Who is She? 5 – Debby Tewa

Debby Tewa is a solar electrician from a Hopi reservation in Arizona. She grew up without electricity or running water until the age of 10, and when she was in high school decided to enroll in an electrician’s program; even though they geared it towards boys. She started with a Hopi company called Native Sun and has worked with many Indian families in reservations of Arizona and New Mexico. She is also a college professor that teaches at Central Arizona College. There she teaches students how to measure their use of electricity at home, how to reduce it, and how to install solar panels for their homes. I love the idea of folks being able to have some independence from a larger grid of electricity, and to be able to use a renewable source of energy.

Source: “Heroes of the Environment” (book), Sandia.org (website)

Dig this? Check out this drawing supporting No DaPL or this one celebrating Dolores Huerta