The members of Favor Celestial Community Economic Development Initiative for the Preservation of Barrio Kroeger Lane give sincere gratitude for the honor of the presence of Lyle Pablo, Sil’o Pablo, and Kaizley Pablo, who visit our neighborhood and come from far to participate with our barrio children in poetry.

We appreciate that they share with us their Tohono O’odham ways of life and knowledge of their language: for example, teaching us that the creosote bush is called Shegoi. They also share their close connection to their family members. Lyle shared, in a poem, his grandmother Ms. Royetta Thomas’ recipe for her delicious BBQ Chicken, showing her loving and caring ways for her grandchildren and everyone else in Sells, Arizona:

BBQ Chicken

From: Grandma

Ingredients:
BBQ
Chicken
Hot water
A pinch of salt
Black pepper

Directions:
Get a pot and add water
Let water boil for thirty minutes when done add chicken
Get a brush and pour BBQ into a bowl and put the brush
on the chicken with love and caring.

-Lyle Pablo, Summer 2019

We all talked about the importance of nature and the lands below the Mountain that are along the Santa Cruz River. Sil’o and Kaizley, showing their curiosity about nature and wildlife, wrote poems about coyotes:

Coyote

I am big
I live desert
I eat human
I sing about
coyote

-Kaizley Pablo, Summer 2019

Coyote

I am a sneaky animal
I live in the desert on mountains
I eat other animals and people
I sing about myself and I hope another animal doesn’t eat me
I know that humans want to kill coyotes

-Sil’o Pablo, Summer 2019

We want to acknowledge and give our tremendous appreciation to their great aunt, Ms. Shirley Roman, for introducing us to her extraordinary family members, the descendants of the First Nation People of these Lands we now call home. We also want to give thanks to their mother Ms. Annika Sanchez and their grandmother Ms. Francine Sanchez, from the village of Kohatk on the Tohono O’odham Nation, who now resides in Arizona City.   

This post is part of our BKL Stories blog series, created in partnership with Favor Celestial. This series celebrates the history, present, and future of the Barrio Kroeger Lane neighborhood, and highlights poetry written by BKL youth and other neighbors.

Photo of the Pablo siblings and their family by Gallo Quiroz Photography.