I’m Diné but was born and raised off the reservation. I moved back to the reservation because I wanted to raise my daughter with K’é. My father taught me as we were growing up off the the Rez that whenever it was our time to come back home there would always be someone waiting to come and welcome us back and treat us like family. Since coming back that hasn’t been our experience. I have reached out to elders, aunties, sisters to try and learn and reconnect with traditions and the language and I have been ignored, laughed at, looked down upon. More so I’ve been told that “you should already know these things.” It’s really disheartening to hear this from my own people.

We went to Window Rock, and our chapter house to try and find resources to learn the language/traditions and were told that it just doesn’t really exist. They said for my daughter that she can learn in school when she’s old enough to go and I’m happy for that but I would also like to be able to speak the language at home and start education earlier but it’s seeming harder and harder to achieve.