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Rudy Dawahoya Jr., a student at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona, recently entered an art contest for the first time in his life- long career as an artist. He won first prize with a work he calls "Filled Life", which will soon be visible across the nation."It has uplifted me," Dawahoya says of the accomplishment.

"It has been more encouraging for me to want to finish [my education]."

The contest was sponsored by the Kendall Hunt Publishing Company and overseen by Dr. Marsha Fralick. Having won, "Filled Life" will be featured on the front cover of the Native American College and Career Success textbook next semester, which is used at colleges and universities across the United States and in Canada. Dr. Fralick is a coauthor of the book along with Bea Zamora of Southwestern College in Chula Vista, California and Larry Guathier from the First Nations University in Regina, Canada.

According to the website www.collegesuccess1.com, the book is intended to promote success among Native American college students based on the idea that, "students are more likely to be successful if they approach learning with . . . a sense of belonging to their family and tribe and an understanding of their culture and history." Dawahoya's work "Filled Life" embodies this sense of family, tribe and culture.

He is an enrolled member of the Gila River Indian Community but Dawahoya comes from a mixed background of O'odham and Hopi heritages. He spent part of his childhood growing up in Blackwater, District 1, and at other times lived near the Mesas in Hopi land.

With such a diversity of heritages, Dawahoya says that his family and his culture - continually learning about his identity as an indigenous person - are what drive him as an artist.

The drawing itself (it was rendered in colored pencil and pen) is based on a short poem that Dawahoya wrote in a previous course. It is also called "Filled Life" and it goes like this: "So much depends upon seasons of black monsoons pouring down gray raindrops on brown mesa landscapes.

"When it came to drawing, he began with the central figure of the work, the Katchina Snow Mother, called "Nuvaktsinmana". He worked outwards from there spending approximately 15 hours on the piece. The work shows the Snow Mother in the sky surrounded by traditional O'odham and Hopi basketry with a storm and mesas below. "One thing I love the most is thunder storms," he said while reflecting on the work. Both the poem and the drawing are extracted from Dawahoya's perspective on his Hopi homeland - the rain, the mesas, the colors, the weather; that is what he considers a "filled life."

Dawahoya has been an artist since he was in the 3rd grade. He recounts a memory of his elementary school art teacher in Coolidge, Arizona: "She gave me a canvas one time and said, ‘draw whatever you want but make sure it's from your heart.' Being that I'm half Hopi and half O'odham, I drew something Hopi from my memory." Today he paints, draws and even practices traditional Hopi belt weaving.

Dawahoya, who has faced his share of adversity, including a crippling car accident less than a year ago, continues to strive for every goal that he sets for himself, his mother said in a letter. And he has met each challenge with verve. He has pursued his artistic ambitions as a student at both the American Indian Art Institute in Santa Fe, New Mexico and now at NAU.

Yet, he remains humble. "I have a lot to be thankful for," he said in reference to his tribal scholarship. He thanks Patty Isk, Student Advisor with the Student Services Department, for working with him and for guiding him through the process. Furthermore, he says he could not have pursued his artistic aspirations were it not for the loving encouragement of his mother and his grandfather.

In addition to his family, Dawahoya receives a lot of encouragement from his tribal communities. As an adolescent, he was on the O'odham/Peeposh Youth Council and knew Gov. Mendozainthatcapacity.Today, he says it is very motivating to hear words of encouragement from Governor via his mother, who tells him when she has received a phone call from him. "It means a lot to us [students] when we're not close to home," he says, "to feel that support from our community members and leaders".

Currently, Dawahoya is studying under the NAU School of Arts & Letters seeking a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with a focus in Studio Arts: Painting. He says, "I'm really happy where Iam,"andforhisnextproject,he looks forward to his senior gallery presentation a year from now.