WE-KO-PA HOSTS 10TH ANNUAL YAVAPAI INDIAN FOUNDATION GOLF TOURNAMENT
By Harrison J. Bahe
On December 16th, 2024, the We-Ko-Pa Golf Course hosted the Yavapai Foundation Golf Tournament on its lush green fields accompanied by stunning views of the majestic Four Peaks and Red Mountain. Over 140 golfers signed up for the event and shot tees across the award winning golf course on a cool, breezy, shady winter afternoon. Local residents and golfers from afar joined in on the festivities as well.
The Yavapai Indian Foundation was founded in 2008 as a charitable organization which provides philanthropic support to the Yavapai Nation and its people. The Foundation’s main focus is to preserve the Yavapai heritage, culture and language through ongoing initiatives such as encouraging healthy lifestyles, contributing to education programs, building an assisted living center for the elderly, a new youth gymnasium, and swimming pool, and many other worthy causes.
“We’ve donated over the past two years here to our youth, our seniors, our foster care program, and our Christmas Angel program,” president of the foundation Raphael Bear shares. “We’re looking to do more for the Yavapai Nation including donating some iPads to some of our best students in February 2025.”
Along the holes of the golf course stood some tables which were manned by volunteers who gave out some frybread made with all the fixings you can imagine. “This year, we have a frybread stand out there on golf course number five. Wendy Thomas will be doing our frybread out there.” Thomas, dressed in her traditional garb, was seen happily making frybread and distributing it out to all the tournament players. Along with the frybread stand, a table manned by Clissene Lewis and Imogene Hosay held 50/50 raffles with a $20 buy in which challenged golfers to hit their golf ball into the green portion around the hole from a great distance. If their ball landed within the green around the hole, they were entered into the raffle which would split the accumulated funds between them and the foundation. The pool was up to $500 last time this reporter was at the table.
At its core, the Yavapai Indian Foundation is about our people and our culture; preserving the legacy of our ancestors and producing a strong foundation upon which our children, and our children’s children can build a better future.
