Part I: A Journey of Self Discovery
Diné language is who I am, not Navajo. Diné is accurate and much preferred by Diné folks. My grandmother's oral narratives instilled Diné culture and customs within me. She was living Diné language and Diné customs long before I met her. Her grandparents taught her cultural stories, along with her parents, and aunt. She kept the oral stories alive by retelling them to her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren until she left on her white horse back into the spirit world on August 05, 2012.
My grandmother lived exactly 102 years. Her stories remain with me to this day. Early on in my life, she’d share Diné winter stories with me, over and over, which shaped my artistic imagination. Next, her constant reminders encompassing Navajo taboos subconsciously cached ethical practices into my character. Transgressing Diné taboos are consequential which quite literally impacts human attributes causing various ailments.
I didn’t understand the advanced concepts of the Navajo Fundamental Laws until middle-aged adulthood. I think one has to experience the “Twin-Warrior living in Two-Worlds” journey first to appreciate those laws. However, that’s different for everyone.
Diné customs and Western customs are two different worldviews, but being grounded in the concept of Diné inner-duality, constituted the foundational framework for my conceptual Diné-self actualization. I am Diné.
Dual aspects of the natural order and being human in the environment where male and female clearly are forces of growth were made apparent to me. I am feminine and masculine all in one. I am a Twin Warrior- Monster Slayer (harsh) and Born for Water (gentle) all in one.
Naayéé’ (profane) and Hózhó (sacred) dualities serve as guiding principles in cultural healing for Diné practitioners. For a simple general example, Naayéé’ teachings are strict. Hózhó teachings are harmonious. The duality of masculine and feminine.
Similarly, good cannot exist without bad and these characteristics are portrayed by animals talked about in wintertime Coyote Stories orally told in Diné language. Some characteristics portrayed are sung about in shoe game songs. All these principles are populated in Diné language to help guide an individual along their corn pollen path.
Language acquisition began for me while I was inside my mother’s womb because she primarily spoke Diné. After birth, I was given to my grandmother Etta Scott (Yazzie). I was very fortunate to be raised by a wise cultural Diné speaking elder. This is how Diné language became my first language, and English was my second language. She served the Tółikán (Sweetwater) community as a Diné ceremonial-way diagnostician also known as a hand trembler to Diné people seeking cultural healing or medicinal herbs.
Being around my grandmother and hearing her speak Diné language significantly shaped my linguistic development. Her cultural role as a cultural practitioner placed greater importance on cultural language and its crucial use. She didn’t speak or understand English but after I learned English, I’d translate for her with the best of my abilities. Sometimes, we’d laugh about my translation because English to Navajo doesn’t always sound accurate.
In grandma’s home, where Diné language use primarily took place, there were only two English language sources, the radio station (KTNN “Navajo all the time”) and public school. Limited English exposure and being fully immersed in Diné language coupled with cultural practice cultivated me to become fluent in speaking Diné and thinking in Diné.
I feel blessed to be able to understand Diné ceremonial language, ceremonial songs, and ceremonial prayers. They’re saturated with Diné philosophical cultural concepts, values, and principles. These customs are abundantly practiced today across the Navajo Indian Reservation because of the love and value Diné people have for their language.
A common greeting is Ya'at'eeh (universal harmoniousness) and is widely accepted by many Diné. My grandmother demonstrated this role as she’d greet visitors with a warm 'Ya'at'eeh,' acknowledging their clan and extending a welcoming hand. Knowing your clan affiliation and relation to others fosters social bonds within Diné communities.
Diné clan kinship is important. Each Diné person has four clans that make up who they are as an individual. Since the Diné people are a matrilineal society their clan structure are as follows:
I am…(My Mother’s 1st clan)
Born for…(My Father’s 1st clan)
My Maternal Grandparents are…(My maternal grandfather- his mother’s 1st clan)
My Paternal Grandparents are…(My paternal grandfather- his mother’s 1st clan)
Based on the clan structure above, it will help explain my four clans listed below. Diné clans essentially highlight the matrilineal bloodline lineage of both biological parents. Here are my four Diné clans:
I am Mą’íídeeshgíízhíníí (Coyote Pass Jemez Clan)
Born for ‘Áshį́į́ʼhíí (Salt Clan)
My maternal grandparents are Táchii’nii (Red Running Into the Water People Clan)
My paternal grandparents are Bit’ahnii (Within His Cover Clan).
My matrilineal clan literally maps a geographical ancestral lineage genogram. When a clan greeting is extended, a relationship is established and clan affiliation is acknowledged. These are aspects in self identity development and are foundational when analyzing depths of Diné personality and Diné characteristics.
Understanding your clan to clarify “who you really are” is a process in ethnic identity development, differentiation, and integration. This process helps an individual move from a state of unawareness to awareness. Understanding your clan and kinship affiliates will provide directional integration of self actualization and purpose. The original four Diné clan groups represented in the symbolic four cardinal directions are each gifted with unique abilities linked to their clan niche’s (leaders, healers, philosophers, and creative artistry).
My clan grandfather Dr. Wilson Aronilth Jr’s Diné philosophical teachings woke me from my suffering, ailing from historical adversity and utter ignorance in the early spring of 2013. I had forgotten who I really was. I lost touch with cultural customs and language from 1980-2012 because I primarily spoke English and I studied western theories in counselor education in the city, far away from home and Diné people. I was asked, “Who are you? Where are you from? Where are you going? Why are you going there?” I couldn’t answer right away.
It was through attending Diné cultural gatherings, and listening to community elders talk about migration between worlds, it revived my memory to recall parts of Diné oral history shared with me at a very young age. I also visited symbolic culturally significant areas to reconnect to the environment.
It was like placing myself in the Diné cultural stories where certain major events took place over the course of migration, and this is where the spirit of Diné cultural stories guided me.
I began piecing together in depth knowledge of my own clan structure (cultural ethnic identity).
What does it mean to be Diné? What does it mean to be Mą’íídeeshgíízhíníí? I never knew until I began my own formal clan self-analysis. This ignited my research encompassing clan structures and cultural land-bases.
The Diné clan system is indeed the initial step toward Diné ethnic identity development.
To be continued in Part II: Tracing the Lineage
In Part II, I will explore Clan Origins and Diné Ethnic Identity Development.
Clan ancestral roots trace Mą’íídeeshgíízhíníí (Coyote Pass Jemez Clan) lineage to the Jemez Pueblo.
The Diné Ethnic Identity Development Model, providing insights into the process of understanding clans and embracing one’s cultural heritage(s).
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