NHA MEN'S CONFERENCE PROVIDES CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES - 09-01-24

WINDOW ROCK—"Take Your Position” was the theme of the NHA Men’s Conference at the Navajo Nation Museum August 27, which featured various guest speakers to empower and motivate the 65 male tenants in attendance.

The event was hosted by the Ft. Defiance Housing Management Office, with Rosita Willie, housing specialist, coordinating the event.

The morning sessions were focused on traditional and cultural knowledge identifying male roles within the home and traditional peacemaking to address conflict resolution.

Joseph Sandoval, community involvement specialist for the Navajo Treatment Center for Children and their Families, provided information on traditional fatherhood.

He said the program works with kids between the ages of four to 17 years old, including male and female clients.

Sandoval provided his presentation in Navajo for the benefit of elders in attendance and to strengthen the impact of his message.

“There are challenges and problems that our children face,” he said. “The home is where there is thinking, life, planning, and hope; it is the heart and strength of our lives.”

Conversely, he said Navajo children are also exposed to negative aspects of the home as well, in the form of domestic violence, drugs, and alcohol abuse.

Because of these modern-day monsters, Navajo children are straying from traditional knowledge and not listening to parents or authority figures.

“That is what we see where we work,” he said.

His presentation began with a disclaimer and Sandoval said it was necessary because he once gave a presentation while employed with the Navajo Nation Judicial Branch that resulted in his termination because someone in the audience took offense and sued him in court.

Diné ídlíígí Diné k’ehgo baa hané

Diné ídlíígí Diné k’ehgo baa hané or the Diné Cultural Aspect of Being a Male was the focus of the presentation, which Sandoval attributed to the teaching provided by the Holy People to guide Navajo men through life.

“This knowledge has been with Navajos since time immemorial, before the appearance of the white man,” he said.

Sandoval shared a black and white photograph of a Navajo family sitting on the dirt floor of a hogan, eating a meal together in the center of the home.

“Navajo families ate together and learned the value of respecting one another and acknowledging one another through kinship,” he said. “It’s probably still like that for some people.”

The advancement of this knowledge to the next generation is important, he added, noting that the seed must be planted in the minds of Navajo youth for these oral traditions to live.

“Life is contained within the hooghan and in those days, there were no windows, no doors. A blanket covered the doorway, and the only other source of light was from the hole in the roof for the smoke to escape,” he said.

Modern day homes are built with western planning and thinking, he said. However, the teaching and traditional lifeways at home remain the same.

Traditional male role models

He asked, who are the traditional male role models?

Since this is a men’s conference, it’s important to have male role models for us to look up to for mentorship and knowledge, Sandoval said.

“Yádiłhił Nihitaa’, Áłtsé Hastiin, Tádídiin Ashkii, Sáah Naagháí Ashkii, Jóhonaá éí Nihitaá, Niłtsá biká, Haashch’ééłti’íí, Haasch’eeshzhiní, Naayéé Neezghání, dóó Tóbájíshchíní éí ni’hi role models,” he said.

He was referencing the Universe, First Man, First Boy, Corn Pollen Boy, the Sun, Male Rain, First Talking God, Black Talking God, Monster Slayer, and Born for Water.

“They are still in existence, maybe sometimes you call upon these things,” he said. “All of this is a part of nature; it is a part of us, and we are a part of it.”

The duality of male and female encompasses everything in nature, from human beings to food to clothing and even housing, he said, noting that the four elements of earth, water, air, and fire are ever present.

“Think about your house: lumber is wood; bricks are rock; electricity is fire. All these things are from nature, it was just refined to where the white man can say they invented it and how to use it, but it was always here,” he said.

Diné ídlíígí

Sandoval covered the stages of development for Navajo males, which included ashkii awéé’, ashkii yázhí, ashkii, tsíłkéí, bizhí yizyeh, Diné ‘asdlíí’, Diné, and hastooi. 

Ashkii awéé’ is the male infant who comes into the world astride a turquoise horse, he said. A piece of turquoise is tied to the cradleboard for the Holy People and Navajos to know that it’s a baby boy tied within the cradleboard.

For females, it’s white shell that is attached to identify her to the Holy People.

“As a Navajo man, as a father, you are supposed to know these things,” he said. “You are also responsible for the construction of the cradle board.”

From infancy, a Navajo male enters the toddler state of ashkii yázhí, followed by the developmental stage of ashkii or boyhood.

Sandoval said that is followed by tsíłkéí, the teenage years of adolescence before reaching the state of bizhí yizyeh, when his voice changes and he is on the precipice of manhood with the rite of passage.

“That’s the growth,” he said.

Once the male puberty ceremony is conducted, a Navajo male becomes an adult (Diné), followed by hastooi, the stage of being an elderly man.

“Whatever age you’re at, this is the path of life. We want to reach old age, and we are permitted to live in this world to 102-plus years or more, but you must take care of yourself,” he said.

Sandoval covered other topics such as táchééh ilt’eeh (sweat lodge ritual for male puberty ceremony), naayéé’ (enemy or modern-day monsters), and the need for ázhdiltłis (self-discipline to meet life’s challenges).

“Hózhóogo dóó yá’átéehgo bee ‘oodááł biniyé,” he said.

The NHA Men’s Conference was part of the Crime Prevention and Housing Services Program activities for fiscal year 2024.

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