrect."
These are the challenges we face when covering something as intricate and personal with making a native language app for the Community.
If you have any questions or comments for the Digital Youth Challenge, please contact the youth council office at (520)562-1866 or
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