Native American History Month Spotlight: Danielle West

We chatted with Danielle West about her connection to her heritage through her grandfather, Nevada’s most decorated man from World War II and a member of the Pyramid Lake Paiute.

What's your role and how long have you been at KinderCare? 

I’ve been with KinderCare for eight years. I’m the Manager of Lease Administration

Tell us a bit about your Indigenous identity

In short, it’s been a challenging journey due to my family losing touch with our Native American relatives over the last 2 generations.

My grandfather served in World War II as a paratrooper in the Army’s 101^st Airborne Division. He and my grandmother met in Belgium during the war and moved to the U.S. after the war ended. Sadly, he died not too many years after returning to the U.S. He is Nevada’s most decorated man from World War II, with 32 decorations from five countries. He now has schools and roads named after him, all of which happened after his death and he never got to see. Since my grandfather died while my mom was very young, and she then was moved to Europe for a short time, she didn’t get a chance to build strong connections with people in the tribe.

I’m very proud of my Native American heritage and I feel a strong connection to the people and the culture. Since I was not raised close to the Pyramid Lake Paiute tribe, I feel like the more I learn and get to know the people and culture, the more I feel a sense of belonging.

How do you stay connected with and honor your traditions and culture?

It’s been challenging because to me it seems that the tribe is still very cautious of outsiders, even if you’re a distant family member. I follow my tribe on social media and stay connected to extended family members on Facebook and have visited the reservation a few times in person. I continue to just build connections and learn of our traditions and culture that I can share and pass on to my family members.

What do you think is important for people to know about your heritage?

Native American culture overall fights to protect land, which in turn protects wildlife and the environment. With environmental issues we see in the world right now, I think a lot of credit should be given to the Native Americans for striving to continue what generations before them did, and that is protecting the land and environment versus looking to make a profit off it.

Although my reservation is close to Reno, Nevada, they don’t have a casino or gambling. They focus on preserving the reservation for its natural benefits. The Pyramid Lake is well-known for their fishing some of which include Lahontan cutthroat trout. The lake is the only home to the endangered fish Cui-ui.