This dialogue is not about a dialogue between me and a dude,
but it’s strictly between me and myself and MAYBE between me and my community.
As many of you may or may not know my tribe is going through some turmoil. In a
nutshell, we are amidst of our tribal candidacy to elect the future Navajo
Nation President and one of the main criteria is that the candidate speak
fluent Navajo, which is our tribal law. One candidate is deemed as a young,
innovative, educated man, but does not speak Navajo. The other is deemed as
older, not with the times, a failed tribal leader being a previous Navajo
Nation President, but speaks Navajo. Today my tribal court system stated the
younger candidate cannot run for Navajo Nation Presidency due to his lack of
speaking fluent Navajo. This has granted and enhanced a lot of dialogue.
Personally, it is not about politics in my opinion.
In my personal position I have similar credentials as the
young man who is running for tribal president. I am about to receive a Ph.D,
passionate and knowledgeable about many issues facing our nation, experience in
addressing such issues, and can definitely speak the “White” man language in an
articulate demeanor, etc... However, would I never consider myself a true leader?
I answer my own question as “No.” I only state this because I know where my
weaknesses lie. In terms of being a tribal leader, bottom line is I do NOT
speak fluent Navajo. I have recognized this as a huge barrier of granting
MYSELF a true leadership position in a lot of capacities…not on anyone else’s
standards, but merely my own. One time I went home and my cousin asked me, “How
can you be a true leader if you do not speak the language? When you go into ceremonies
and the songs and prayers and teachings are spoken, how do you interpret,
understand or dialogue?” I cried. I was hurt. Even now I cry because she is
right. I’ve also heard a lot in White man’s education that the fastest way to
kill a culture is kill the language first. This made me think as to why the
U.S. government stripped a lot of languages in Indigenous communities, because
they knew it would eventually kill the culture and was a smart move on their
part because it worked. In essence you cannot have culture without language.
Language and culture are interchangeable. How can you speak to the world as a
Native person if you cannot speak to yourself, family, water, mother earth,
sky, animals, and our ancestors innately if it’s not in our own language?
Language is medicine. Culture is our medicine.
In my heart and I will look at myself first in the mirror
everyday and say to anyone who cannot speak their own language is probably not
fit to be a leader, including ME. A
leader is speaking on behalf of the people, especially in our tongue. A leader
WANTS to do that and will commit to it, because language is THE one thing who
holds us true to WHO we are. It is the one thing that people cannot take away.
It is the one thing that keeps us Native. It is the one thing that we
communicate to not only humans but to our surrounding world, such as trees,
plants, earth, etc..that keeps us balanced. It is what makes us Navajo. I,
myself, even as a young Native professional would never think of myself as a
leader. I have told my family (mom/dad/grandparents) that I do not speak the
language fluently and that has been my biggest downfall. I have been humble
enough to recognize that if and if I ever want to run for any leadership
position that I have to challenge myself to learn the language….because in true
essence OUR language is the heart of our spirit, our people, our communities. I
am not writing about politics but I am writing about this to challenge me, you,
and everyone to say that as YOUNG NATIVES we need to learn our language! It is
vital to sustain our livelihood. As any true leader we should lead with the
heart of our people, we should think about the spirit of our people and our
ancestors, we should acknowledge with humility our weaknesses, and admit to
them, only to better ourselves, so then we can in turn better our nations. This
translates to us as to better our relationships intrinsically that will
ultimately have a positive impact on all relations. My two cents anyway.
