Below are videos from the 22nd and 21st conferences. You are welcome to use the videos for academic or research purposes. For any other purposes, please obtain permission from our organization. Questions can be directed to dine.studies@gmail.com.
22nd Diné Studies Virtual Conference VIDEOS
June 25-26, 2021
“Nihikéyah, Nihizaad, Nihi’éé’deetįįh: Niha’áłchíní Yee Bidziil Doo” - “Place, Language, and Innovation: Empowering Young Scholars for Success.”
Dr. Melanie K. Yazzie discusses her co-authored book Red Nation Rising: From Bordertown Violence to Native Liberation (Bordertown Violence Working Group: David Correia, Nick Estes, Jennifer Denetdale; Foreword by Radmilla Cody and Brandon Benallie). The book investigates and explains the violent dynamics of bordertowns. It is a manual for navigating the violence Native peoples experience in reservation bordertowns and a manifesto for Indigenous liberation built on traditions of Native resistance.
Keynote Speaker: Rex Lee Jim (Navajo) - Rhetorical Sovereignty: The Voice of the Blue Bird
Mr. Rex Lee Jim will do a reading from his recent book, 'Saad Lá Tah Hózhóón: A Collection of Diné Poetry'. He will interweave his talk with Navajo songs and prayers, speak about freedom of voice as expressed through the Blue Bird, and how we can translate that to contemporary forms of expressions, especially in written and published forms (in Navajo).
Day 1 - Morning Sessions
Session I: Innovation in Education
“The Corn Pollen Model: Following a Holistic Pathway to Diné Well-Being and Success” - Shawn Secatero, Ph.D.
The Corn Pollen Model is a holistic based wellness and healing model which has been utilized in classrooms ranging from junior high school to doctoral students. This interactive workshop will focus on the basic Corn Pollen Model and review of the framework.
“Diné Research Practices and Protocols: An Intersectional Paradigm Incorporating Indigenous Feminism, Critical Indigenous Research Methodologies and Indigenous Knowledge Systems” - Sharon Henderson, Ph.D.
This presentation will highlight a research epistemology and methodology to show how it may be used to protect Diné elders and cultural protectors. Through the lens of Justice Studies, the author will present how rhetorical sovereignty protects Indigenous peoples’ authority to frame the parameters of the research conversation.
Session Two: Innovation in Community
“Diné Youth Living in Two Worlds: Teachings from the Hooghan and How it Provided the Foundation for a Diné Psychiatrist” - Mary Hasbah Roessel, M.D.
The hooghan is the center of a Diné child’s life for inspiration, teachings, mentorship, developing relationships with family, gaining self-esteem and identity. A Diné psychiatrist will share her experiences as a child growing up within these teachings and the importance of how they have shaped her professional career.
“Voices within the schoolhouse: Diné Education 1920-1948” - R. G. Wakeland
The federal government involvement with Diné education began in 1878 with the tribe federal treaty. Tribal leaders recognized the imperative for bilingualism in modern industrial society. This presentation will address sources included in tribal leaders testimony in the congressional record; ethnographic audio, Indian agents reports, as well as New Mexico Association of Indian Affairs (NGO) analysis of the Meriam report on boarding schools.
“Data on Navajo Nation Education” - Dr. Andy Nez
This presentation provides an overview of survey and data points related to Navajo Nation education.
Session Three: Innovation in Diné History
“The Horse has been with Us since the Beginning” - Kelsey Dayle John, Ph.D.
This paper intends to outline why it is so important for Navajos and Native American tribes to hold tight to the origin of the horse on the North American continent. I describe how the idea that the horse came with colonization becomes an ideology of displacement in our community. Finally, I describe how the horse helps us imagine possibilities for Navajo Nation by highlighting research from different tribes that provide evidence for the horse's evolution on the North American continent.
“Navajo Nation Enrollment Criteria for the 21st Century and Beyond” - Lloyd L. Lee, Ph.D.
The Navajo Nation enrollment criteria was established in 1953. This article advocates for a change to the enrollment criteria to reflect an inclusive and a Navajo way of connecting to family, relatives, friends, and community members. The new criteria reflects a relations approach to life and identity.
Day 1 - Afternoon Sessions
Session One: Innovation in Language
"Disrupting Spaces to Perpetuate and Sustain the Navajo Language" Panelists: Cynthia Benally, Ph.D., University of Utah; Amelia A. Black, Diné College; Daniel Piper, Ph.D.,Utah State University; Clara Bedonie, Murray City School District
This presentation will focus on negotiating and navigating educational policies to create spaces for Navajo language learning and use in varying educational institutions. The presenters narrate different Diné populations in urban and ancestral areas are creating interpreting existing policies to ensure sustaining and revitalizing our language.
Session Two: Innovation in Healing
"A Hozhooji (Blessing Way) Ceremonial Song" - Panelists: Homer Hubbell, Diné Studies Conference, Inc. and Lorene Legah, Diné Language Instructor
Today, many of the Diné traditional ceremonies no longer exist. There are many efforts throughout the Diné Nation to preserve the few remaining ceremonies. One song from thr Blessing Way ceremony will be presented. There will be a recording of the song, a translation of the song both in Diné and English. This information will be disseminated to participants with the intent to preserve the knowledge of this song for future generations.
Session Three: Innovation in Education
"Decolonizing Diné Education: Building a New Educational System for Navajo Nation" - Panelists: Wendy S. Greyeyes, Ph.D., University of New Mexico; Greg Bigman, Clara Pratte, Harvey Rude, Ph.D. and Darrick Franklin
Navajo Education is a vast system that educates nearly 40,000 K-12 students and 3,000 tribal college students. The Navajo educational system embodies many players and entities that shape a complex field that has minimalized the nation’s oversight. As Navajo Nation exerts their inherent tribal sovereignty, these are brushed aside for state and federal priorities. In order for the nation to build back better, Navajo Nation must retool their tribal educational institution that decolonizes Navajo education through honesty, transparency, respect, and trust.
Day 2
Session One: Innovation in Language
“Saad K'ídilyé: Planting the Diné Language Seed” - Panelists: Tiffany S. Lee, Ph.D., University of New Mexico; Melvatha Chee, Ph.D., University of New Mexico; Mary Whitehair Frazier, Southwest Indian Polytechnic Institute and First Nations Community Healthsource; Warlance Chee, Native American Community Academy; Cheryl Yazzie, University of New Mexico
The presenters in this session include a Diné language teacher at the Native American Community Academy, a graduate student, and professors at the University of New Mexico inAlbuquerque, New Mexico.We will each share our work in the area of Diné language education and revitalization.We each have our own stories to share about our current teaching methods, activities, research, and our own successes and challenges in doing this work as Diné people.
Session Two: Innovation in Education
"Diné Resistance and Transformation for and in Education" - Panelists: Amanda Tachine, Ph.D., Arizona State University; Cynthia Benally, Ph.D., University of Utah; Colin Ben, Ph.D., Arizona State University
This panel addresses education issues impacting Navajo students and families from 1974 to present day that affirm resistance and transformation of Diné peoples. The first panelist, Dr. Cynthia Benally will explore the court case: Sinajini v. San Juan County School District where Diné parents in San Juan County, Utah sued the San Juan School District for denying adequate education for their children. Dr. Benally examines how the school district was and is a microcosm of the social and political differences of the larger society of San Juan County, Utah. Dr. Colin Ben discusses the process of creating a Native STEM summer research program and their impacts on Navajo/Native student recruitment and retention between ASU Transportation Engineering program and Dine' College STEM Department. Dr. Amanda R. Tachine presents Navajo students experiences getting into college. Students viewed their rural, reservation schools as lacking academic rigor and a college culture.
Session Three: Innovation in Climate Change
"Groundswell: Indigenous Knowledge and a Call to Action for Climate Change" - Panelists: Mary Hasbah Roessel, M.D. and Joe Neidhardt, M.D.
The presenters have been involved in a multimedia project which has produced a book, interviews and a documentary which addresses the climate crisis. They will present this information by showing the 35 minute documentary that the presenters produced. Then they will highlight recent climate science information and shift to Indigenous knowledge that can be used to address climate change and adaptation to the climate crisis. They will also touch on the Navajo nation position statement on climate change. Topics that will be discussed and explored with the audience will include Indigenous agriculture; food security; a sharing economy; Navajo educational methods as described by the late Diné scholar, Dr. Larry Emerson; Indigenous art and its connection to nature; Indigenous young adult perspectives; spiritual beliefs and significance to climate change; creative solutions and complexity theory and how to live in two worlds productively.
Day 2 - AFTERNOON Sessions
Session One: Innovation in Environmental Justice
"From Yellow Dirt to Yellow Water: Community Responses to Environmental Contamination in Diné Bikéyah" - Panelists: Teresa Montoya, Ph.D.; Tommy Rock, Ph.D.; and Janene Yazzie
Following WWII, national security interests drove needs to exploit uranium deposits in the broader Colorado Plateau region without regard to human health for mill workers or local communities. From 1944 to 1986, an estimated 30 million tons of uranium ore were extracted from Navajo lands. Drawing upon a variety of personal experiences caring for family and community members, training in western science methodologies, and the integration of Diné traditional knowledge alongside concerns of ethical reciprocity, we consider the stakes of ongoing environmental contamination in our communities both in terms of chronic health as well as tribal sovereignty toward the implementation of public policy. We invite conference attendees to participate in this dialogue as we reflect on various models for engaged community based environmental and public health research practices moving forward.
Session Two: Innovation in Image and Art
“Dislocated Landscapes: Visualizing Diné Bikéyah in the Colonial Medium” - Ryuichi Nakayama
In the 1930s, Diné students at the Santa Fe Indian School (SFIS) began to produce so-called flat style paintings, paintings depicting assumedly traditional aspects of indigenous societies in a naturalistic, simplified, and mostly static manner. Produced at the school away from their home, paintings by Diné students consistently show idyllic landscapes of the diné bikeyah. Images without meticulous depictions of the surrounding environment fail to articulate the meanings of specific places in the indigenous landscapes.
“Traditional vs. Contemporary": Considering and Deconstructing Binaries and Classifications in Diné and Indigenous Art - Isabella Robbins
Historically, western museums and academia have seen a division between traditional arts, such as basketmaking, rug weaving, and carving, versus contemporary arts, such as painting, sculpture and photography. While some museums use more loose classifications (i.e. the Navajo Nation Museum and other tribal museums), others (i.e. the Yale University Art Gallery, the Met, etc.) are more strict in their divisions between art forms. This brings up questions of whether traditional arts can be considered art, and which art belongs where (art vs. anthropology museums). In this paper, I want to problematize this binary and other classifications.
“The High Desert Asdzaan and Her Neo-Matriarch Identity” - Venaya Yazzie
Every day the Indigenous woman, the modern Matriarch makes a plethora of decisions, not only about her family, but about herself. She is a diné asdzaan, the Diné femme and her personal gendered rituals and routines are a significant part of her identity. For her, it might involve prayer first, a morning run, what to wear, and how to 'adorn' with jewelry. Whether a colorful Pendleton coat, or the trade item Babushka, granny scarf or turquoise jewelry items; her Dine' identity involves the act of tangible adornment, a cultural act passed on from generations of women from her historical clanship line. This human ritual of personal adornment is both a tangible and spiritual way of identification as well as a kind of self- empowerment and self-realization. The Diné epistemology of personal presentation is a resilient act still perpetuated in 2020. This session concerns the narrative of Navajo ways of being as a female as a means of recognizing, encouraging and inspiring her in a rapidly changing global community both in and outside of Navajoland.
21st Diné Studies Conference Videos
(Note: click on presenter names and titles to access videos)
October 25-27, 2018 at Diné College, Tsaile, Arizona
150 Years Later: Acting and Advocating to Empower Our Own Researchers and Healers and Visionaries and Thinkers and Planners and Leaders and Scientists and…
Neeznádiin dóo’ąą ashdladiin nááhaigo: Nihidine’é nida’ałkaahígíí, nahałáhí, dahaniihii dóó nitsékeesii dóó naha’áii dóó éé’deitįįhii, doozhóódgóó ba’ahódlí dóó ílį́įgo hiilna
The 21st Diné Studies Conference proudly presents video recordings from our presenters covering topics on the Navajo Treaty, Law, Politics, Media, Literature, Education, Language, Identity, History, Culture, Knowledge, Workshops, Poetry, and more. We recorded many of the wonderful conversations and workshops. We want to make all the knowledge gathered at these conferences available and accessible to all. We hope you enjoy these videos. We ask that you honor and respect these videos. These videos are not for personal use but to be used for academic usage. We highly encourage your feedback. Click here.
Videography by Diné owned Wayfinder Media. Twitter @wayfindermedia.
VIDEOs
Opening Keynote: Our Nation’s College: The Future of the Tribally Controlled Colleges Act
Dr. Charles Monty Roessel (Diné), President, Diné College
In the keynote address, I will discuss the rise of the Tribally Controlled Schools Act and its meaning for the Navajo Nation. I will announce the revitalization of the Navajo Community College press and its significance for the future of Diné Research.
Keynote: “Our Diné children, language and culture are sacred: Diné bizaad bee hahóózhd”
Dr. Audra Platero, Principal, Tséhootsooí Diné Bi’ Ólta’, Window Rock Unified School District
Biography: Dr. Platero is Bitter Water, born for the Mexican Clan, adopted by the Tangle People Clan. Her maternal grandfather’s clan is Big Water, and her paternal grandfather’s clan is the One Who Walks Around. She is originally from Many Farms, Arizona. Dr. Platero was trained specifically to be an Immersion teacher from Diné College and Arizona State University. She has taught and worked in the immersion setting for the past 16 years. She supports and advocates for our Diné language and culture so that our children can have a sense of identity and self.
Lunch Keynote: Developing a Navajo Educational Media Guide: A Community Perspective
The findings in this study will serve to inform the development of a Navajo Educational Media Guide that is to provide guidelines for a potential Navajo Educational Media Show that teaches the Navajo language and culture to pre-school aged children (4-6 years old). Implications from this study suggest that more research in needed around Indigenous Educational Media and the development of culturally relevant media for Indigenous populations in the area of Indigenous language rejuvenation.
Keynote: The Role of Law in the Navajo Nation Since the Treaty of 1868
What is the role of law in Navajo society since 1868? The Treaty created the original Navajo Reservation, and the Nation’s political territory has expanded significantly since that time. The Nation’s legal system has evolved since the Treaty as well, to a government split between three branches and a robust court system, though with no organic document like a constitution to define the roles of the three Branches. This structure co-exists with traditional legal principles originating from the Journey Narrative and other sources.
Treaty, Politics and Law
Naltsoos Sani: A Legal History of the Navajo Treaty of 1868
Paul Spruhan, J.D., Assistant Attorney General, Navajo Department of Justice
Navajo Nationalism, 1940s-1960s
Paul C. Rosier, Ph.D., Mary M. Birle Chair in American History, Villanova University
Reflections on the Navajo Treaty of 1868—Scholarship, Community Remembrances, and International Human Rights
Jennifer Denetdale, Ph.D.(Diné), Associate Professor, Department of American Studies, University of New Mexico
Exploiting the Fifth World: Navajo Land and Economic Development
Ezra Roser, J.D., Law Professor, American University Washington College of Law
Long Walk: Healing for Today
Philip J. Chmielewski, Ph.D., Professor and Sir Thomas More Chair of Engineering Ethics, Loyola Marymount University
Author Meets Critic Session: Landscapes of Power by Dana Powell
Panelists: Dana E. Powell, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, Appalachian State University; Jennifer Denetdale, Ph.D. (Diné) Associate Professor, Department of American Studies, University of New Mexico; Earl Tulley (Diné), and Sandra Yellowhorse (Diné), Doctoral Student, University of Auckland, Venaya Yazzie (Diné) Moderator: Andrew Curley, Ph.D. (Diné), Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, UNC - Chapel Hill
Getting A Diné Leader to Congress: Trials and Tribulations of Navajo Congressional Contenders and possibilities for our future
Panelists: Derrick Watchman - Arizona (Diné), Jack Jackson, Jr. - Arizona (Diné), Wenona Benally, J.D. - Arizona (Diné), and current congressional contender, James Singer - Utah (Diné). Moderator: Wendy S. Greyeyes, Ph.D. (Diné), Assistant Professor, University of New Mexico
Influencing policy solutions: Navajo Nation Human Trafficking White Paper
Presenters: Honorable Nathaniel Brown (Navajo Nation Council Delegate), Honorable Amber Kanazbah Crotty (Navajo Nation Council Delegate), Kathleen Finn and Carla Fredericks - University of Colorado-Boulder American Indian Law Clinic; Eric Gale - Navajo Department of Family Services; Melissa Clyde - Casey Family Programs
Media and Literature
Photography in the Hweéldi Era
Panelists: Rapheal Begay, Curator and photographer, Maxwell Museum, University of New Mexico; Devorah Romanek, Curator, Maxwell Museum, University of New Mexico; Hannah Abelbeck, Digital Archivist, Palace of the Governors, New Mexico History Museum, Santa Fe, NM. Moderator: Jennifer Denetdale, Ph.D.(Diné) Associate Professor, Department of American Studies, University of New Mexico.
Dine Literatures: Past and Future Perspectives of Dine Literature and Nation-Building through Writing
Panelists: Lemanuel Loley, Navajo Technical University; Orlando White, Diné College; Dr. Laura Tohe, Arizona State University; Byron Aspaas; Sherwin Bitsui; and Esther Belin. Moderator: Jake Skeets (Diné).
Poetry Reading of New and Selected Works of Luci Tapahonso
Luci Tapahonso (Diné), Professor Emerita of Diné and English Literature (University of New Mexico 2016)
Session Nine - Videos Not Available
Shásh Jaa’: Bears Ears (25 min short)
Angelo Baca (Diné/Hopi), Doctoral Student, Department of Anthropology, Culture and Media Documentary Program, New York University
Cultural Grit: The Story of K-Town Youth
Wendy S. Greyeyes, Ph.D. (Diné), Assistant Professor, University of New Mexico
Hondo Louis (Diné), Assistant Professor, Navajo Technical University
Crossroads 2020
Brian Cowdon
Education and Language
Development and Growth of Parent Leaders via the Indian Education Committee
Panelists: Katie Joe, Brenda Begay, Myrtle CauAugust, and Carleen Benally. Moderator: Carmen Moffett (Diné).
Understanding Intergenerational Trauma for Indigenous Communities
LeManuel Lee Bitsóí, Ed.D. (Diné), Chief Diversity Officer/Research Professor, Stony Brook University, New York
A Century-Plus of Sheepherding on Black Mesa: An Ethnoarchaeological Study of Navajo Pastoralism
Wade Campbell (Diné), Doctoral Candidate, Anthropology, Harvard University
From Naaltsoos Sani to Now: Dismantling the Effects of Disciplinary Policy from our Navajo Schools to Navajo Imprisonment
Delores Greyeyes, Ph.D. (Diné), Program Director, Department of Corrections, Navajo Nation and Wendy S. Greyeyes, Ph.D. (Diné), Assistant Professor, Department of Native American Studies, University of New Mexico
Reflecting upon Diné College – 50th Anniversary of the First Tribally Controlled College
Miranda Haskie, Ed.D. (Diné), Faculty, Social and Behavioral Sciences Department, Diné College
Navajo students’ decision-making factors that influence access and persistence in doctoral education
Colin Ben (Diné), Ph.D., Educational Leadership and Policy, University of Utah
Indigenous Knowledge System and Decolonizing Methodology Interwoven Into Higher Education Experience: Autoethnography
Frank Sage, Ph.D. (Diné), Director, Diné Policy Institute, Diné College
Ripple Effects: Intergenerational Ties of Diné Boarding school experiences, Stories and memories
Panelists: Tiffany Lee, Ph.D. (Diné/Oglala Lakota), Natahnee Winder (Tsaidüka (Duckwater Shoshone, Diné, Cui Ui Ticutta, Pyramid Lake Paiute and Nuucic (Southern Ute))); Farina King (Diné); Sandra Yellowhorse (Diné). Moderator: Miranda Haskie, Ed.D. (Diné), Faculty, Social and Behavioral Sciences Department, Diné College
Diné doctoral students designing dissertation research that enforces tribal nation building.
Panelists: Crystal Tulley-Cordova, Diné, Doctoral Candidate, Geology, University of Utah; Sharon Singer, Diné, Doctoral Candidate, Navajo Nation Ph.D. Program, Arizona State University; Ranalda Tsosie, Diné, Doctoral Student, Individual Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program, University of Montana. Moderator: Colin Ben (Diné), Ph.D., Educational Leadership and Policy, University of Utah
History and Identity
Diné Third Gender Identifiers: Advocating Towards Social & Educational Policies
Andy Nez (Diné), Education Specialist, Office of Educational Research and Statistics, Department of Diné Education
Traditional and Contemporary Navajo Identity
Lloyd Lee, Ph.D.(Diné), Associate Professor, Department of Native American Studies, University of New Mexico
Hozhoogo Na’adah: A Navajo balancing Construct
Herbert John Benally, Ph.D. (Diné), School of Diné Studies and Education, Diné College
Mapping the Patriarchal Norm of Misrecognition: Exposing Consequences for Diné Woolgrowers and Weavers
Kathy M’Closkey, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminology, University of Windsor, Canada
Navajo Masculine Performance/Expression in the 21st Century
Lloyd Lee, Ph.D.(Diné), Associate Professor, Department of Native American Studies, University of New Mexico
Be Matriarch, Not Feminist: Perpetuating Diné Asdzaá
Venaya Yazzie (Diné), Huerfano, New Mexico
Navajo Patriarchy in a 21st Century World
Lloyd Lee, Ph.D.(Diné), Associate Professor, Department of Native American Studies, University of New Mexico
Unsettling Borders: Criminalization of Indigenous peoples in the borderlands
Sierra Edd, Graduate Student (Diné), Ethnic Studies, University of California, Berkeley
Second Generation Diné Relocatees: Experiencing and Coping with Land Loss, Cultural Dispossession, and Displacement
Aresta Tsosie-Paddock, Ph.D. (Diné), Assistant Professor, American Indian Studies, University of Arizona
What do fences represent on Navajo Nation?
Kelsey Dayle John, Ph.D. (Diné), Doctoral Candidate, Syracuse University
Teaching Diné and Indigenous Studies to Non-Native College Students: Experiments in Decolonial Thinking
Andrew Curley, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, UNC - Chapel Hill
Changes in Navajo Ethnography Over the Past 25 Years
Kimberly J. Marshall, Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Oklahoma
Cultural Knowledge
Turquoise Trot: Navajo cultural Arts program (NCAP) Emerging Cultural Artisan Showcase
Brent Toadlena: Moccasin Making;
Heather Williams: Cinch Weaving;
Aaron Begay: Sashbelt Weaving;
Delia Wauneka: Silversmithing;
Waycee Harvey: Basket Making.
Moderator: Chris Ami, Ph.D. (Diné)
Cultivating Diné Learning Spaces through Workshops
Panelists: Sam Slater, Navajo Cultural Arts Program Alumni, Columbia University and the Jewish Theological Seminary List College; Crystal Littleben, 2017 Miss Navajo Nation; Roberto Nutlouis, Black Mesa Water Coalition and Zefren M., Historical Weaver
Nat’oh Ba Hane: How Tobacco Saved the World from Destruction and Healed the People
Avery Denny (Diné), Adrian Lerma (Diné), and Michael Lerma (P'urhépecha)
Diné Cultural Activities
Workshop: Miniature Moccasin Making
Sam Slater (Diné), Alumni, Navajo Cultural Arts Program
Workshop: Leading with Fire: Silversmithing Workshop
Crystal Littleben (Diné), 2017 Miss Navajo Nation
pRESENTATION: Navajo Language and Culture revitalization
James McKenzie (Diné)
Workshop: A Hozhójií (Blessing Way) Ceremonial Song
Homer Hubbell (Diné) and Lorene Legah (Diné)
Business Meeting (9 a.m., Saturday, October 27, 2018)
The business meeting agenda includes statements from board candidates and presentations on several resolutions.
Awards Banquet (6 p.m., Saturday, October 27, 2018)
The awards banquet is a recognition of Navajos and non-Navajos working to improve the lives and future of our people.
Excellence in Diné Studies: Bihóneedzáago na’askáá’
Community Service & Leadership: Yił kééhat’ínígíí yil naha’á
Navajo Innovation in Practice: T’áá Diné bá éé’deitánígíí bee oonish
Navajo Language Leadership: T’áá Diné Bizaad bóhoo’aah yee sizį́
Updated 05/21/2019. Questions can be directed to dine.studies@gmail.com. Please give us feedback on these videos and take a short survey. Click here.