TV Remote Turn In
Waaniniigaanzijig Tribal Youth Council
St. Ignace, Michigan

Getting on Their Feet
TV Remote Turn In was an activity of the Waa-ninii-gaan-zi-jig (“those who will lead”) Tribal Youth Council of St. Ignace, Michigan. The goal was to promote an active lifestyle in the tribal community by beginning with an “easy” activity. The 15 to 25 members of the tribal youth council felt that “our world is getting lazier every year,” so they thought that by forcing people to get up to switch channels on a TV, instead of sitting and clicking a remote, participants would be taking small steps toward a more active lifestyle.

The Waaniniigaanzijig Tribal Youth Council is one of four tribal youth councils of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians. Members are in the 8th through 12th grades at four schools in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Waaniniigaanzijig activities are focused on four areas: heritage preservation, healthy lifestyles, environmental awareness, and community service. The youth council belongs to United National Indian Tribal Youth (UNITY), a national organization that has as members more than 200 tribal youth councils from the United States and Canada. The TV Remote Turn In was part of Celebrate Fitness, a UNITY initiative to promote physical activity, nutrition, and healthy lifestyles among Native Americans of all ages. Nine tribal youth councils across the country receive support from UNITY for Celebrate Fitness activities. Other Waaniniigaanzijig activities have included Winter Family Extravaganzas, with drum socials, snowshoeing and skating, and a Family Fun Run and Walk.

Moving, Not Clicking
People from the community turned in their TV remotes to the tribal youth council. People could still watch TV—they just had to get up to turn it on or off and switch channels. Once the youth tribal council had all the remotes, they were put in a big plastic tub. (Each person who turned in a remote had to put his or her name on it.) Then, there was a drawing for prizes from the names of people who had turned in their remotes. That was the immediate incentive to give up the remote. The goal was to get people into a pattern of moving and not clicking!

Since this was the first time the council had a TV Remote Turn In, they learned many lessons. For example, it was good to start with a short timespan since people were more likely to participate that way. And, if you give 2 weeks for people to turn in the remotes and 1 week to draw the names of people who get prizes, that gives people time to come claim their prizes.

Youth Made it Happen
Mainly it was the youth, ages 13 to 17, who made this activity happen. Most of the decisions were reached by the youth council. Members voted and came to a decision they all agreed upon—for instance, where and when the activity would take place. There was a lot of partnering between adults and youth, sharing ideas and figuring out how to get things done. The tribal youth coordinator and assistant coordinator were always involved. Once decisions by the tribal youth council were okayed by the coordinator, everyone got down to work—producing flyers and decorations, for example.

Spreading the Exercise Bug
Youth knew they were leaders when they started seeing results—when people started to bring in their remotes. “You can tell that the community is supporting our youth council and it’s just a really great feeling,” says one tribal council member. “I know even with myself I have my Celebrate Fitness t-shirt and whenever I wear it I just feel like I need to exercise. I think that the youth council and the community benefit from this program. Maybe if people see other people exercising more and more then they will want to.”

What Works
Five things make this type of program work. First and foremost is community support. People are needed to help plan and work at the activity. You need space to set up a booth or station to collect remotes. Prizes or rewards are very important because people aren't just going to hand you their remotes if they aren't getting something out of it immediately. Last, you need lots of time to get it up and running. It’s not just something that can be started instantly—it takes planning!

Spread the Word
The activity can be done in other places. The point is to spread the word and to start having more people get fit. So, if other communities do the activity, it can spread to more and more places.

Funding
The Celebrate Fitness program was started with initial funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

More Information
For more information on the Celebrate Fitness initiative, visit the UNITY Web site at www.unityinc.org.