Fellows Spotlight
Alfred Urbina
Former Attorney General
Pascua Yaqui Tribe
“Most of my uncles worked in mines from Southeastern Arizona all the way to Southern Arizona and the rest of my family were farm workers, picking cotton and fruit in Southern Arizona. It’s interesting because that part of my family and the blue-collar aspects of it is really what makes me who I am…My roots make me who I am today. I am a servant, but I am also a husband, son, brother, father, grandfather, and part-time caretaker of three rescue dogs.” – Alfred Urbina
Alfred Urbina’s first job was as a paperboy for the Arizona Daily Star when he was in the third grade. He continued to work through high school as a busboy while he dreamed of becoming an attorney, but he believed those dreams were “out of reach.”
Urbina recently served as Attorney General of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe.
Urbina’s life has been shaped by the resilience of his blue-collar family that comes from South Tucson and has made their livings by working in Arizona’s copper mines and cotton fields in places such as Marana, Sahuarita, and Continental.
His family instilled in him the importance of hard work and the value of “aguantar,” a Spanish term meaning to endure.
“This, my mother’s prayers, and the wonderful teachers at Tucson Unified School District and Pueblo High School gave me the foundation I needed to become the leader I am today.”
Urbina met his wife when he was 17 and joined the military when he was 18. It was difficult as a private in the U.S. Army supporting his family, but he was proud to follow the path of his uncles and grandfathers and become a third-generation veteran.
After five years in the military, Urbina’s calling to serve did not fade and he decided to go to college, searching for a route that would help him serve his community to the best of his ability.
“I knew I wanted to represent people. I had a strong leaning of wanting to do work in the criminal justice field. So, I used my GI Bill and started going to Pima College and also used a tribal scholarship at the same time to support my family, but also to put me through school.”
Urbina earned an associate’s degree in criminal justice and a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice while also working as a police officer to support his family.
“My thought process was that I could retire in law enforcement, or I could go to a federal agency like the Border Patrol or Customs and finish my federal time and retire or something like that. But I also had this thought that I would eventually end up in law school.”
Urbina believes that his mother’s prayers were what helped him achieve that goal
“So, I saw a newspaper article of a colleague that had graduated from law school and was going to start working for the tribe. I told my wife, ‘Look, I’ll go talk to this guy and figure out how to get into law school.’” he said.
“My mom made a promise, and I made a promise to God, and to the Virgin Guadalupe, and San Francisco (St. Francis), that if I did well, my “manda,” (promise) would be to walk this pilgrimage to Magdalena, Sonora, from Nogales, Arizona, and that I’d give back. I truly believe that there was divine intervention based on faith and prayer.”
Urbina passed the bar exam and secured a job at the Pascua Yaqui Prosecutor’s Office. A few years later he was able to complete his pilgrimage walks to San Xavier Mission and a mission in Magdalena.
Urbina believes that his tribe, and others, are still healing from generational trauma that will take decades to undo, but he knows that through laws and investment in tribal resources, progress will be made. He can see that progress through things as small as the new sidewalks in the Pascua Yaqui community that allow mothers to push their strollers on smooth surfaces rather than the bumpy road.
Native American history is something that Urbina hopes is implemented more in Arizona civic education. Urbina believes educating people on the cultures of the indigenous peoples will close a gap.
“A lot of times civic education leaves out tribal history and it’s not incorporated as part of that topic. If you understand civically how a county and a state run, you should also understand how that intersects with the federal jurisdiction and tribal jurisdiction. It makes sense that it happens in schools, but also in programs like Flinn-Brown.”
Book Recommendation
Understanding the Arizona Constitution by Toni McClory
“It would be great for Fellows; it’s a really cool book, easy to read, and it makes it easier to understand what’s happening today in Arizona. It doesn’t only relate to the history of the Constitution, but also the different departments and how they impact things.”
Unreal City: Las Vegas, Black Mesa, and the Fate of the West by Judith Nies
“The context for Fellows is you have this large congressional district, you have these major issues that impact the reservation, but there’s a political subtext to everything. It explains how those things work. So today, as we’re talking about these potential water settlements, it’ll illuminate what we see happening today and how people will have to approach politics in the future. Not only because of the Native vote in some of those congressional districts that’ll make it very tight, but also, how do you talk to people when you need their vote? What are issues that are important to them and how do you find that out? How do you represent the Congress when you’re representing the state of Arizona and a congressional district?”
If you missed a Fellows Spotlight, you can find them here. View all Flinn-Brown Fellow profiles here.