Employee Spotlight: Lena Thomas

I am Akimel O’odham (River People) from Salt River. I grew up with my father Joseph ( bot ) and my mother Hazel Ca-wak-ka-ma (Laguna Pueblo), an older brother and two younger sisters. Our house was built by my father. While he was working on it, we basically lived outside. We cooked outside, slept outside and even watched TV outside and took baths outside.

My brother and I would also hunt and fish with my dad. He taught us how to clean and cook what we got, mostly small game like doves, rabbits and little mountain deer.

For fun, we would swim in ditches and play in the fields, making mud pies and throwing dirt balls. It’s bad, but when we were little, we thought the planes were spraying water on the fields and we would try to run under them.

We played baseball with the neighbor kids. I remember we would often sit on their roof and watch their mom and aunt make tortillas, cemait . It was very elegant, like a dance, the way they would toss the tortillas and roll them on the comal

One of my favorite things growing up was sitting in the tree house my brother and father built and listening to stories

my brother made up about native life past. I was very proud of him. He could just pick up any instrument and play it. He had a band that would play at the trade fair every year at the old day school.

I have been working in the community for more than 30 years, with Social Services, Youth Services, even at Seniors Services before. I just like helping people. It’s what I’m called to do.

When I learned about the recreation position at Senior Services, I was excited to come back. The thing I like most about my job is my people. I love making them happy. I love seeing joy in them when they say they cannot do something and I give them encouragement and then their creation comes out and shines and they are so happy. It gives me joy.

When I am not working, I love to take care of my family. I have seven grandchildren who live with me. We love going to the movies and cooking and eating together. I also like to bead. I bead all kinds of things, but I most like to bead pouches and then give them away.