Thinking Like a Watershed: Voices from the West

Applying Navajo Tradition to the Modern World

105 < Roy Kady Roy Kady, Navajo (Diné) from Teec Nos Pos Chapter, is an accomplished weaver and fiber artist who is breaking out of the traditional mold with new styles. He lives in his family home at Many Goat Springs above the community of Teec Nos Pos, where he maintains a large flock of rare Navajo-Churro sheep and angora goats, plus one llama. He teaches culture classes at the local K–8 school, works with at-risk youth, and recently taught weaving classes at the Diné College, Shiprock campus. With TahNibaa Natani, he organizes monthly spin-offs for weavers from all cultures, which they host in communities within the Shiprock–Teec Nos Pos area. He is committed to participating as a member of the Lore of the Land because for many years he has sought to record stories that are told in the landscape , taking elders and practitioners to the many sacred sites in the vicinity that are linked with Diné creation stories and ceremonial stories. The Teec Nos Pos area, on the eastern slope of the Chuska Mountains, is rich in lore of all kinds, including that of plants, land management, livestock, and agriculture. Roy Kady, photo by Jack Loeffler Roy Kady 106 < Applying Navajo Tradition to the Modern World (The content from this chapter is excerpted from two interviews conducted by Jack and Celestia Loeffler on April 2, 2010, and July 22, 2010.) RK: Tó [water], in our language, is as important as the sounds that it makes. Like tó, it makes the sound of water. The tch part is a slow-moving, peaceful stream and a creek that just makes that tchhh sound. And then the more rushed forceful part makes the kwooooh, the last part of the word. So in that sense, the word is sacred for water, and powerful. It’s a life provider, giver, and that tó is something that we just can’t do without. As we all know, what percent of the Earth is made of tó? But we’re quickly disrespecting it in so many ways and contaminating it. In my community there are several natural springs where the tó comes out in a natural form to come greet us, to remind us that yeah, “Take care of me, and I can take care of you . . . fertilize and water your corn, your fruit trees, your wild medicinal and edible plants.” And so they [the waters] also travel and they also are gifts of both Mother Earth and Father Sky. They’re embedded in both of those two entities. And they both feed one another. The evaporation goes back into the father, and in turn when it gets full, it comes back [to Mother Earth] and releases it again. It’s a cycle. So with that, we know that it’s sacred, it’s totally sacred, and that it needs the respect that it needs. Oftentimes you hear people say, “Oh yeah, we haven’t had adequate rainfall, we’re in a drought, we need to all band together and we need to pray for more.” Yeah, we do, but we also need to respect it more. We can’t just pray for it and disrespect it. Somehow that doesn’t make sense. You can’t disrespect and then pray for more. It doesn’t work that way. So I think some of the other things that < < Applying Navajo Tradition 107 < we’re quickly forgetting, some of the offerings that we would give to these waters’ natural abilities, need to happen some more. Because again when they feel like they’re being neglected and disrespected , they have every means to cease for a short moment, or for a long moment. It’s really up to them. It’s interesting too that in the Navajo Way a lot of the things, the natural elements out there, are considered living beings just like us. In some cases they’re referred to as people. There’s the Earth Surface People, there’s the Rock People, there’s the Water People, there’s the Sky People, there’s the Plant People, there’s the Mountain People. They’re all referred to because they have life just like we do. They’re not any different. What they resort to is just like what we as humans resort to—it’s really not any different—to survive. So that is something that I want to say again about tó. Water’s so important. It’s really important because there’s a lot of references to water, not just in our ceremonial structures, in our stories, but even namesakes, like where I’m from. I’m from Goat Spring. Its interpretation in Navajo is “where the goats come to drink.” It’s referring to the natural spring that used to—it’s still there but it’s been modernized and it’s been encapped with a well system . But it’s really an interesting watering hole, because you have to think back and say wow, this is where all the animals came before it was established, before the school was put there. I think why I’ll always say, when I introduce myself, that I’m from Goat Spring is because I reconnect to it in that way. I think that is important. And that’s why I want to do that “river of life” for our community , because I know a lot of that sort of connection, even more so the reconnection, will be made because more and more we’re just being driven from it in terms of everything becoming too modern. I think that we should still respect those [traditional] stories and teachings and those resources. Some of them [the water sources] dry out for just so many different reasons, I think. There’s offerings that are not made there anymore. The usage of it is not respectful. They’re for commercial purposes and wasteful intentions. And they [the waters] know that. They have their own set of values and feelings. So that’s how naturally they go back to sleep. Roy Kady 108 < They rest, they rejuvenate. But it can be a continuance if it knows its purpose. So that’s how we should all be thinking like a watershed and respecting it and using it—just enough. When I asked my elders, my kin, how was it determined that we were going to move up the mountain? How was it determined that we were going to move in that direction? It was all about water, where the watersheds are. The knowledge and the idea, [from] having been there, they knew there was a water source not too far from the spot where we were going to be. So it’s really important, I think, the water, to be thinking like a watershed in that sense. Water to us, it’s a part of the four elements that were put in place for us. It’s one of the main elements in life that you can’t live without. Just the same way as we say sheep is life, we also say water is life, air is life. Without each one’s component, there’s no life that exists here. JL: Is there anything that you can reveal about the Diné point of view about the San Juan River? RK: The San Juan River, I’ve heard stories referring to it as a sacred river—it’s a sort of boundary in a sense, but the boundary there is also an opportunity as well as a life giver. But the question that I posed [to an elder] was, “What’s the meaning of tota’a [for] Farmington [New Mexico]? I know toh, but what’s the a’a? Is it tah, meaning three waters that come together? Or is it the gap? I posed the question to an elder, and I said, “What does it mean, tota’a?” Then he said, “It’s the gap between the three.” There are certain things that weren’t taken in between these gaps. I think he was referring to the development . And so especially certain ceremonies are not taken beyond these boundaries. They stay within the opposite side of the rivers. Though we can continue our life and pass through, ceremonies specifically do not happen across there. They’re not taken there. Then he also referred to the river as when they dammed it and imprisoned the water’s natural ability to be free and to flow free. So he also made reference to how we’ve captured it without its permission. There’s a lot of things that we’ve lost as a people, and he says that we struggle to this day to prosper in the way that we Applying Navajo Tradition 109 < truly want to prosper, because we’ve captured that and we don’t have the natural flow of the river anymore. So in that sense the San Juan River also has stories about [itself] because it created the boundary, it was our source of protection and safety. We crossed it when we wanted to barter with the Utes. But when a disagreement or warfare evolved, we were quickly and safely to go back on the other side, because we believe that the water has many powerful attributes for our survival and our safety. So I’ve referred to the river as being that, and of course the biggest thing is that it’s a life giver. TheSanJuanRiverissomethingofasacredbeingthathasalife, but offerings aren’t being made to it as we have done in the past. I think when it’s missing something like that, there comes a point where it just will want to go to sleep until the next opportunity. I didn’t feel like I got a complete answer when I asked the elder . That’s always the case when I talk to an elder, because you’re given that opportunity [to discover the answer for yourself], and I like that. I know I didn’t get the answer, but now I’m learning to accept the answer that I get. And from there it gives me the ability to search for another section of that. It’s another way of them telling you that you have a whole long life here to figure [the answers] out. What’s your rush? You’ll get it, the answer. It’ll come. You may be sitting on your doorstep at ninety-something years old, and [it’s] like a light bulb coming on. You’re sitting there going, “Oh-kay! That’s it!” I think not knowing the answer gives you that motivation, that commitment, that dedication, to do the work. Like for myself, there’s a lot of those questions that I put out there, and I work with the answers that I got now. Like for sheep, for instance. Why is it the way it is? If we truly valued [the sheep] and we say it’s sacred, why is it more and more that we’re not really grasping it and making it what we say it is to us? I think partially the answer for myself is, well, you’re the one to continue the stories and the lifeway. And then by doing so you’ll get your answer. It may not be now, but it’ll be somewhere along that road. Because I think some people, they get the answer right away, and their idea is okay, good, I’m done. It’s now moving on to the next phase. But for myself it helps me to hold on to the sheep Roy Kady 110 < lifeway because there’s really some unanswered questions for me. And being told that the answer will come, just stick with what I’ve taught you or what I’ve answered so far because the rest of the answer will come later. So I think that helps me in keeping with it. Because there’s so many times that people get frustrated. Some of my own peers have shared this with me. I think the other society, the other culture, provides that kind of teaching: “Well, if I don’t get the answer, what’s the use? What’s in it for me? I may just turn in the sheep and maybe buy a couple of cows. Because really I’m not seeing the whole purpose of raising the sheep.” I think that that’s what happened with a lot of them too, where they do trade it in for not just monetary things but trade it in because they haven’t really been given the partial answer that I get. It makes you impatient to live in the other world. JL: Can you talk a little bit about the Healthy Native Community [Project]? RK: It’s really an opportunity. They give you a lot of tools that are basically geared toward utilizing a lot of our elders’ teachings. How did our ancestors, how did our grandparents—how would they have written their vision statements? It’s really healthy, meaning everything, not just individual. It’s your whole environment. The whole cycle of life is included. And it’s basically just getting back to basics in terms of creating a healthy whole community. We’ve revived our farming opportunities. That again is the gift of water. The water, it’s important in that sense. I hear a lot about cultural and traditional teachings. And I also hear a lot about, well, this is the twenty-first century and it’s all about this here. But really, it’s a balance of all of that. A young individual posed a question to me: “Why do you want to go back? Why do you want to go back and live without electricity, to live without running water, to live without a vehicle?” And I said, “Well, it’s not really to go back because I know we can’t go back. It’s more to get the intention back. It’s really to take those tools that were very effective, that had made our people the way they were, to go back and get them, to bring them up at this time and to utilize them again. Because they worked then, and they can work here too.” Applying Navajo Tradition 111 < Really our people were very conservative about so many things. And do you know why? I make my mom as an example. She utilizes things that we just quickly dispose of because she’s come from that life. She knows that life. In fact, when paper towels first came out, she would wash them until they deteriorated. She still does that with disposable plates. She’ll utilize them. She’ll have these containers, and she’ll use them over and over until it can’t be used again for storage. So I told this individual, I said, “They did that for us so that we can do what we’re doing now.” JL: It’s a system of attitudes. RK: Mm-hmm. JL: Now we’re in this time when we’re dominated by sort of the technological culture, and we’re dominated by economics rather than other things that we could be dominated by. One of the things that’s come through to me loud and clear is that I have never known an indigenous person who’s still traditional who doesn’t have a deep regard for the sacred quality of homeland. RK: True. JL: Western culture has had this huge proclivity for coming in and trying to commodify everything, turning habitat into money. RK: Yup. JL: Those are the extremes to me. The idea is how to bring them back together again so that—you know, there is good that comes from so-called Western culture, but it’s run away, and there’s a huge amount of good that comes with the indigenous sense of how to relate to homeland. So how do we bring those two things together? That’s what you’re trying to do here. RK: For sure. The other experience that we had here just recently was during the spring break we were having our meeting in here discussing some projects. There was a little clitter-clatter out here, and then somebody stuck their head in and asked one of the officials Roy Kady 112 < to go out. It just so happened that one way or another our kids here has a source where they get their alcohol and drugs from who comes around like an ice-cream mobile that goes through the neighborhood, parks out here, and all the kids come over. I really commend my community because they came together after that incident, though it was a part of our community for who knows how long. And they really sat down and just by supporting them and giving them that opportunity [to talk] without the formalities that we’re pushing upon them. When we get orientated to be chapter officials, it’s interesting. All these orientations , they almost like pound us . . . your “Roberts Rules of Order”—it never gives them anymore opportunity to express. And our people are expressive, especially our elders, their stories initially go back. They take us back, and then it becomes current as they talk [their way] into the subject matter. People are no longer comfortable with that, because the mentality now with my peers and younger is this Western concept of “stay on the subject, be prompt, get it over with, act on it, move on.” That doesn’t work. So I gave them that opportunity, and we had over two hundred people here that came together on their own, providing them a place and then giving them the traditional setting. So they really got a lot done. They really began to digest what they’ve really detached themselves from. And now it’s on to how do we make this better? [The problem is] we work from 8:00 to 5:00, and then we drive two extra hours one way, and then by the time we’re home what time goes into spending or even talking to our children, teaching them. And we’re off again. Weekends are dedicated to doing laundry, getting groceries, taking care of other errands. Leave the kids home, take them, dump them off at the mall. Somewhere we can just take care of these businesses and then come home. On the way home everybody’s asleep in the truck because we’re all tired. Get home, everybody goes to bed. What little time we have Sunday, mother cooks breakfast. Everybody grabs their own plate, takes it to their room. We lack teaching our children anything in this time frame. Our elders teach us that we don’t fix things by pointing to the direction, meaning the individual who comes out here to do this Applying Navajo Tradition 113 < [sell drugs and alcohol] to our children, it’s not going to fix it that we just get rid of him. We don’t fix anything that way. But we could fix it by starting at home, by spending more time with our children. Even when we’re together as a family, my mom sits there, and it’s like she’s with a full home of English speakers. She just sits there like, “Wow, this is strange. My own children and my own grandchildren.” They’re [the elders]—they feel like strangers. We need to get back to basics and teaching our children about our experiences. CL: I was thinking about the conversation we had the other day at lunch about traditional food. I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about all of that. Maybe a good place to start, can you talk about the role of corn in your traditional food ways? RK: Corn is our embodiment. It’s like a capsule that represents our body. It’s really our capsule. It’s your reconnection to what your whole life was about. So corn to us is our soul food, and we also refer to the cornstalk as our tree of life. It represents our life in every way, from when it’s planted, it germinates and it roots and becomes stable and it shoots up, and every branch that comes up represents the certain stages where we’ve learned to talk, we’ve learned every part all the way up to the maturity. And our reproductive sense, the pollen represents that. And then the corns are our offspring. The color represents, like for white it’s male, and then yellow is the female. There’s the mixed corn, there’s the red corn, there’s blue corn, there’s gray-blue corn. There are whole stories that relate to how corn was used in bringing First Man and First Woman into creation. And when I heard that our body is made up of protein, and corn is protein, I’m like, wow. That’s why I think storytelling has to come back, because that’s where the storytelling is flavorful. It’s really important that corn represents us, is something that truly is valuable. Any time we have a meal, they say that we should have representation of corn in any sense to be part of the meal. It’s also an offering. That’s why when I begin to find out about GMO [genetically modified] type of corn, it’s really scary. It’s in the terms of Roy Kady 114 < cloning and messing with the true structure of its empowerment, its ability to continue. It’s a scary situation. Our people are not well-informed about this thing that’s happening. CL: Do you think that tradition is beginning to disappear? Is it dwindling or regaining strength in your community? RK: Here’s the scary—well, for me it’s scary—I don’t know if everybody is afraid like me. But most recently we had an in-law wanting to write his dissertation. [He] came to the chapter and shared with us what his dissertation will be about. He wanted to get permission from the community to interview six elders. He shared with us some statistics. He said that now currently about 7 percent of Diné fluently speak Navajo. And I know that’s true, because I’m even talking to you in English. Our session in there [the chapter house], I would say about 85 percent, close to 90 percent is all in English—our chapter meetings, except for when I’m doing my part in Navajo. And so with that, I know once you lose your language you lose your culture and your traditions and everything that ties into that. That to me is somewhat scary. And that will include corn is what I’m saying. That is something that is dear to me, and I always include it as a reminder to my people that we have to talk more and teach more. So I think it’s because of that I think we’re really being enticed by what’s “over there.” We see just the physical content from looking at that house and that car over there, but we really don’t know the true, deep abscess that it has. That part we’re not seeing because it’s concealed with that nice shiny red color and chrome wheels. But truly, if you go deeper and beyond that, you see that ugly abscess of tumor. But the way our people thought in the past, like an onion. They got to the core and they thought from within. We need to think that way again. We’re more up here [pointing to his head]. We’re more brain thinkers now than from the heart. And that’s not to blame, but just to say that that’s coming from the enticement from the outside culture. And everything plays a role in it, media and any kind of publication, radio. It’s really grabbing more and more hold on our youth. Applying Navajo Tradition 115 < CL: Marketing? RK: Marketing. Everything. So corn kind of is becoming the next item that is becoming endangered. I know I go to a lot of local, even family parties where you see the picnic. And you don’t see the representation anymore. But at times when it’s a personal one, meaning my sisters or when we’re having Thanksgiving, my mom always asks her if she’ll make that [traditional] corn mush. See, that’s why you eat that mush when you marry or you have a ceremony is because it’s you, and then the two [people getting married] put together. That’s why we do that. What you tasted there, if you could taste life, was the purity of it. And that’s the representation of sharing that meal. If there was nothing else left to eat but corn, that’s how it would be eaten, and you can survive on it. Somebody said you can live on bread, cheese, and beer— that’s what it is to us. You can survive with just that. You have your seeds, you can plant it. Really, corn—and I wish I could show you a cookbook, but we can prepare corn in so many ways. Some are snacks, some are winter food, some are summer food. Some are just in between, all the way, every way around. It’s food just for the heart, for the soul. It reconnects you; it keeps you healthy, just complete healthiness . So corn is an important seed to bring into the twentyfirst century and to grow it again. That’s why I’m really anxious to meet up with my farmers—I’ve been away for so long—and just to spend the time. I’m happy, I’m elated, I’m just overjoyed by the fact that they’re working hard. And it really was just giving them that opportunity and that little support. CL: Can you talk about that project? RK: Sure. Our community here, we utilized the runoff from the mountain. We’ve been given that gift, and the gift comes down into our valley. Then we share it together, and we plant, and we use it as our water source. In that sense we have ceremonial cornfields that we plant. That all refers back. This is where it’s really important to continue the language, because all these teachings that I’m sharing with you refer back to the corn way of life and Roy Kady 116 < our Beauty and Blessingway ceremonies. It’s embedded in our songs and a lot of our ceremonial chants. It refers to us. That’s the long life that we envision, that we yearn to live. When we say Sa’ah Naghai Bik’e Hozhoon, you’re really referring to that as the way of life coming from the corn and all the teachings. There’s a spiral formation that we dedicate a section of our cornfield. And then there’s the waffle [pattern]. Those are purposely gardened in that fashion. And that is something that they [Teec Nos Pos farmers] brought back here to this community. Then they’re currently going to be doing that this summer and then engaging the youth in these teachings. For the longest time, and I’m saying for the longest time in terms of not just a little over ten years of our drought, but maybe even going back another six years, where really people just became so dependent upon running to Wal-Mart and getting the majority of their food source. That’s one of the reasons why I know our truths have died out. And I think we also got a high increase of diabetes and obesity. I think now they’ve [the community has] seen those factors, and they know to make it better is to farm again. JL: Could you talk about the dome? RK: The dome is a representation of hope. And then the structure and the meaning behind the dome is referenced to our hooghan [traditional Navajo house]. Every representation of that dome is related to the farming ways for us. The dome was a gift to the community that was given to us by Jamie Oliver [the celebrity chef] when he was here when we did that one-hour [television] show. This is where we want to bring both the elders and the youth together in a farming project. The youth, they want to utilize it in the winter as well to grow fresh vegetables for the senior center, for themselves and their families. So my sister kindly donated a quarter acre of that place where the dome is. And that’s going to become a demonstration project that will include these particular sacred farm patterns. And then we’re going to do no-till drip irrigation, different kinds of gardens. And then possibly we also want to have an orchard in the back somewhere. We need to relook at our permacultural traditions and [use] them. Applying Navajo Tradition 117 < Here’s the great part. You have your whole community and your whole resources, and then somewhere the light bulb goes ding and somebody brings in that idea. So we’ve written to the LDS Church because they’re great food preservers. We’re going to incorporate some of our preservation techniques and then theirs, using that and learning that here. Then start freezing and/or canning some of our precious gifts that we get from the land so that we don’t have to depend on outside places. And then also to create a marketplace for the community and the passersby here at the junction. We’ve already talked to the local owner at that particular store, who’s given thumbs up to utilize whatever there is to create a farmers market. Then it went even further than that. The youth again talked about some of the things that could be possible by brainstorming , coming to a consensus. They said, “You know, it would be so awesome that we have a café there where we just do as much as possible local. We go over to Minnie Benally and get one of her healthy cows, take it in to get it processed. That’s going to be our steak and our hamburgers and whatever else we need it for. We can go over to my corral and buy some sheep, mutton, whatever. And that will revive [the local food systems]. We listened to the elders, because some of them were saying, ‘How many years have we been talking about bringing a local eatery in our community where we can sit and have a bowl of stew and where we can have conversation, where we can dialog again.’” So they [the youth] listened to him. And that’s when they came up with the idea that it’s going to be the local stuff that the farmers and they also have to help grow. The biggest thing, and I love this part, is that they will operate it and run it. So they want to learn about business. I said, “Yeah, we’ll support you. We have a scholarship fund account we need to get creative with. If you’re determined, we’ll put you through school to manage a business.” We look forward to being [LGA] certified, our local governments , so that these kinds of opportunities are more possible because we don’t have the bureaucratic red tape that we have to go through. We make those decisions here. We have our own economic planning and zoning ordinances. We have our own business licensing office. That’s something that will really help us. Roy Kady 118 < JL: What does that mean, LGA? RK: It’s just Local Governance Act, where you can govern as a township . You have your town council, whatever you want to call it, and you choose your own form of government. The people choose the form of government that they want. JL: This is far out. It’s been almost two years since you took over the chapter presidency? RK: A little over a year; what is it, fourteen months? January was year one. JL: You’ve done a huge amount. How does the political structure work here within the chapter at this point? RK: At this point, the officials, our duty and our role mainly is just to have oversight over the two administrative staff. The two administrative staff are Navajo Nation employees, meaning Window Rock is their main oversight. LGSC [Local Governance Support Centers] was passed a little over ten years ago where it was determined by the Navajo Nation council that it might be better that each chapter become their own local government in their township so that it alleviates a lot of the bureaucratic red tape, different departments that we have to go through just to get anything resolved in that matter. JL: This is decentralized governance. RK: Mm-hmm. And our government is funny because at the time that that was passed, it was just kind of like, “Woo, throw it out to them.” And when it got here it was like, “What do we do?” It’s kind of still the same at certain points. But what we’ve come to learn is, well, we’ll do what we can. We’ll get things as to how we understand it. And so far we’ve been good about those decisions instead of waiting, waiting, for someone to come out here to explain it to us further. So we’ve just kind of reviewed how this system will be implemented.Weweredelightedthatourfivemanagementsystems Applying Navajo Tradition 119 < were already created here for this chapter, and it’s also because we’re a resolution government, that people resolve to implement, to start practicing it. So when we came here we just took that and then we started practicing and we started reviewing and then sharing it with the people, because that’s important. It’s important to educate them [in] new terms of how to manage your five management principles . I told them that it can be a very good thing, because now it provides a lot of transparency and accountability because that’s a part of the procurement and all that in our management system . And also to me it empowers each community to utilize its resources to its fullest. JL: You know, I heard a phrase about ten years ago. I was working a project out in California, and some anthropologist came up with it. It’s “community of practice.” And that’s what you’re developing. RK: Mm-hmm, yes. That’s true, because that’s what it is to us, and that’s how we’ve handled it from the beginning. If you were to see my whole standing committee, and maybe someday you’ll see, it’s totally diversified. And it kind of came naturally that way. It’s people I have already known and interact with and seen, that I’ve asked to come be part of my cabinet. It’s funny when I say that. And then when we present—because we’ve also been asked to present at other chapters because they’re looking at us as a model. And the first thing that they notice is the diversity. I said, “And that’s really what has made our community also come back together.” Because the idea of a chapter house is, “Oh, it’s just those old folks over there griping and it’s just for them.” But no, the first thing that I did when I came in—I thought that I had enough youth telling me that it’s something that I should bring. And that’s the first thing that we created here was the youth council. So they have a seat up here with us when we have our meetings. They’re part of the process. And the next thing were the farmers. Those were important. And then the others that were already in place were just kind of there, and they came later into the picture. So that way, that’s what the community wants. It’s really what they want. Roy Kady 120 < JL: It’s coming together as a community. You said that other communities are looking to Teec [Nos Pos, Arizona] as a model. Are they really beginning to get into it? RK: Yeah. Our administrative staff here, I sit with them and I try to get with them at least twice a month if I can. It’s just really sitting together and sharing ideas and how things can work better. JL: Collaboration. RK: Mm-hmm. I just put forth on the table different items on the plate and they say, “This is what our community wants.” And it’s true. It’s something that I think each community earns. JL: It’s an evolving process, isn’t it? It’s alive in some sense. RK: Mm-hmm. And even more so it’s like all these orientations that I went to at the beginning, it was just the same repetitive, “We need to, da da da.” It’s like, “We need to?” What do our people think, first of all? Are they familiar with the process? Have you taught them enough and educated them enough for them to understand the possibilities? I’m not trying to say it’s not going to work, but I’m just trying to say have you done that already, or is it just another one of those, throw it out to you, you guys take care of it, you deal with it. And what I’ve learned that what’s always been the case is you deal with it, you figure it out, you try. And it really does put a toll on the community in ways where when they want to see something changed or done they go through all this rhetoric about how it can be done, who can do it, that sort of thing. Great example here. Our chapter has really brought DBI [Diné be Iina, Inc., a nonprofit organization that supports Navajo traditional lifeway] into our chapter as a collaborative partner. The people again, because we’re a resolution government, agreed to do that. And we have a whole project here which is going to be a local wool-washing facility that’s all energy efficient. It’s basically saying, “You can do it. You have the hands to do it. It’s always been there. It’ll provide you with the green jobs that we all talk Applying Navajo Tradition 121 < about.” To us the green jobs are at home. It’s not industrialized or commercialized. It’s at home. And it’s interesting. When we get visitors up here, they’re antsy because we don’t really follow the Robert’s Rules. I mean, we can do the basic stuff. We don’t do the, give them only two or five minutes for feedback. Gosh, as a Navajo elder you don’t have two minutes. That’s just the greeting right there. Because that’s how you connect. And then people come to that consensus together . But you’re disallowing that by saying that it needs to be in a quick process. “Your regular chapter meeting should not last any more than an hour. Two hours is too long.” I say, “Well, it’s not really up to you. It’s up to the people.” Even in terms of—it really is about what the people decide together to make something work. They’ve always been told, “You’re going to be here on Monday on this day at this time, and that’s because that’s the only time I have available because the rest of the time I’m working.” That’s always been the case. But it was interesting. When we first met, I said, “You guys are going to decide when you want to meet, when it works for you, what time is best.” That whole thing. So it was just bringing those basics back to them. And I think that’s one of the reasons also that a lot of chapters don’t keep their administrative staff, because they get frustrated too. Some of them are true community oriented and they want to listen to the community. And then there’s LGSC or Window Rock from some department that says, “No, you’re supposed to do it this way because it says it right here.” JL: It’s unnatural to do it that way. This is the natural way, homegrown . RK: Yes. CL: What is the youth project for? RK: Actually there’s two different ones. I’ve heard a lot of the youth talking about how they’re forgotten in the process. And a lot of them sharing with me that there’s nothing to do here in their own community, that they wish that they could even just have a Roy Kady 122 < place where they could meet and maybe listen to music or play some games and get on the Internet after school and any time when they feel like it. That they can call it their home space away from home. So with that I appointed a youth, sort of a director, just to help the youth find themselves in their community, to extract their hidden voices because they do have hidden voices, just like a lot of adults. To sit with them and to dialogue and say, “Hey, this is your community. How would you like to see your community?” It’s been a struggle, just like anything that is new for our community . So it’s been a struggle getting them to commit into the youth organization. I had some wonderful help from a person by the name of Christopher Francis who’s done a lot. He’s kind of laid the initial foundation in getting it started. This will be actually our third attempt, but we’re still very hopeful. Last night we had another meeting, so we’re constantly bringing in people to share with us different ways of engaging them. CL: What would success look like then? RK: Success is going to look like the way they want it to be. I’ve shared with them over and over, this is what I see, but it is you that’s going to make it the way you want it to be. A lot of times what happens is somebody comes in and jumps in and says hey, this is how we’re going to do it, this is the way it’s going to be, this is the color of the building, this is going to be the design of the building, and here’s what I’ll put in it. And never is it, how do you want it? What do you want to see in there? What color shall the building be? Where can we put this? How can you be part of this, in building this, in pouring the cement, in getting a paintbrush and painting the building. That to me is important because it becomes your own. You have ownership to it. When it’s just put up for you and you have no process in it, some of the things that you would like to see in there are not being put in there, then quickly you disown it because you don’t see what you want to see in it. To involve people, even just to sit with them and to talk to them about it, and then listen to them and draw from them some ideas, really helps in the end final product. They feel like Applying Navajo Tradition 123 < yes, I’ve done something. They may not have picked up the shovel or the paintbrush, but by sharing with us how it should take place and by including that, they still have ownership in it. So that’s what I want to do with them. I want to continue to work with them. CL: So they’re taking part in creating it. That’s really important and very special. Do you do a blessing every day? RK: Mm-hmm. Every morning I do a blessing. Back there are my two bags that I take out. One has white corn for the morning, and then in the evening is yellow corn. So that’s my offering every day. And corn, because we’re made from corn, because it’s our main staple. So offering it is kind of like saying, “What’s your favorite food?” It’s almost like fasting. You offer it back, and that amount that you offer back is what you won’t have, so you sacrifice that and you offer it because you acknowledge and you say, “Thank you for giving me this.” So I offer it back again. CL: That’s wonderful that you do that every day to reconnect. RK: If I don’t have my corn meal, I always have my corn pollen in my pocket for travel. Navajos are really—they improvise. Anything they knew had corn in it, they would probably offer it if they didn’t have other means. In fact, I’ve even heard stories that at one time we’ve had famine, and of course when you’re in that state you’re reluctant to give. But they had to. They got to a point where they couldn’t, so they offered dirt. Because they knew that what they offered, in those spots where they offered, now it’s become part of the dirt again. So they just used dirt for the time being. So those connections, they’re there. They don’t completely disappear. They just become a different matter. It decomposes into a different substance. But if you make the connection in your prayers and it’s coming from your heart, it suffices to your offering. CL: The intention is there. RK: Exactly. Totally. Roy Kady 124 < CL: You were talking about the San Juan River as being sacred and that when it was dammed it had been captured without permission . Can you talk about that? RK: Anything in nature, you capture it and you enslave it, you give it a different intention, you disharmonize that process. The whole cycle of life gets out of whack. So that’s the same thing that happened to a lot of our waters that have been captured for that. And don’t get me wrong. We capture water for farming. But at the end of our farming, those ponds are usually dry, back to where we started from. We don’t capture it for other means, capture it for commercialization, for greed, and so many other things. But to capture anything that is out of nature and to deprive it from its natural ability to be a part of its community is something that to us is not only disrespectful but also can counter in many ways. And I hear a lot of my elders talk how without permission that took place and how now some of our offering places that were very sacred to us are now underwater. CL: Actually right now I’m doing some research on the Animas–La Plata Project, and I know that that’s one thing that’s happening is that a lot of sacred sites, even burial sites, they were excavated, and as many of the artifacts as they could come up with were taken away and are now being, I guess, put in the museum. And the burial sites are just reburied in other sacred places. RK: I don’t think that took place with this dam. It was just not considered . CL: Really. So it’s just underwater. RK: It’s just underwater and it’s like drowning yourself. That’s how I hear them [the elders] talk about what took place. We’re all about balance. And to hold those grudges and to carry on those harsh feelings, we kind of try not to involve that in our lives. Now we talk about them, but back then our people were very in harmony and in balance. I think that was the reason why it transpired the way it did, because they weren’t as voiceful as we are in this day and Applying Navajo Tradition 125 < age. But still, it’s something that one can think about it in terms of how you’ve drowned the sacred places where we did our offerings. CL: Do you feel like your people are in balance? RK: We’re still in balance, but the balance to me is a little bit more difficult to achieve because of all the other influences. CL: Such as? RK: Such as media, in terms of television, video games, cell phones. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a part of that process. But what I tried to do with my life is to accept them and also think to myself, how can I be less dependent [on these technologies]? They’re there, and you can utilize them for emergencies, and sometimes it’s necessary. But there are times when you could just overuse it. CL: I think that goes right into something you mentioned earlier, relearning and reliving old lifeways. You talked about the struggle with sheep in particular, coming into a traditional and a modern way of life. RK: Again, the balance of the two that I apply to my life is something that I can share and say that it works for me. But I can see it working for others. It’s just the application as to how they might initially struggle, because I did. It wasn’t just all gung ho for me when I decided to do that. I was more enticed with what’s “over there.” And if you look at my history of how in high school I didn’t want to come back—in fact, right after I graduated I didn’t come back. I said to myself, “I want a better life. I want a better life out here, I want a job in a high-rise building, I want to wear a suit, I want to wear spiffy clothes, have a car, have a house”—those kind of aspirations . That quickly dissolved, and I’m glad it did. Because when I experienced it out there, I thought, this is what I wanted? Is this really what I want? Is this the kind of lifestyle that I really want to live? My answer, not right away—it took some other places for me to wander—to give me that answer that no, my life is here. So I Roy Kady 126 < came back to it. And that’s what I did. Then the application of the two, some of the traditional teachings and the traditional way of life, applying that to your life in a balance, then including the modern way of life, the outside world way of life—just including the bits that fit together in a more balanced manner is what I’m referring to. Sometimes I get miscommunicated—I get this from some of my peers and some of my people who listen to some of the things that I say. Sometimes they say things like, “You can’t bring the old ways back.” I’m not doing that. All I’m doing is I’m bringing with me in my life some of the tools that work for me. Those were the teachings that were given to me by my grandparents and my mother. And I accept them in my life today because they work for me. The balance of that way of life, it attracts me and I accept it. It’s truly created a harmonious atmosphere for me, and that’s why I stand by them. And that’s why I share with the world that this is the balance and sheep is the balance of my life. If I didn’t have sheep, I wouldn’t be sitting here talking to you. Nor would I have had the opportunity to see all the beautiful people in my community , the youth and the elders. Every single one of them, I would not have that opportunity to be with them. I wouldn’t be here. So sheep created that balance in my life. I still have that opportunity and venture into that society and to be a part of it comfortably. But I can tell you, I can no longer be there for more than a certain allotted time. I always want to come home because I miss my new lifestyle. I say new because it is new. It is new meaning when I came back to it, it may have been about eighteen years maybe or even less, that’s when I decided to come home, balance my life, and to really think about why I was put here. Now I know, this is where it’s going to be and this [is] where the people, meaning my kinfolks here, are who I was placed here to help—to help themselves, really. So that’s what I’m talking about. It’s not something from the old ways that I’m sometimes miscommunicated as bringing that back. No, that’s really impossible. But it’s just the important stuff of how our people endured and lived off the land. Herding sheep—I can show you my whole portfolio of where it’s been successful. And cookbooks. They’ve [the youth] seen the show Applying Navajo Tradition 127 < with Jamie Oliver. And last summer it was my sheep who took me to Italy to be a part of a world gathering of food communities . Sheep is something that is going to give me that opportunity to probably travel the world. And have fun and have great food and meet awesome people that later you realize that are not any different than you. We all arrived here together and we are connected, our threads are woven together to make this strong fabric. In that sense it has given me that opportunity to share those experiences back in my community and to say, hey, this is where I’ve been, this is how the people live there. It’s not any different . And really we’re struggling together, and really if you think about it it’s not a struggle because it lets us kind of go back to the story of how our grandparents used to tell us where there was no electricity, when there was no running water, when there was no trading posts around. If we think about that, what do we call that? Was that a struggle to them? To me it wasn’t because they loved the life that they lived. You create your own day, but you have to embrace it and say, “This is the day that I want to create.” You always think positive. No matter what people say to you out there, no matter what kind of negative energy might come your way, you just remain positive, you stay strong. And I think my strong abilities come from my mom because she’s always been my mentor. She’s taught me everything I know. And then my grandparents, even though I didn’t have the opportunity to learn more from them. My grandfather died when he was ninety-six, ninety-seven years old. I pray and I make my offerings every morning to have his dream. Then my great-greatgrandmother lived close to there. My [mom] was saying she’s about eighty-six, eighty-seven. So thinking about that, I have readjusted my life and balanced it. Because we only have this one opportunity to be in this physical form. I really want to enjoy it, to live my life to its fullest but to always give—to me I see all those teachings that were given to me as the gift, and that gift became ten-times fold for me to give back. So every teaching that my grandfather gave me, I always think about it [in] terms like cinch weaving. Somebody comes up to me and says, “I want to learn how to weave cinches.” Then I create a workshop. To me I haven’t reached my full commitment in giving that gift back to Roy Kady 128 < people who yearn for it, meaning the gift that my grandfather had taught me. It was a gift that I know his intention was, you’ll learn it and you pass on that gift to a hundred more people. I’m still working on that every day. Then every teaching that I’ve learned, that’s how I approach it now. That’s something that I brought into my community in the chapter to be the example. Because they did it, and they could do it again if they could just open up to it again. CL: I wanted to ask you to talk about, to interpret, the commons. Just what is the commons in your purview? For example, this town is your commons or this watershed is our commons. Does that kind of— RK: Oh, totally. The biggest commons that comes to mind is again through sheep herding where at one time we were seminomadic. My mom has told me stories about the commons of going to Gadii’ahi, which is thirty miles back to Shiprock, and then coming back around slowly in different areas where at times you live with a different commons of people. You put your flock together. Whatever it is you shared together happened there. And there was a central structure that everybody who wished to be there at that moment had access to. It belonged to nobody, yet it belonged to everybody. But now we totally act different in respect to commons. How we’ve become that way . . . probably not to put blame on just one particular movement, but a lot of the influences that were imposed upon us, whether it was our government or whether it was the missionary movement; whether it was at the time when the trading post came about in our region. Some of the other commons are the farms. These farms, whoever got there, started the initial preparation of the farm. Then they’d continue up to their next destination. The next group of individuals that showed up continued the next step, whether that was planting the corn, and so forth. And then coming back around during harvest, you had access to the farm, and you only took what you needed. And then when that harvest completely matured, the whole community came together Applying Navajo Tradition 129 < to harvest it and share equally. Those were some of the commons . Those are some of the commons that I’m trying to reignite . Because I know it’s there, they [the community] talk about it. They talk about, “That’s how we used to be.” And so this farm here is actually a community farm. The youth work on it every day in the morning when they come here. They usually go out in the morning and they hoe for an hour or two before we start our other projects. And in turn I told them that they are more than welcome to come back and take their equal share of what they put into it. So when harvest comes, I’ll let them know and remind them to bring their family here to take their share because it’s only right that they do. And even the ceremonies, those are commons. Ceremonies are for everyone. I’ve seen it as being adaptable, meaning I’ve seen [people] other than Navajo people utilizing it now. I think with the respect and feeling from your heart, that this is what will help you, the door is open for you to engage and to practice that. So I think when the elders talk about it, that’s how they refer to it still. When you ask a medicine man or when they’re talking about this particular topic, they say that the ceremonies were given to us. They always make a reference and they say, “It wasn’t given to me. It was given to us for the sole purpose of recreating the balance and the harmony that we’ve wandered off of; to help us, to strengthen us, to heal us, to make us a better person.” And it’s for all of us, not just me. Actually this is a commons that we share to this day is our ceremonies. Maybe that’s what’s holding us, I think, because I know the songs and some of the chants and the prayers, they are done in the language. So when I say I think that’s what’s holding us this far, that’s why the language is so important to learn, so that the tradition gets carried. And if we’re compassionate and if we’re true believers it works, but if we’re just doing it for the sole fact of entertainment then we know it’s not. It’s not a good practice. So I think things evolve and they become what they become through time. But the main aspects, the main songs, I know they remain a part of the central rituals of these ceremonies. Roy Kady 130 < That’s what we’re doing with the community farm here and all the other things that we’re trying to re-educate our people that it’s okay—it was okay then, it’s still okay now. We can still do it. And you know how our current president [Barack Obama] had the “Yes we can,” [slogan] I often talk about that too. We did that. Now the next step is “Yes I can.” We have to do it individually , too, in order for it to happen. Our contribution counts, and there’s so many different ways you can contribute. I was saying it earlier to the kids, how it was explained to me by them. There’s different ways to contribute. Even if you can’t do the hard labor, maybe you can bring a loaf of bread to feed the workers, or even a glass of water to give some hardworking soul a drink. That is a contribution, isn’t it? Every bit counts. Every bit makes it happen, and even just of your word in thanking that person, that’s a huge contribution into what we’re trying to do. And so they’re learning. CL: Do you have any advice for the future generation? RK: I think to be uniquely themselves but to also remember that it’s okay to apply our history to modern life. A lot of times when you bring that up, it’s a giggle. I know they don’t really mean it disrespectfully , but to them it’s funny because they didn’t experience it; they think it’s a funny matter when you try to share with them that, oh yeah, this is how it was, or this is how Grandma lived. They just kind of like giggle and think, oh, that’s just really oldfashioned , or gosh, we can’t still be doing that. That kind of attitude . But to tell them that it’s okay, that how Grandma lived and what she used to do back then, you could still use that [knowledge ] now, maybe adjusted a little to fit the current time. It’s very much okay. That’s what I’ve done. And then just that they are a part of this community, each one of them. And balance is a really strong word for me, because it’s that that keeps me on the right path. I feel like if I lean too much a certain way, I start feeling the aftereffects of it. So I quickly reposition. And they’re beautiful souls, they’re beautiful individuals, they all mean so much. They could just do so much. I can see that. But Applying Navajo Tradition 131 < I feel like they feel that their hands are tied somehow. I often want to just untie it and say, “You’re free. Let’s go catch your dreams and let’s put the foundation down. Let’s do it. Let’s show ourselves we can do it. That you, one by one, can do it.” That’s what I really want them to know is they can, they absolutely can. That it’s necessary for them to know that there’s no limit. But they need to apply themselves and dedicate themselves and be really true. Just be true and honest about it. And in no time their dreams will be fulfilled. They’ll see it sitting right there in front of them, and they’ll reflect back, wow. And then they’ll teach the next generation that same thing. CL: Shall we end on that beautiful note? RK: Wonderful, yes. That’s where we’ll leave it. ...