Patty Talahongva facts for kids

Patty Talahongva, whose Hopi name is Qotsak-ookyangw Mana, was born in 1962. She is a Hopi journalist, a person who reports and writes news. She also produces documentaries and works as a news executive. Patty Talahongva made history as the first Native American anchor for a national news show in the United States. She is very involved in helping Native American young people and communities.

She used to be the president of the Native American Journalists Association. In 2016, she received a special award from them called the Medill Milestone Achievement Award. In 2019, she started working as a news executive for a national TV news program. This program was created by Indian Country Today at Arizona State University.

Early Life and Education

Growing Up in Two Worlds

Patricia A. Talahongva was born in 1962 in Denver, Colorado. Her Hopi name, Qotsak-ookyangw Mana, means "white spider girl." Even though her official records say she is fully Hopi, she also has Tewa family roots.

Her parents had moved from the Hopi Reservation in Arizona. This was part of a government program that encouraged Native Americans to move to cities. When Patty was four, her parents and sister moved back to their village, Songoopavi, in Second Mesa, Arizona. They wanted their daughters to stay connected to their cultural heritage.

Patty's childhood was unique because her parents wanted their six children to be part of their native culture and religion. However, they also wanted to protect them from difficulties they had faced. So, Patty grew up with both Catholic and Hopi traditions. She learned English as a child, not the Hopi language.

School Days

Patty went to public schools away from the reservation. After her father passed away, her mother went back to school. She earned a master's degree and became an English teacher. Because her mother was very busy, Patty and one of her sisters went to a Native American residential school in Phoenix.

She attended the Phoenix Indian School from 1978 to 1979. Then, in 1979, she moved to Flagstaff High School and graduated in 1980. She continued her education at Northern Arizona University. Later, she transferred to the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.

Patty Talahongva's Career in Journalism

Starting in News

While Patty was at the Phoenix boarding school, she began working as a young reporter for the Phoenix Gazette newspaper. She also started working at KOAI-TV station in Flagstaff. Even though she was a teenager, rules required the station to have a representative from the Navajo or Hopi people. This was because the station broadcast to their reservations.

She reported on the 1980 United States presidential election and became interested in politics. She also covered big world events like the Iran hostage crisis. While in college, she worked at the Phoenix Zoo helping with public relations. In 1986, she became a public relations manager for Chanen Shocket Communications.

Breaking Barriers in National News

In 2002, Patty Talahongva became the first Native American anchor for a national news company called Village America. That same year, she was chosen as president of the Native American Journalists Association. She was re-elected for a second term the next year.

By 2005, she was the host and managing editor of a national radio show called Native America Calling. This show was based at the University of New Mexico. She also worked as a managing editor for National Native News. In 2005, she worked with filmmaker Dustinn Craig to create public service announcements. They did this through workshops that taught Native youth about broadcasting. In 2006, she was recognized for her work promoting diversity in media.

Independent Journalism and Documentaries

Patty Talahongva started her own company, White Spider Communications. She worked as an independent journalist, writing news stories and articles for magazines like Native Peoples. She also began producing documentaries.

She has covered many important national news stories. These include major events in Los Angeles in 1992 and the 1993 hantavirus outbreak. She broke the hantavirus story for KTVK in Phoenix a week before it became national news. She also covered the 2003 renaming of Piestewa Peak to honor Hopi soldier Lori Piestewa. In 2004, she reported on the opening of the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian. She also covered the 2013 Yarnell Hill Fire, a tragic event where many firefighters lost their lives.

Patty has interviewed many famous people, including Notah Begay III, Anquan Boldin, Hillary Clinton, Wilma Mankiller, and Willie Nelson.

Preserving History and Future Roles

In 2013, Patty Talahongva became the curator of the Phoenix Indian School Visitor Center. This center opened after the boarding school closed. Its goal is to highlight the importance of culture and keep the school's history alive. This includes the time when Native culture was not allowed.

In 2016, the Native American Journalists Association honored her with the NAJA-Medill Milestone Achievement Award. This award recognized her lifelong contributions to journalism. She also advised the Heard Museum and helped curate an exhibit called "Away From Home: American Indian Boarding School Stories" in 2019. That same year, Indian Country Today started a national news broadcast station. They chose Patty Talahongva to be the executive producer for their news broadcasts.

Besides her journalism work, Patty Talahongva has served on the boards of the Center for Native American Youth and the Hopi Education Endowment Fund. She has led many projects for students. She also served on the board of directors for UNITY: Journalists of Color, Inc..

Selected Works

• 2001 Lady Warriors, assistant producer. This documentary won Best Documentary at the 2001 American Indian Film Festival and Best Native Film at the 2002 Santa Fe Film Festival, among other awards.
• 2006 The Power of Words: Native Languages as Weapons of War, director and producer. This documentary is part of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian's collection. It tells the stories of Comanche, Hopi, Meskwaki, and Navajo code talkers. It took almost three years to make and is one of the Smithsonian's traveling exhibits.
• 2011 V-Day 11.11.11, collaborator and co-director. This project included 15 selected segments from over 50 submissions, sharing the experiences of veterans.
• 2018 “No More ‘Die Bread’: How Boarding Schools Impacted Native Diet and the Resurgence of Indigenous Food Sovereignty,” Journal of American Indian Education, Vol. 57, No. 1 (Spring 2018), pp. 145-153.