43 (D-88) The Navajos....The Diné

43 (D-88) First, some information you can READ about the Navajo people and then, even better, LISTEN to the Navajo tell you about their culture.

--- "Yá'át'ééh" (sounds a little like yah-ah-t-ay) = Hello.

--Albert Laughter, a Navajo, wrote on his site: "The word "Navajo"... I am used to being called Navajo. It is a Spanish word that has a meaning that is not nice. It means renegade. We call ourselves Diné (dee-neh)- like our language. It is our identity and our heritage. I would prefer to be called a Diné."
But in fact, "Navahu" means "large field" or "large planted field," containing nava "field" and hu "valley." The Spanish "Navajo" was used in the 17th century in reference to the area now in northwestern New Mexico.

--HOUSES: A hogan, a Navajo home, is made of wood and, in the past, they were covered with mud. Traditionally, it has eight sides and the entrance is facing east. Many Navajo homes don't have electricity, running water, telephones.

--FOOD: Fry bread = flat wheat bread made by North American Indians of the southwestern part of the United States. It is cooked by frying in deep fat until light brown and puffed on both sides. How to make Navajo fry bread: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LopJbzueRQ
Navajo tacos = fry bread with pinto beans, chopped lettuce, onions, tomatoes, and shredded cheese.

--WORK: About 56 percent of Navajo people live below the poverty level compared to 13 percent for the United States. Unemployment ranges from 36 percent to over 50 percent seasonally.

--ART: Their traditional arts consist of finely woven blankets, richly detailed silver and turquoise jewelry, and a distinct style of painting based on "sandpaintings". Turquoise is considered one of the four sacred stones of the Dine'.

--RELIGION and ILLNESS: According to the Navajo religion, the Universe is a very delicately balanced thing. If this balance is upset, some disaster - usually an illness - will follow. The sandpainting is done in a careful and sacred manner, according to the ancient knowledge of the art. As the patient is seated atop the completed sandpainting, the medicine man bends to reverently touch a portion of a figure in the sandpainting, then moves to touch the patient, transferring the medicine as power. As this is done, the sickness falls from the person and harmony returns. Then, before the sun sets, the sandpainting is erased with a sacred feather, and the person rises to walk in beauty once again.

--Radio station: KTNN (“The Voice of the Navajo Nation”). LISTEN:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFayFUiyv20
or KTNN at http://www.ktnnonline.com/ Click: "Listen live"

-- Trading posts : In exchange for the trader's goods the Navajos traded wool, sheep, and (later on) rugs, jewelry, baskets, and pottery. It was years before cash was used between trader and Navajos.

--To go hiking in the Navajo Nation, you must have a guide.

--What do you know about the Navajo and The Second World War?

For more reading, you can go to:
1) http://www.bigorrin.org/navajo_kids.htm (very good, easy to read)
2) http://www.discovernavajo.com/
3) http://www.navajo.org/
4) http://www.navajo.org/history.htm

PLEASE LISTEN to the Navajo talk about who they are. (3 sites):
1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-qcPiJvTqE&feature=player_embedded#
2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nmYycZel-4&feature=related
3) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IULcoYx7kH8&feature=related

Jane
____________________________
VOCABULARY:
woven = "tissé"
renagade = an outlaw; a rebel
wheat = "du blé"
shredded cheese = "fromage rapé"
unemployment = "chômage"
later on = later
http://www.wordreference.com/ (bilingual dictionary)

GRAMMAR:
"I AM USED TO BEING called Navajo." = Je suis habitué à être appelé Navajo.
I AM USED TO WRITING a post for this blog every day!