Sister Nations: Native American Women Writers on Community

Laura Tohe

Laura Tohe Navajo In Dinétah On this historic occasion ±≥∞ years after the signing of the peace treaty of ±π∑π. Within Dinétah the People’s Spirit Remains Strong ±∫∫π. These words are for my people, the Diné, who endured colossal hardship and near-death and continue to endure. In the people’s memory are the stories This we remember: I Al ⁄kida ‘ a ‘ ’ adajiní nít’è ‘ è ‘ ’, They say long time ago in time immemorial: the stories say we emerged from the umbilical center of this sacred earth into the Glittering World smoothed by Twin Heroes, sons of White Shell Woman, who journeyed to find their father and aided by Spider Woman who taught them how not to fear the perilous journey. They say the sun, father to the Twin Heroes, gave them the knowledge to slay the monsters so that the world would be safe. We lived according to the teachings of the Holy People to dwell within the sacred mountains: Sis Naajiní rising to the east, Tsoodzil ⁄ rising to the south, Dook’o’osl ⁄ííd rising to the west, Dibé Nítsaa rising to the north We raised our families, planted our corn, greeted the dawn with our prayers, and followed the path of corn pollen 100 Every day was a new beginning . . . in Beauty . . . in Beauty. II The ancestors predicted it would happen, that the wind would shift and bring light-colored men from across the big water who would shatter our world. They would arrive wearing metal coats riding strange beautiful animals, would arrive in clothes that brushed the earth carrying crossed sticks to plunge into Dinétah. In their zealous urge they sought cities of gold. Later we learned they came to take our land, our lives, our spirits. Did they not know we are all created from the same elements? Rainclouds for hair, fingernails formed from beautiful seashells, the rivers flow through our veins, our lifeline, from wind we came to life, with thunder voices we speak. We fought back to protect ourselves as we had fought with other enemies. The world changed when the light-colored men brought their women. It was then we knew they meant to stay. They invented ways to justify what they wanted, Manifest Destiny, assimilation, colonization. And, most of all, they wanted the land. One day a man wearing red clothes appeared. 101 Bi’éé’ L ⁄ ichii’í, Kit Carson, sent by Wáashindoon. He brought many soldiers. They spoke with thunder sticks that tore into everything that we loved to burn our beautiful peach orchards, to slaughter our sheep in front of us, to starve us out from Dinétah, to do unspeakable things to us, to wrench us from our land. What strange fruit is this that dangles from the trees? We feared for our lives and hid among the rocks and shadows gathering food and water when we could. III What was our crime? We wanted only to live as we had within our sacred mountains seeking harmony, seeking long life . . . in Beauty . . . in Beauty. Others had their death march: The Trail of Tears, Auschwitz, The Door of No Return in the House of Slaves. We are Diné. We too had our death march forced on us. When The Long Walk began, we witnessed our women murdered and raped our children and relatives swept away in the rushing currents of the Rio Grande 102 We heard explosions that silenced mothers giving birth behind the rocks. We saw the newborn and the elderly left behind. We saw our warriors unable to defend us. And even now the land we crossed still holds the memory of our people’s tears, cries, and blood. Kit Carson marched us three hundred miles away. In the distance we saw our sacred mountains becoming smaller and smaller. We were torn from the land that held our birth stems. We were taken to the land that was not us. We were taken to the desolate place without trees or vegetation. Where the men picked out undigested corn from animal dung to eat. Where young women were raped. We called this place Hweel ⁄di, this place of starvation, this place of near-death this place of extreme hardship. IV We returned to our land after four years. Our spirits ragged and weary. And vowed that we would never be separated from Dinétah; the earth is our strength We have grown strong. We are the...