Angelita Denny on highlighting Native American perspectives at LM
November 30, 2021
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LM Site Lead Angelita Denny participates in an open house in Halchita, Utah in 2019. Angelita brings personal experience and perspective to LM’s work with Native American communities.
When asked about her roots, Angelita Denny’s answer is not so much a place, but a person.
Her late paternal grandmother is the “home” she comes back to in her memory. Denny recalls her grandmother, a sheepherder who lived on a reservation in Navajo Nation, as a hard worker, both meticulous and efficient, and her role model.
“My grandmother would get up before sunrise to tend to her herd and come back after dark, only when each sheep was accounted for,” said Denny, a site lead for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Legacy Management (LM). “After a long day’s work, she had dinner down to a science, cooked from scratch in half an hour.”
Denny shared the priorities of most children.
“I spent my early days focused on getting to school, then getting back home so I could play,” she said. “I would dig in the dirt, take things apart and put them back together, run out and try to corral the sheep like my grandmother would.”
But she says she often tried to see the world through her grandmother’s eyes, constantly observing how she moved through her day with a quiet focus, strength, and kindness.
When Denny left the reservation to attend high school, she realized how different her childhood was from others. While many teenagers want to blend in, Angelita looked at it as a chance to grow while learning to live in both worlds. Even today, it can still be a challenge.
“I learned how to be adaptable and value the culture I was raised in,” she said. “You can’t get lost when you know where you’re from.”
Several of LM’s sites are located in proximity to tribal lands and communities, such as Halchita, Utah.
November is Native American Heritage Month, and its significance within LM isn’t lost on Denny. The organization is tasked with monitoring and maintaining areas contaminated by the Manhattan Project and other Cold War efforts, many of which are located in proximity to or on tribal lands.
“When our work so closely affects Native American communities, we have to maintain collaborative relationships and effective lines of communication,” Angelita said. “It’s important to have Native American voices on our side of the conversation, and equally important to ensure those voices are respected.”
"Angelita goes above and beyond being a great site manager,” said her co-worker Padraic Benson, DOE Program Analyst. “She not only brings technical expertise but also a real passion for serving people, whether it’s Native American communities, our summer interns, or students interested in STEM.”
Denny says she appreciates the observance of Native American Heritage Month and hopes that awareness can be active year-round.
“Our perspectives are shaped by generations of experiences, traditions and role models, and they are well worth celebrating every day,” she said.