Navajo spoken
here
When Albert Hale was in
grade school, a teacher reprimanded him for speaking Navajo,
saying, “You guys lost the war. You are now in an English-speaking
country, so you speak the language,” Hale told the Salt Lake
Tribune. Hale, now president of the Navajo Nation, wants to make
sure a cultural blackout doesn’t happen to pre-schoolers. His
recent executive order requires Head Start programs on the nation’s
largest reservation to teach Navajo before
English.
This fall, 3,898 3- to 5-year-olds face
a new curriculum based on oral tradition and Navajo philosophies of
learning, says Albert Johnson, administrator for the Navajo Head
Start Program. About half of the youngsters come from
Navajo-speaking homes. By instilling a strong self-image at a young
age, Head Start will produce more serious students, Johnson
believes.
A teacher at one of the tribe’s Head
Start schools warns that any change will be slow in
English-dominated towns. “There may be an executive order, but when
I talk to the children in Navajo, they just ignore me and walk on
by.” Christian parents are also concerned, says Juanita Brooks, a
parent and Head Start secretary. “It’s the culture part parents
don’t like. First they teach the language and the next thing you
know is that the children are being taught the Navajo religion.”
*Heather
Abel
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Navajo spoken here.
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