Good morning!
I officially know four words in Navajo. It has now been almost a month since I have been back and settled in Gallup from Maryland. And I am preparing again to make another trip. I have been so caught up in trying to figure out how to be a pharmacist that sometimes (actually, most times) I have been overlooking the beauty of the people and landscape around me.
The Navajo revere things in fours, which is represented in the New Mexico state flag. North, South, East and West seem to guide all aspects of life, with each direction associated with a different time of life, a different stone, a different temperament. The Navajo Nation is surrounded by four sacred mountain peaks, one for each direction. The Long Walk, when the Navajo were forced to go to Oklahoma, was particularly devastating because their land is not only their home; it is their religion.
An (incomplete) guide to all things in four.
Ha'a'aah. East Dawn Spirit.
I was told by an older Navajo woman working at the hospital that as a child, she was woken up by her mother before dawn and taught to run toward the east, to the rising sun. Good things come from the East and as children, they were taught to run out to greet it with arms outstretched.
Mount Blanca is the eastern mountain.
Shadi'aah. The South.
Gallup is closest to the Southern mountain, Mt. Taylor. The South is "nahata", planning, knowledge, competence. Turquoise is the stone.
E'e'aah. West.
Represented by yellow and "iina": inspiration, life.
The San Francisco peaks near Flagstaff, AZ represent the west of the Navajo Nation. These mountains also have special significance for the Hopi. A nurse who had worked in Tuba City for a long time, and was one of less than 30 non-Hopis to speak the Hopi language, informed me that the Hopi believe their gods to live on top of the San Francisco peaks. This land is disputed territory between the Navajo and Hopi people.
There is quite a bit of tension between the ski resorts on the San Francisco peaks and the Navajo Nation. The ski resorts generate snow atop the mountains to extend the ski period, this snow is made from waste water. In juxtaposition, only the most revered elders are allowed to climb to the top of these peaks. It is a sacred place, the mother, that is sprayed with waste water so that tourists are able to come and ski.
Nahookos. North. Folding Darkness Spirit.
North is old age. Si ha sine integrity and hope.
Hope is one of the most important values to the Navajo. When speaking of bad things, such as possible complications to a procedure or disease state, it is important to speak in the third person, otherwise you may be wishing harm on the patient and taking away their hope.
I have so much to learn.
I officially know four words in Navajo. It has now been almost a month since I have been back and settled in Gallup from Maryland. And I am preparing again to make another trip. I have been so caught up in trying to figure out how to be a pharmacist that sometimes (actually, most times) I have been overlooking the beauty of the people and landscape around me.
The Navajo revere things in fours, which is represented in the New Mexico state flag. North, South, East and West seem to guide all aspects of life, with each direction associated with a different time of life, a different stone, a different temperament. The Navajo Nation is surrounded by four sacred mountain peaks, one for each direction. The Long Walk, when the Navajo were forced to go to Oklahoma, was particularly devastating because their land is not only their home; it is their religion.
An (incomplete) guide to all things in four.
Ha'a'aah. East Dawn Spirit.
I was told by an older Navajo woman working at the hospital that as a child, she was woken up by her mother before dawn and taught to run toward the east, to the rising sun. Good things come from the East and as children, they were taught to run out to greet it with arms outstretched.
Mount Blanca is the eastern mountain.
Shadi'aah. The South.
Gallup is closest to the Southern mountain, Mt. Taylor. The South is "nahata", planning, knowledge, competence. Turquoise is the stone.
E'e'aah. West.
Represented by yellow and "iina": inspiration, life.
The San Francisco peaks near Flagstaff, AZ represent the west of the Navajo Nation. These mountains also have special significance for the Hopi. A nurse who had worked in Tuba City for a long time, and was one of less than 30 non-Hopis to speak the Hopi language, informed me that the Hopi believe their gods to live on top of the San Francisco peaks. This land is disputed territory between the Navajo and Hopi people.
There is quite a bit of tension between the ski resorts on the San Francisco peaks and the Navajo Nation. The ski resorts generate snow atop the mountains to extend the ski period, this snow is made from waste water. In juxtaposition, only the most revered elders are allowed to climb to the top of these peaks. It is a sacred place, the mother, that is sprayed with waste water so that tourists are able to come and ski.
Nahookos. North. Folding Darkness Spirit.
North is old age. Si ha sine integrity and hope.
Hope is one of the most important values to the Navajo. When speaking of bad things, such as possible complications to a procedure or disease state, it is important to speak in the third person, otherwise you may be wishing harm on the patient and taking away their hope.
I have so much to learn.
