Indian Country was definitely in attendance for Westwood High School’s varsity football home opener against Skyline High School on September 6. To help celebrate the new season, Westwood’s athletic department collaborated with Mesa Schools’ Native American Education Program (NAEP) to host Native Heritage Football Night.

The game marked the debut of Westwood’s brand-new Native heritage–inspired varsity football helmet, which features four feathers outlined in Westwood’s blue, orange and white school colors, commemorating the Native heritage of the land the school resides on. 

Current Westwood students enrolled in the NAEP shared emcee duties while the Maswade (Fort McDowell), Wakangli Gleska, Wild Krew and Northern Mixx drum groups performed before the kickoff. “We are all currently located on O’odham and Piipaash lands,” said NAEP student liaison Renae Blackwater as she read the land acknowledgement over the campus intercom system.

2024-2025 Jr. Miss Salt River Diondria Pilger and Miss Salt River 1st Attendant Zoe Hernandez were present and visited with Westwood faculty, fellow students and loved ones. Later, the O’odham Basket Dancers performed at halftime. 

To further showcase outreach from the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, staff from the River People Health Center, Public Works, and the Salt River police and fire departments stood at the main entrance and handed out SRPMIC freebies and goodies to guests. 

In the moments leading up to the game, Thosh Collins, Indigenous community health educator, was named the game’s honorary captain and performed the coin toss at the 50-yard line. Collins is the co-founder of Well for Culture, a wellness consultancy and grassroots initiative he founded with his spouse, Chelsey Luger. Together, they published “The Seven Circles: Indigenous Teachings for Living Well,” a guide that details achieving spiritual, physical and emotional well-being rooted in Indigenous ancestral knowledge. 

Once the pregame festivities concluded, the NAEP students hosted a program fundraiser food booth where they sold homemade frybread for $3. 

As far as the game, the new Native-inspired helmets may have provided the Westwood Warriors with just enough motivation as they went on to defeat the Skyline Coyotes in a nail-biter, 28-27.