The Navajo: Walking in Beauty

May you there be happiness,

May there be success,

May there be good health,

May there be well being.

In Beauty, happily I walk

With Beauty all around me I walk

It is finished in Beauty. 

Navajo Blessing

During this past summer I had the opportunity to travel through Navajo country in the northeastern corner of Arizona. As I drove my car across dry desert lands I met Andrew who was walking clear across the country with only one aim: to listen. I think of Andrew today and am inspired by his commitment to hearing people's stories with a non-judgmental attitude. He told me to ask people about what it means to "walk in beauty," a teaching of the Navajo people.

Andrew on the road of listening

The time I spent with the Navajo people was a highlight of the summer. I spent some time with D'arcy from Canyon deChelley who played his flute for me while I sat on the edge of the canyon pondering the history of the Navajo people. The stories that punctuate the narrative of the Navajo people is darker than the clouds that rolled along the horizon that afternoon.

 

D'Arcy and his flute

For example, in 1805 the Spanish soldiers committed a massacre at the Canyon deChelley against mostly women and children. The alcove where I was seated listening to the haunting melodies of the flute was called Aho'doo'nili in Navajo, meaning "the place where two fell from." It refers to the bravery of a Navajo woman who grappled with a Spanish soldier and dragged him off the cliff face.

Reggie showing off his carvings of Kokopelli. He was filled with earnest sincerity.

Not all of Navajo history is laced with dark periods of oppression. There was a collaboration between the US military and the Navajo people using their language as a means of unbreakable encryption during the second world war.

Roger

The Navajo Nation

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In Hopi land I jumped at the opportunity to dance in the school gym with a few hundred Navajo and Hopi folk as we listened to reggae. I recommend it to anyone who is feeling down in life. Head down to Hopi land and dance with a 250lb fellow. Big smiles all around!

The captain

Some random shots from my travels through Navajo land. 

She sure is

Captain of the Purple Turtle

Roadside

Waiting for the twister to settle down

Another Reggie, this one pulling off the moves in Tuba City, Arizona

Content

The history of the conquistador in Peru (Pizarro) and Mexico (Cortez) was also mimicked in what is the Southwestern corner of the USA. The European invaders had one objective in mind - to profit from what was not theirs. The two cultures came from such different worldviews. In Navajo there is no word for religion; instead there is a system of balance, healing and harmony that are exemplified during ceremonial times. The Navajo system of governing was decentralized and contrasted with the European hierarchy.

Yet perhaps all the differences could have been overcome had there been a mutual respect of culture. The Europeans saw the native peoples of this continent as savages that needed to be civilized. What would have happened had they come over with a different perspective, one rooted in open mindedness and appreciation?