The Modernity of the Diné

             I am working at DNA-People’s Legal Services, which provides free legal aid to people who cannot afford it. The lawyers I work with are really great and do a lot to help people in need. Two of them are about the same age as me and we get along well. One thing that is very cool is the large number of clients who speak Navajo, or Diné bizaad, as their first language and use translators to communicate with the lawyers. It is very much like being in another country, and in a certain way there is something more here than the United States I know.

       

            After work, I hiked up Window Rock a second time, with Pious and Tolu. Navajo Supreme Court clerk Michael Smith was gracious enough to lead us up to the top. There is a memorial to the World War II code talkers and Michael showed us where his father’s name was engraved. His father was in the battles of Saipan, Tarawa, and Iwo Jima. There were only about 440 code talkers, but they were one of the most important factors for victory in the Pacific.

          

           After the hike, we all got dinner with Michael. He talked a lot about modern Navajo history, like the militancy and activism of the American Indian Movement in the 1970s. He also talked about the turbulent events of 1989, when supporters of the impeached Navajo chairman Peter MacDonald attempted to overthrow the government.

            
            I am fascinated with Navajo history. While most American school textbooks end with the ethnic cleansing of Native Americans, the Navajos’ own history has continued on to the present and is as rich as ever. The Navajo Nation is truly a nation. It is the largest reservation in the United States, is bigger than many small countries, and is at least as interesting.

Brian Bierne