Peaceful Dine / Navaho Women
Dine K’é Peace on the Move
In Navaho “K’é Hoonibah” means / “peace finally found you” / “peace caught up with you.”
Arizona’s Seventh Second Class Mail
AZ’s seventh / Legislative District large / portion Navajo / Democrats two to / one to and from rural rez / disadvantaged mail / mailing drags along / from rural tribal lands a / first-class envelope / arrives in six to / ten days at nearest county / recorder’s office / traveling 100 to 200 miles / mail sent affluent Phoenix / arrived eighteen hours
Earth People
Peace “K’é”, “Hózhǫ́” or “Achʼįʼ” in Dine / means The People of the Earth / an ancient title for people sometimes called / Navajo or Navaho / a Native American language spoken in North America / “Áchʼįʼ hózhǫ́” peace of mind / “Hodéezyéél” tranquility, quiet / “Iɫch’į’gont’ééhí” peace
K’é and Hózhǫ́ Basics of Peace
Navaho grammar and concepts / very different than English / two key concepts relate to peace / the Diné people’s “k’é” and “hózhǫ́” / translated peace “k’é” / a central concept related to relationships / relatives, friendship, and lack of conflict in personal relationships / harmony and peace / Iif I have to choose one word for Navaho peace / “hózhǫ́ “ built around the Diné / ceremonial concepts of peace / means harmony balance the good / peace health beauty / harmonious nice happy / and contentment / to tame or domesticate / to smooth / “Hodéezyéél” another concept related to tranquility / calm serenity to be still, quiet or a lull in storm / can also mean absence of violence / “hózhǫ́ náhásdlį́į́ʼ” means peace harmony / beauty has been restored / used at the end of ceremonial chants and poems / “hozho na’ha’ lii” peace came / or “hoozhǫǫh” to become peaceful / “hodoozhǫǫł” future will become peaceful / “k’énáhádleeh” to once again become peaceful / “k’énáhásdlį́į́ʼ” peaceful relations was restored / litterally it became just right / “t’áá hasht’e hodít’éego” / peaceful, utopian, untroubled / “hózhǫ́ǫ́jí” a Blessingway ceremony /
Navajo Venn Diagram
“Hózhǫ́” often translated beauty / at the center in large letters of a Venn diagram / or a set diagram or logic diagram / showing all possible logical relations / between a finite collection of different sets / the word for peace in Navajo for example / These diagrams depict elements as points in the plane / sets as regions inside closed curves / Navajo peace is a semantic set / we don’t have in English / “Hózhǫ́” connected to harmony / balance, the good, peace / health, beauty, harmonious / nice, happy, contentment / to tame or domesticate / to smooth / much more than just beauty / or peace
Hózhǫ́ Hózhǫ́ Hózhǫ́ Hózhǫ́
harmony / balance / good / peace / health / beauty / harmonious / nice / happy / contentment / tame / domesticate / smooth / as if with balance and peace we have health, beauty and happiness
K’é K’é K’é K’é
relationships / relatives / friendship / harmony / as if peace is all about relationships and friendships / harmonious ships
Dine, or The People of the Earth
There is meaning in a name / ancient and chosen for ourselves
Dine People of the Earth
If we change to our rightful name / we will be using the name we have always called ourselves / not the name other people imposed on us
Dine People of the Earth
Perhaps it will be a new beginning for our children and our grandchildren / restoring control over our own destiny
Dine People of the Earth
Yet Navajo youth tell tribal leaders / concentrate your energies on education and poverty / rather than worrying about how the rest of the world addresses the tribe
Dine People of the Earth
We are all ‘The People of the Earth
Navajo or African American or Cheyenne / 1992 a mysterious illness swiftly killed five people / became known as “the Navajo flu” / attracting much negative publicity to the proud and private people / Fifty-six percent of the Navajo people live below the federal poverty level / and nearly half in isolation without running water or electricity / our reservation covers an area of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah / roughly the size of West Virginia / it has only 2,000 miles of paved roads / compared with West Virginia’s 18,000.
As early as the 1930s / then-leader Jacob Morgan suggested the tribe insist / on being called by its ancient title / the name still invoked in traditional ceremonies / and prayers to the Great Spirit, or God
Some say the name was bestowed by Spanish explorers in the 1600s to denote a sharp knife or blade, a pejorative allusion to warrior-like behavior. Some contend that Navajo means thief. And still others, taking a milder view, say Navajo came from the Pueblo language and means “a piece of ground.”
Everyone agrees that the Navajo name did not originate with the Navajo people / what does the tribal president want to be remembered for / does he want to be known as the president who changed the name / or does he want to be known as the president who put running water in every home
Spider Woman (Navaho)
“Asdzání” woman in Navaho / “Na’ashjéii Asdzáá” spider woman / a goddess / a wise woman / a constant helper and benefactor / teacher of weaving and agriculture / protector of the innocent / a woman to restore harmony to the world
