November marks Native American Heritage Month — not just a celebration of culture, tradition and history, but a reminder of strength and resilience.<\/p>\n
In Sacramento County, one group of young Native girls is living that resilience every week — learning to lead, speak proudly and reclaim their identity.<\/p>\n
On a Tuesday night inside a small community room, members of the Native Sisters Circle begin to gather.<\/p>\n
Since 2018, the Sacramento-based nonprofit has helped Native American girls find confidence, connection and belonging.<\/p>\n
“There are a lot of things that are, families are still healing from, and so to be able to have a space like this, it really makes a difference,” said Leticia Aguilar, the founder of the group.<\/p>\n
Aguilar says the idea to form the group came to her after seeing her only daughter struggle, like she did.<\/p>\n
“I just needed to just be the one to create something as such, something where girls can go to feel safe,” Aguilar said.<\/p>\n
Angelina Hinojosa considers herself a first member.<\/p>\n
“I’m my mother’s daughter, so I’m the reason why she started the group. So, I guess you can say I’m one of the first participants,” Hinojosa, Leticia’s daughter, said.<\/p>\n
Just like her mom, Angelina helps guide and inspire Native American girls to be their authentic selves and become confident leaders in their own community.<\/p>\n
“Every girl walking in here and not knowing what they’re going to do today, but knowing that they’re being who they are, and being comfortable here, and knowing they can say, ‘Hey, this is my safe space,'” Hinojosa said.<\/p>\n
This group meeting does more than create a safe space. It allows them to embrace their identity no matter where they go in the world.<\/p>\n
On this night, the young girls say a prayer before a meal.<\/p>\n
Their energetic laughter is contagious.<\/p>\n
After their meal, the group takes part in traditional talking circles — which often serve as mental health support sessions.<\/p>\n
“The circle teachings, for us as a tribal community, means that there’s equality. Everyone is equal. We sit in a circle,” Aguilar said. “The more that we can create trust, that’s the goal.”<\/p>\n
Aguilar says the program is about changing the way the girls see themselves.<\/p>\n
“I’m having to shift the narrative into knowing that they are already powerful. They’re so powerful within their own selves already,” Aguilar said.<\/p>\n
Outside these walls, some members are hosting workshops and leading Native youth leadership conferences – using skills they learned at the Native Sisters Circle.<\/p>\n
“They get to advocate for things they’re passionate about. And so, for me, that is the most empowering thing,” Aguilar said.<\/p>\n
The Native Sisters Circle will take part in the 2nd Annual Native American Heritage Month Parade on Saturday, Nov. 8 at the California State Capitol. For more information about the youth group, head to their website<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n More from CBS News\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"November marks Native American Heritage Month — not just a celebration of culture, tradition and history, but a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35647,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[22264,121,123,122],"class_list":{"0":"post-35646","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sacramento","8":"tag-native-americans","9":"tag-sacramento","10":"tag-sacramento-headlines","11":"tag-sacramento-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35646"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35646\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}