WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.450 align:middle line:90% 00:00:04.450 --> 00:00:05.065 align:middle line:90% That's nice. 00:00:05.065 --> 00:00:07.810 align:middle line:90% 00:00:07.810 --> 00:00:09.700 align:middle line:84% I'd like to welcome you here, Luci, 00:00:09.700 --> 00:00:12.880 align:middle line:84% on behalf of the Intertribal Graduate Council. 00:00:12.880 --> 00:00:14.920 align:middle line:84% I also want to do the commercial. 00:00:14.920 --> 00:00:16.660 align:middle line:84% For all you guys in the hall, I'll 00:00:16.660 --> 00:00:18.970 align:middle line:84% make this quick so you don't have to stand 00:00:18.970 --> 00:00:21.070 align:middle line:90% any longer than you have to. 00:00:21.070 --> 00:00:23.680 align:middle line:90% These things are $2 out front. 00:00:23.680 --> 00:00:24.820 align:middle line:90% Buy one. 00:00:24.820 --> 00:00:27.720 align:middle line:90% Got some books, $7, buy one. 00:00:27.720 --> 00:00:31.720 align:middle line:90% 00:00:31.720 --> 00:00:33.310 align:middle line:90% $15 out front. 00:00:33.310 --> 00:00:38.310 align:middle line:90% 00:00:38.310 --> 00:00:40.385 align:middle line:84% He deserves a big hand for that, huh? 00:00:40.385 --> 00:00:43.640 align:middle line:90% 00:00:43.640 --> 00:00:46.380 align:middle line:84% OK, it's my pleasure to introduce tonight's speaker, 00:00:46.380 --> 00:00:47.490 align:middle line:90% Luci Tapahonso. 00:00:47.490 --> 00:00:50.850 align:middle line:84% Luci is presently working as an assistant professor 00:00:50.850 --> 00:00:53.640 align:middle line:84% at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. 00:00:53.640 --> 00:00:56.940 align:middle line:90% She's written a number of books. 00:00:56.940 --> 00:01:00.840 align:middle line:84% Among them, One More Shiprock Night, Seasonal Woman, 00:01:00.840 --> 00:01:04.140 align:middle line:84% A Breeze Swept Through, and her new manuscript, 00:01:04.140 --> 00:01:06.900 align:middle line:84% which will be published by the University of Arizona Press 00:01:06.900 --> 00:01:10.230 align:middle line:84% in the Sun Tracks series, we hope in the next year, 00:01:10.230 --> 00:01:13.380 align:middle line:90% is titled Sáanii Dahataal. 00:01:13.380 --> 00:01:15.720 align:middle line:84% And she can fix that when she comes up here, 00:01:15.720 --> 00:01:18.570 align:middle line:90% but I'm trying Luci. 00:01:18.570 --> 00:01:21.150 align:middle line:84% The subtitle, the translated title, 00:01:21.150 --> 00:01:22.980 align:middle line:90% is, The Women are Singing. 00:01:22.980 --> 00:01:25.770 align:middle line:84% A very fine manuscript that we're all looking forward 00:01:25.770 --> 00:01:27.900 align:middle line:90% to seeing in print. 00:01:27.900 --> 00:01:30.120 align:middle line:90% Among the many honors-- 00:01:30.120 --> 00:01:33.360 align:middle line:84% to, inspired by Ernie, keep this very brief-- 00:01:33.360 --> 00:01:35.040 align:middle line:84% there's one honor of Luci's that I 00:01:35.040 --> 00:01:40.200 align:middle line:84% wanted to mention among the many that she's earned for her work. 00:01:40.200 --> 00:01:43.080 align:middle line:84% And that was an honor she received this year when 00:01:43.080 --> 00:01:46.110 align:middle line:84% she was recognized as the Grand Marshal 00:01:46.110 --> 00:01:53.040 align:middle line:84% at the 68th annual Northern Navajo Fair Parade in Shiprock. 00:01:53.040 --> 00:01:57.270 align:middle line:84% So here she is the Grand Marshal from Shiprock, Luci Tapahonso. 00:01:57.270 --> 00:02:09.360 align:middle line:90% 00:02:09.360 --> 00:02:11.780 align:middle line:90% Yá'át'ééh. 00:02:11.780 --> 00:02:13.190 align:middle line:90% Thank you, Larry. 00:02:13.190 --> 00:02:16.850 align:middle line:84% It's Sáanii Dahataal is the title of that. 00:02:16.850 --> 00:02:20.000 align:middle line:90% 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:35.910 align:middle line:90% [DINÉ BIZAAD] 00:02:35.910 --> 00:02:39.210 align:middle line:84% I am from Shiprock, New Mexico, and so I 00:02:39.210 --> 00:02:45.120 align:middle line:84% was very honored and very pleased to have been selected 00:02:45.120 --> 00:02:49.950 align:middle line:84% for the Parade honor because I had always gone back every year 00:02:49.950 --> 00:02:52.800 align:middle line:84% for the Shiprock Fair and it's something 00:02:52.800 --> 00:02:56.280 align:middle line:84% that's really important to my family and to myself. 00:02:56.280 --> 00:03:00.570 align:middle line:84% And so I'm glad that Larry mentioned 00:03:00.570 --> 00:03:02.910 align:middle line:90% that because it's really-- 00:03:02.910 --> 00:03:09.450 align:middle line:84% I think that it's just an honor that is, for me, something that 00:03:09.450 --> 00:03:13.260 align:middle line:84% can't be surpassed because it's from my own home community 00:03:13.260 --> 00:03:17.340 align:middle line:84% and it's all my relatives and my friends, people I grew up with 00:03:17.340 --> 00:03:23.700 align:middle line:84% and people I went to school with and my former teachers. 00:03:23.700 --> 00:03:27.210 align:middle line:84% And it's really the place that I'm from, so I'm pleased. 00:03:27.210 --> 00:03:29.970 align:middle line:90% I was very pleased about that. 00:03:29.970 --> 00:03:33.630 align:middle line:84% I'm going to start with a prose piece called 00:03:33.630 --> 00:03:38.280 align:middle line:84% It Was a Special Treat that is about that area of New 00:03:38.280 --> 00:03:41.310 align:middle line:90% Mexico in the 1960s. 00:03:41.310 --> 00:03:45.900 align:middle line:84% When I was growing up in the middle, late 1960s. 00:03:45.900 --> 00:03:47.880 align:middle line:90% It was a special treat. 00:03:47.880 --> 00:03:50.220 align:middle line:84% Trips to Farmington were a special 00:03:50.220 --> 00:03:52.410 align:middle line:90% treat when we were children. 00:03:52.410 --> 00:03:55.320 align:middle line:84% Sometimes when we didn't get to go along, 00:03:55.320 --> 00:03:59.640 align:middle line:84% we cried so hard that we finally had to draw straws 00:03:59.640 --> 00:04:02.970 align:middle line:84% to decide fairly who would get to go. 00:04:02.970 --> 00:04:06.990 align:middle line:84% My oldest brother always went because he drove. 00:04:06.990 --> 00:04:11.430 align:middle line:84% My other brother went because he helped carry laundry. 00:04:11.430 --> 00:04:15.090 align:middle line:84% My father went because he was the father. 00:04:15.090 --> 00:04:19.589 align:middle line:84% And my mother went because she had the money 00:04:19.589 --> 00:04:22.710 align:middle line:84% and knew where to go and what to buy. 00:04:22.710 --> 00:04:25.170 align:middle line:84% And only one or two kids were allowed 00:04:25.170 --> 00:04:29.490 align:middle line:84% to go because we got in the way and beg for things all 00:04:29.490 --> 00:04:30.880 align:middle line:90% the time. 00:04:30.880 --> 00:04:34.440 align:middle line:84% We got up early on the Saturdays that we were going to town. 00:04:34.440 --> 00:04:37.140 align:middle line:84% We would get ready, sort laundry, 00:04:37.140 --> 00:04:40.710 align:middle line:84% and gather up pop bottles that we turned in for money. 00:04:40.710 --> 00:04:44.460 align:middle line:84% My father always checked the oil and tires on the pickup. 00:04:44.460 --> 00:04:47.490 align:middle line:84% And then he and my brothers would load up the big laundry 00:04:47.490 --> 00:04:52.950 align:middle line:84% tubs, securing the canvas covers with heavy wooden blocks. 00:04:52.950 --> 00:04:56.130 align:middle line:84% We would drive out of the front yard and the unfortunate 00:04:56.130 --> 00:04:59.820 align:middle line:84% ones who had to stay home would wave goodbye sullenly. 00:04:59.820 --> 00:05:02.730 align:middle line:84% The dogs chased the truck down the road a ways 00:05:02.730 --> 00:05:04.770 align:middle line:90% before turning home. 00:05:04.770 --> 00:05:07.830 align:middle line:84% In Farmington, we would go to the laundry first. 00:05:07.830 --> 00:05:10.980 align:middle line:84% It was always dark and clammy inside. 00:05:10.980 --> 00:05:13.350 align:middle line:84% We liked pulling clothes out of the wringer, 00:05:13.350 --> 00:05:17.340 align:middle line:84% even though my mother was nervous about letting us help. 00:05:17.340 --> 00:05:20.670 align:middle line:84% After that, we drove downtown and parked in the free lot 00:05:20.670 --> 00:05:22.410 align:middle line:90% north of Main Street. 00:05:22.410 --> 00:05:25.350 align:middle line:84% Sometimes my father got off at the library 00:05:25.350 --> 00:05:29.170 align:middle line:84% and we picked him up after we finished shopping. 00:05:29.170 --> 00:05:31.570 align:middle line:84% Someone always had to watch the pickup, 00:05:31.570 --> 00:05:34.930 align:middle line:84% and usually the one who was naughty at the laundry 00:05:34.930 --> 00:05:38.500 align:middle line:84% had to sit in the pickup for two or three hours. 00:05:38.500 --> 00:05:42.460 align:middle line:84% Then everyone else got to see things around town. 00:05:42.460 --> 00:05:46.280 align:middle line:84% If my father didn't go to the library, 00:05:46.280 --> 00:05:49.670 align:middle line:84% the kids were off the hook, naughty or not, 00:05:49.670 --> 00:05:53.870 align:middle line:84% because he waited in the pick up and read the Reader's Digest. 00:05:53.870 --> 00:05:56.450 align:middle line:84% When we stopped at Safeway, our last stop, 00:05:56.450 --> 00:05:58.070 align:middle line:90% it was early evening. 00:05:58.070 --> 00:06:00.980 align:middle line:84% My mother would buy some baloney or cooked chicken 00:06:00.980 --> 00:06:04.310 align:middle line:84% and plastic wrapped trays and a loaf of bread. 00:06:04.310 --> 00:06:06.920 align:middle line:84% We would eat this on our way home. 00:06:06.920 --> 00:06:09.440 align:middle line:84% After the groceries were packed in securely 00:06:09.440 --> 00:06:11.690 align:middle line:84% under the canvas and wooden blocks, 00:06:11.690 --> 00:06:15.710 align:middle line:84% we loaded up again and started to drive west to Shiprock. 00:06:15.710 --> 00:06:19.070 align:middle line:84% We talked about who we saw, what we should have bought 00:06:19.070 --> 00:06:21.170 align:middle line:90% instead of what we did buy. 00:06:21.170 --> 00:06:24.350 align:middle line:84% Maybe we would exchange it next time. 00:06:24.350 --> 00:06:26.670 align:middle line:84% Then the talking would slow down. 00:06:26.670 --> 00:06:29.930 align:middle line:84% And by the time we reach the Blue Window gas station, 00:06:29.930 --> 00:06:32.930 align:middle line:84% everyone but my father was sleepy. 00:06:32.930 --> 00:06:37.070 align:middle line:84% He would start singing in Navajo in a clear, strong voice. 00:06:37.070 --> 00:06:39.650 align:middle line:84% And a once in a while, my mother would ask him 00:06:39.650 --> 00:06:42.920 align:middle line:84% about certain songs she heard once. 00:06:42.920 --> 00:06:44.040 align:middle line:90% Do you know it? 00:06:44.040 --> 00:06:46.370 align:middle line:90% It was something like this. 00:06:46.370 --> 00:06:48.680 align:middle line:84% And she would sing a bit, and he would 00:06:48.680 --> 00:06:50.990 align:middle line:90% catch it and finish the song. 00:06:50.990 --> 00:06:53.240 align:middle line:90% We listen half asleep. 00:06:53.240 --> 00:06:56.690 align:middle line:84% I would whisper to my sister, "He sounds 00:06:56.690 --> 00:07:00.890 align:middle line:90% like those men on Navajo hour." 00:07:00.890 --> 00:07:01.730 align:middle line:90% "I know. 00:07:01.730 --> 00:07:04.070 align:middle line:90% It's so good.", she'd answer. 00:07:04.070 --> 00:07:06.620 align:middle line:84% And we slept until we arrived home. 00:07:06.620 --> 00:07:09.660 align:middle line:90% 00:07:09.660 --> 00:07:11.880 align:middle line:84% This is called Braiding a Daughter's Hair. 00:07:11.880 --> 00:07:14.910 align:middle line:90% 00:07:14.910 --> 00:07:17.430 align:middle line:90% Each night I braid her hair. 00:07:17.430 --> 00:07:21.870 align:middle line:84% My fingers slip through the thick silkiness, 00:07:21.870 --> 00:07:25.920 align:middle line:84% weaving the strands into a single black stream. 00:07:25.920 --> 00:07:30.060 align:middle line:84% The air feels like something will happen, she says. 00:07:30.060 --> 00:07:32.370 align:middle line:90% Maybe it will snow. 00:07:32.370 --> 00:07:37.470 align:middle line:84% The moon outside is a silver arc in the cold sky. 00:07:37.470 --> 00:07:40.770 align:middle line:84% In the old stories, they say the moon comes 00:07:40.770 --> 00:07:43.800 align:middle line:84% as a beautiful horse, I tell her. 00:07:43.800 --> 00:07:46.200 align:middle line:84% From the bedroom window, we look out 00:07:46.200 --> 00:07:48.690 align:middle line:90% at the glistening night sky. 00:07:48.690 --> 00:07:52.890 align:middle line:84% It is outside the house, the frozen night. 00:07:52.890 --> 00:07:55.980 align:middle line:84% It glimmers with her pleas for snow. 00:07:55.980 --> 00:08:01.140 align:middle line:84% It glimmers in her night dreams, a fusion of music, laughter, 00:08:01.140 --> 00:08:04.200 align:middle line:90% talk of boys and clothes. 00:08:04.200 --> 00:08:08.040 align:middle line:84% It glimmers here in the fibers of my bed sheets. 00:08:08.040 --> 00:08:12.000 align:middle line:84% There above the old roar of the Kaw River. 00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:15.750 align:middle line:84% It glimmers in the western sky, where he thinks of me 00:08:15.750 --> 00:08:17.910 align:middle line:90% and smiles. 00:08:17.910 --> 00:08:21.270 align:middle line:84% In an old story, a woman and her daughter 00:08:21.270 --> 00:08:24.480 align:middle line:84% were alone in the winter and the mother 00:08:24.480 --> 00:08:28.780 align:middle line:84% said, "Tomorrow if the sun rises, 00:08:28.780 --> 00:08:31.370 align:middle line:84% it will come as many different horses." 00:08:31.370 --> 00:08:40.039 align:middle line:90% 00:08:40.039 --> 00:08:47.270 align:middle line:90% This poem is one that I wrote. 00:08:47.270 --> 00:08:48.310 align:middle line:90% I guess this is-- 00:08:48.310 --> 00:08:54.060 align:middle line:84% I consider this my first Midwestern poem. 00:08:54.060 --> 00:08:58.370 align:middle line:84% It's a poem called Dit'óódí and the meaning of that becomes 00:08:58.370 --> 00:09:00.710 align:middle line:90% obvious in the poem itself. 00:09:00.710 --> 00:09:04.230 align:middle line:90% 00:09:04.230 --> 00:09:09.420 align:middle line:84% The skin behind one's ear is exquisite, thin, delicate, 00:09:09.420 --> 00:09:11.700 align:middle line:90% dit'óódí, dit'óódí. 00:09:11.700 --> 00:09:16.500 align:middle line:84% I hear words from your mouth, wet and warm with breath. 00:09:16.500 --> 00:09:19.920 align:middle line:84% It is said that the wind enters each newborn, 00:09:19.920 --> 00:09:23.910 align:middle line:84% a whoosh of breath inside and the baby gasps. 00:09:23.910 --> 00:09:28.890 align:middle line:84% It is wet with wind, it is holy, it is sacred. 00:09:28.890 --> 00:09:35.760 align:middle line:84% Such energy we are with wind inside alive, alive. 00:09:35.760 --> 00:09:39.660 align:middle line:84% Tell me words from the warmth of your throat, mouth, 00:09:39.660 --> 00:09:43.380 align:middle line:84% down to darkness of heart beating, beating. 00:09:43.380 --> 00:09:48.420 align:middle line:84% It travels then to my ears, mind, skin, surrounding it. 00:09:48.420 --> 00:09:52.410 align:middle line:84% Dit'óódí,dit'óódí cradling the pulse. 00:09:52.410 --> 00:09:55.800 align:middle line:84% My pulse, mirror of heart gentle, 00:09:55.800 --> 00:10:00.330 align:middle line:84% steady organ swaying in red warmth inside me. 00:10:00.330 --> 00:10:05.760 align:middle line:84% Inside me, all that I ever ate, all I have cried about, 00:10:05.760 --> 00:10:08.190 align:middle line:90% all I have laughed through. 00:10:08.190 --> 00:10:12.360 align:middle line:84% Tell me words of healing, words of holiness. 00:10:12.360 --> 00:10:16.830 align:middle line:84% Utter slowly into these wires of magic, magic. 00:10:16.830 --> 00:10:21.120 align:middle line:84% 900 miles shimmering with care and tears. 00:10:21.120 --> 00:10:24.670 align:middle line:84% My doctor said, take these every day. 00:10:24.670 --> 00:10:28.230 align:middle line:84% The only effect may be a slowed heartbeat. 00:10:28.230 --> 00:10:29.580 align:middle line:90% It is so. 00:10:29.580 --> 00:10:33.040 align:middle line:84% Speak to me words, my heart quickens a bit. 00:10:33.040 --> 00:10:37.860 align:middle line:84% Reaching back into recent days, last month, for pulses missed, 00:10:37.860 --> 00:10:41.070 align:middle line:84% skipped over as I slept in darkness. 00:10:41.070 --> 00:10:44.100 align:middle line:90% My heart beats slower, slower. 00:10:44.100 --> 00:10:46.650 align:middle line:90% Two beats slide into one. 00:10:46.650 --> 00:10:48.270 align:middle line:90% I sleep on. 00:10:48.270 --> 00:10:51.930 align:middle line:84% A dream scene is much too slow, but anything 00:10:51.930 --> 00:10:54.570 align:middle line:90% can happen in dreams. 00:10:54.570 --> 00:10:58.680 align:middle line:84% Later, as I walked down the aisle selecting cuts of meat, 00:10:58.680 --> 00:11:02.730 align:middle line:84% in between picking up something tasty and easy to fix. 00:11:02.730 --> 00:11:08.130 align:middle line:84% And a roast to simmer all day, steamed rice and warm and spicy 00:11:08.130 --> 00:11:11.070 align:middle line:90% from the oven, my pulse slowed. 00:11:11.070 --> 00:11:16.680 align:middle line:84% It remains there beating above shiny tile and chilled air, 00:11:16.680 --> 00:11:20.070 align:middle line:90% a small space of loneliness. 00:11:20.070 --> 00:11:24.070 align:middle line:84% Your voice retrieves the missing pulses of my heart. 00:11:24.070 --> 00:11:25.350 align:middle line:90% It works. 00:11:25.350 --> 00:11:29.520 align:middle line:84% It works over distances of hills, flat plains, 00:11:29.520 --> 00:11:33.420 align:middle line:84% lonely silos, and sturdy houses of the Midwest, 00:11:33.420 --> 00:11:35.280 align:middle line:90% and I am healed. 00:11:35.280 --> 00:11:39.510 align:middle line:84% Your breath of words occur beneath the solid white bone 00:11:39.510 --> 00:11:41.070 align:middle line:90% around my ear. 00:11:41.070 --> 00:11:45.250 align:middle line:84% And my pulse continues steadily, your words, your life 00:11:45.250 --> 00:11:49.320 align:middle line:84% swirls inside the dark depths of my own body. 00:11:49.320 --> 00:11:55.270 align:middle line:90% 00:11:55.270 --> 00:11:56.535 align:middle line:90% This is called Light a Candle. 00:11:56.535 --> 00:12:12.640 align:middle line:90% 00:12:12.640 --> 00:12:16.970 align:middle line:84% The other night, thunder shook the house and lightning slashed 00:12:16.970 --> 00:12:20.200 align:middle line:90% brilliant blue across the bed. 00:12:20.200 --> 00:12:21.940 align:middle line:90% I slept in bits. 00:12:21.940 --> 00:12:26.560 align:middle line:84% My heart race with each explosion of noise and rain. 00:12:26.560 --> 00:12:28.870 align:middle line:84% And though he helped me, my breath 00:12:28.870 --> 00:12:32.350 align:middle line:84% was ragged and exhausted I may never 00:12:32.350 --> 00:12:35.050 align:middle line:90% sleep through these storms. 00:12:35.050 --> 00:12:38.680 align:middle line:90% Hector, light a candle for me. 00:12:38.680 --> 00:12:41.500 align:middle line:84% Last week, we returned to our birthplace. 00:12:41.500 --> 00:12:44.870 align:middle line:84% And as we drove through southern Colorado, 00:12:44.870 --> 00:12:48.430 align:middle line:84% we were stunned by the beauty of autumn leaves, 00:12:48.430 --> 00:12:52.650 align:middle line:84% the deep cool mountain canyons, and twice deer 00:12:52.650 --> 00:12:54.880 align:middle line:90% stood beside the road. 00:12:54.880 --> 00:12:58.090 align:middle line:84% They watch as we pass through their land. 00:12:58.090 --> 00:13:01.300 align:middle line:84% Their eyes glisten black softness. 00:13:01.300 --> 00:13:06.400 align:middle line:84% Misty said, "Isn't it neat that we see them on our way home?" 00:13:06.400 --> 00:13:10.210 align:middle line:90% Hector, light a candle for her. 00:13:10.210 --> 00:13:14.980 align:middle line:84% In a small reservation town, a little boy shakes his mother. 00:13:14.980 --> 00:13:19.060 align:middle line:84% She's passed out on the floor and he is hungry. 00:13:19.060 --> 00:13:23.470 align:middle line:84% Mama, he says, can you make some potatoes? 00:13:23.470 --> 00:13:25.120 align:middle line:90% She stirs. 00:13:25.120 --> 00:13:27.880 align:middle line:90% Leave me alone, dammit. 00:13:27.880 --> 00:13:32.140 align:middle line:84% He climbs up on the counter, takes down a box of Cheerios, 00:13:32.140 --> 00:13:35.200 align:middle line:90% then sits back down to watch TV. 00:13:35.200 --> 00:13:40.390 align:middle line:84% The noise he makes eating dry cereal is steady and quiet. 00:13:40.390 --> 00:13:43.960 align:middle line:90% Hector, light a candle for him. 00:13:43.960 --> 00:13:47.830 align:middle line:84% Some evenings, Leona just wants to sit with her sisters 00:13:47.830 --> 00:13:51.880 align:middle line:84% and mother around the kitchen table and talk of everything 00:13:51.880 --> 00:13:53.200 align:middle line:90% and nothing. 00:13:53.200 --> 00:13:55.930 align:middle line:84% Instead, she sits in the quiet kitchen, 00:13:55.930 --> 00:13:59.410 align:middle line:84% and outside leaves blow against the window. 00:13:59.410 --> 00:14:02.350 align:middle line:90% The wind is cold and damp. 00:14:02.350 --> 00:14:07.420 align:middle line:84% In front of Leona, the table stretches out clean and shiny. 00:14:07.420 --> 00:14:11.890 align:middle line:90% Hector, light a candle for her. 00:14:11.890 --> 00:14:17.110 align:middle line:84% North of here, the car rushes westward, a wide muted roar. 00:14:17.110 --> 00:14:20.860 align:middle line:84% The trees sway and brush against each other. 00:14:20.860 --> 00:14:24.460 align:middle line:84% Dry, thin leaves swirl in the cold wind. 00:14:24.460 --> 00:14:28.420 align:middle line:84% The river smell and heavy winds settle into my hair, 00:14:28.420 --> 00:14:32.440 align:middle line:84% absorbing the dull thundering water, the rolling 00:14:32.440 --> 00:14:35.170 align:middle line:90% waves of prairie wind. 00:14:35.170 --> 00:14:39.760 align:middle line:84% This time I have walked among the holy people, the river, 00:14:39.760 --> 00:14:43.510 align:middle line:84% the wind, the air swirling down from the hills, 00:14:43.510 --> 00:14:46.780 align:middle line:84% the silent grace of egos as they snatch 00:14:46.780 --> 00:14:51.310 align:middle line:84% their prey, the exhilaration of the biggest catch, 00:14:51.310 --> 00:14:55.270 align:middle line:84% the silent pleas of those who drowned here. 00:14:55.270 --> 00:14:58.450 align:middle line:90% Hector, light a candle for me. 00:14:58.450 --> 00:15:00.460 align:middle line:90% Light a candle for me. 00:15:00.460 --> 00:15:04.960 align:middle line:90% 00:15:04.960 --> 00:15:07.780 align:middle line:84% You know, when I moved there, I was 00:15:07.780 --> 00:15:10.930 align:middle line:84% very amazed by the size of the rivers there. 00:15:10.930 --> 00:15:13.960 align:middle line:84% And I realized that what we consider rivers here 00:15:13.960 --> 00:15:15.565 align:middle line:90% is not really a river at all. 00:15:15.565 --> 00:15:29.880 align:middle line:90% 00:15:29.880 --> 00:15:37.860 align:middle line:84% I'm going to read this poem for [? Rajo ?] 00:15:37.860 --> 00:15:39.810 align:middle line:90% and for his grandmother. 00:15:39.810 --> 00:15:42.750 align:middle line:90% It's called All I Want. 00:15:42.750 --> 00:15:49.770 align:middle line:84% All I want is the bread to turn out like hers just once. 00:15:49.770 --> 00:15:56.310 align:middle line:84% Brown crusts, soft, airy insides, rich and round, 00:15:56.310 --> 00:15:57.960 align:middle line:90% that is all. 00:15:57.960 --> 00:16:02.160 align:middle line:90% So I ask her, how many cups? 00:16:02.160 --> 00:16:06.810 align:middle line:84% Ah yaa ah, she says, throwing flour and salt 00:16:06.810 --> 00:16:09.450 align:middle line:90% into a large silver bowl. 00:16:09.450 --> 00:16:11.670 align:middle line:90% I don't measure with cups. 00:16:11.670 --> 00:16:14.460 align:middle line:90% I just know by my hands. 00:16:14.460 --> 00:16:18.330 align:middle line:84% Just a little like this is right, see? 00:16:18.330 --> 00:16:23.980 align:middle line:84% You young people always ask those kinds of questions, 00:16:23.980 --> 00:16:27.570 align:middle line:84% she says, thrusting her arms into the dough 00:16:27.570 --> 00:16:30.930 align:middle line:84% and turning it over and over again. 00:16:30.930 --> 00:16:34.320 align:middle line:84% The table trembles with her movements. 00:16:34.320 --> 00:16:36.840 align:middle line:84% I watch silently and this coffee 00:16:36.840 --> 00:16:40.080 align:middle line:90% is good, strong, and fresh. 00:16:40.080 --> 00:16:42.930 align:middle line:84% Outside, her son is chopping wood. 00:16:42.930 --> 00:16:45.690 align:middle line:90% His body an intense arc. 00:16:45.690 --> 00:16:48.540 align:middle line:84% The dull rhythm of winter is the swinging 00:16:48.540 --> 00:16:52.140 align:middle line:84% of the ax and the noise of children squeezing 00:16:52.140 --> 00:16:56.370 align:middle line:84% in with the small size of wind through the edges 00:16:56.370 --> 00:16:57.990 align:middle line:90% of the windows. 00:16:57.990 --> 00:17:01.440 align:middle line:84% She pats and tosses it furiously, 00:17:01.440 --> 00:17:05.050 align:middle line:84% shaping balls of warm, soft dough. 00:17:05.050 --> 00:17:10.619 align:middle line:84% There, we'll let it rise, she says, sitting down now. 00:17:10.619 --> 00:17:13.319 align:middle line:84% We drink coffee and there is nothing 00:17:13.319 --> 00:17:18.030 align:middle line:84% like the warm smell of bread rising on a windy, wood 00:17:18.030 --> 00:17:19.658 align:middle line:90% chopping afternoons. 00:17:19.658 --> 00:17:22.970 align:middle line:90% 00:17:22.970 --> 00:17:27.380 align:middle line:84% This is a poem called Last Year the Piñons were Plentiful. 00:17:27.380 --> 00:17:31.030 align:middle line:90% 00:17:31.030 --> 00:17:35.140 align:middle line:84% And earlier today, I told a story. 00:17:35.140 --> 00:17:38.800 align:middle line:84% The story behind this one, which is altogether 00:17:38.800 --> 00:17:41.240 align:middle line:90% a different story. 00:17:41.240 --> 00:17:48.650 align:middle line:84% But I wrote it in this form so I wouldn't get into trouble. 00:17:48.650 --> 00:17:51.940 align:middle line:84% So last year the piñons were plentiful. 00:17:51.940 --> 00:17:56.230 align:middle line:84% It took only late night phone call, listening and laughing 00:17:56.230 --> 00:17:58.090 align:middle line:90% and the bedroom dark. 00:17:58.090 --> 00:18:00.850 align:middle line:84% Her husband was lying right there, 00:18:00.850 --> 00:18:05.170 align:middle line:84% but one-sided conversations never make sense. 00:18:05.170 --> 00:18:08.560 align:middle line:84% And it made no sense right from the beginning. 00:18:08.560 --> 00:18:13.150 align:middle line:84% The blue moonlight slid down the long center curve of his back 00:18:13.150 --> 00:18:16.990 align:middle line:84% as he got up to take a drink of water. 00:18:16.990 --> 00:18:20.410 align:middle line:84% After the phone call, she had snow-laced dreams, 00:18:20.410 --> 00:18:23.320 align:middle line:84% where she was trying to catch the dark horse 00:18:23.320 --> 00:18:27.280 align:middle line:84% and the other watch chuckling under his breath. 00:18:27.280 --> 00:18:29.560 align:middle line:84% She smelled chamisa when she woke 00:18:29.560 --> 00:18:31.630 align:middle line:90% and knew what had happened. 00:18:31.630 --> 00:18:34.810 align:middle line:84% Far away, the other was going to feed the horses 00:18:34.810 --> 00:18:37.450 align:middle line:84% beneath Toadlena mountain, the air 00:18:37.450 --> 00:18:41.410 align:middle line:84% was heavy with rain scent, sage, and rabbit brush. 00:18:41.410 --> 00:18:43.720 align:middle line:84% But here, the morning light bolted 00:18:43.720 --> 00:18:47.170 align:middle line:84% into the room in streaks, where her nightgown was 00:18:47.170 --> 00:18:49.510 align:middle line:90% a rumpled heap under the bed. 00:18:49.510 --> 00:18:52.480 align:middle line:84% And she remembered only the phone call 00:18:52.480 --> 00:18:55.930 align:middle line:84% and the time she followed him into the trading post, 00:18:55.930 --> 00:18:58.570 align:middle line:90% a skinny dog at her heels. 00:18:58.570 --> 00:19:02.950 align:middle line:84% He bought her a Coke and they sat on the dusty steps outside, 00:19:02.950 --> 00:19:04.690 align:middle line:90% not even talking. 00:19:04.690 --> 00:19:08.980 align:middle line:90% The sun was hot and sticky. 00:19:08.980 --> 00:19:11.630 align:middle line:90% Fine dirt settling on them. 00:19:11.630 --> 00:19:15.640 align:middle line:84% That was when he said, it's better here in the spring. 00:19:15.640 --> 00:19:18.460 align:middle line:90% Maybe you'll come back then. 00:19:18.460 --> 00:19:22.090 align:middle line:84% As she drove off, she saw him in the rearview mirror 00:19:22.090 --> 00:19:24.490 align:middle line:90% mounting the dark horse. 00:19:24.490 --> 00:19:27.640 align:middle line:90% That was how it was that day. 00:19:27.640 --> 00:19:30.160 align:middle line:84% Here she cleaned the house thoroughly. 00:19:30.160 --> 00:19:34.420 align:middle line:84% And at noon, he called again saying, "Come on out. 00:19:34.420 --> 00:19:39.220 align:middle line:84% The clouds are still real low in the mornings, but it warms up. 00:19:39.220 --> 00:19:42.370 align:middle line:84% We can ride over the mountain if you want." 00:19:42.370 --> 00:19:44.090 align:middle line:90% And she did. 00:19:44.090 --> 00:19:47.170 align:middle line:84% "I have no choice.", she told herself, 00:19:47.170 --> 00:19:51.190 align:middle line:84% leaving her nightgown on the floor and her husband waiting 00:19:51.190 --> 00:19:52.210 align:middle line:90% at lunch. 00:19:52.210 --> 00:19:56.080 align:middle line:84% She took the next Trailways to Gallup, a radio 00:19:56.080 --> 00:19:58.420 align:middle line:90% and a can of coffee. 00:19:58.420 --> 00:20:00.580 align:middle line:84% People saw them at the trading post 00:20:00.580 --> 00:20:03.850 align:middle line:84% at Newcomb reading the bulletin board. 00:20:03.850 --> 00:20:07.600 align:middle line:84% They left on the dark horse toward two gray hills 00:20:07.600 --> 00:20:13.180 align:middle line:84% late in the afternoon and weren't seen again that spring. 00:20:13.180 --> 00:20:16.270 align:middle line:84% "It doesn't make sense", her husband said. 00:20:16.270 --> 00:20:18.310 align:middle line:90% She seemed happy. 00:20:18.310 --> 00:20:21.430 align:middle line:84% But happiness had nothing to do with it. 00:20:21.430 --> 00:20:24.190 align:middle line:84% And years from now, her grandchildren 00:20:24.190 --> 00:20:28.870 align:middle line:84% will understand saying, back then, those things always 00:20:28.870 --> 00:20:30.370 align:middle line:90% happened. 00:20:30.370 --> 00:20:35.110 align:middle line:84% That was last year, the piñons were large and the winter 00:20:35.110 --> 00:20:38.380 align:middle line:90% so cold, so cold. 00:20:38.380 --> 00:20:43.765 align:middle line:84% Beneath Toadlena mountain, the white desert shining with snow. 00:20:43.765 --> 00:20:56.890 align:middle line:90% 00:20:56.890 --> 00:20:59.800 align:middle line:84% I'm working on a project for the city of Phoenix, 00:20:59.800 --> 00:21:02.890 align:middle line:84% and it has to do with the new expressway that 00:21:02.890 --> 00:21:04.030 align:middle line:90% recently opened. 00:21:04.030 --> 00:21:05.640 align:middle line:90% I think it opened in December. 00:21:05.640 --> 00:21:07.600 align:middle line:90% It's the Hohokam Expressway. 00:21:07.600 --> 00:21:09.730 align:middle line:84% In order to put in that expressway, 00:21:09.730 --> 00:21:13.420 align:middle line:84% they had to excavate and remove hundreds 00:21:13.420 --> 00:21:17.380 align:middle line:84% of remains of Hohokam people who used 00:21:17.380 --> 00:21:20.890 align:middle line:90% to live there centuries ago. 00:21:20.890 --> 00:21:23.860 align:middle line:84% So my part in this difficult project 00:21:23.860 --> 00:21:28.180 align:middle line:84% is to document and commemorate the existence of the people 00:21:28.180 --> 00:21:31.310 align:middle line:90% that live there at one time. 00:21:31.310 --> 00:21:43.920 align:middle line:84% And so this is a prose piece that is about meeting with-- 00:21:43.920 --> 00:21:50.310 align:middle line:84% meeting with a medicine man in that area and just what-- 00:21:50.310 --> 00:21:57.910 align:middle line:84% so the-- it's a part of that whole series. 00:21:57.910 --> 00:22:01.230 align:middle line:84% Conversations at Gila River Art Center. 00:22:01.230 --> 00:22:05.130 align:middle line:84% We met on a spring Saturday at a restaurant for breakfast 00:22:05.130 --> 00:22:06.930 align:middle line:90% and talked for hours. 00:22:06.930 --> 00:22:12.910 align:middle line:84% The morning was warm and the sky a bright blue emptiness. 00:22:12.910 --> 00:22:15.600 align:middle line:84% There's that mountain north of here, he said. 00:22:15.600 --> 00:22:20.040 align:middle line:84% You passed it on-- you passed it driving over. 00:22:20.040 --> 00:22:24.120 align:middle line:84% We've always been told not to climb it, and we never have. 00:22:24.120 --> 00:22:27.240 align:middle line:84% It has a tempting and dangerous face. 00:22:27.240 --> 00:22:30.390 align:middle line:84% And so it seems like people who aren't from here 00:22:30.390 --> 00:22:33.900 align:middle line:90% can't resist trying to climb it. 00:22:33.900 --> 00:22:38.460 align:middle line:84% One guy was looking at it and asked, you ever climb it? 00:22:38.460 --> 00:22:39.810 align:middle line:90% Nope, I said. 00:22:39.810 --> 00:22:41.580 align:middle line:90% Too dangerous. 00:22:41.580 --> 00:22:46.830 align:middle line:84% And the voice that's talking in here is the medicine man. 00:22:46.830 --> 00:22:49.380 align:middle line:84% Actually, there are spirits who live there. 00:22:49.380 --> 00:22:52.620 align:middle line:84% And some of the most sacred places to our people 00:22:52.620 --> 00:22:54.420 align:middle line:90% are located there. 00:22:54.420 --> 00:22:56.430 align:middle line:84% At certain times, the medicine men 00:22:56.430 --> 00:23:00.090 align:middle line:84% will go up to make offerings or to receive blessings. 00:23:00.090 --> 00:23:02.790 align:middle line:84% They're the only ones who can go up there. 00:23:02.790 --> 00:23:05.490 align:middle line:84% The kids around here know this too. 00:23:05.490 --> 00:23:08.220 align:middle line:84% Maybe they don't understand exactly why 00:23:08.220 --> 00:23:11.730 align:middle line:84% it's forbidden to them, but they know what the phrase-- 00:23:11.730 --> 00:23:15.240 align:middle line:84% and then he said a phrase in his own language. 00:23:15.240 --> 00:23:19.260 align:middle line:84% What that phrase means, it's something to be respected 00:23:19.260 --> 00:23:21.990 align:middle line:90% and something to be feared. 00:23:21.990 --> 00:23:26.230 align:middle line:84% Anyway, this guy has to meet this challenge head on. 00:23:26.230 --> 00:23:29.130 align:middle line:84% So he gets ready in a couple of days later. 00:23:29.130 --> 00:23:34.080 align:middle line:84% Tells me he's going up so that somebody will know where he is. 00:23:34.080 --> 00:23:36.390 align:middle line:84% I wished him luck and told him again 00:23:36.390 --> 00:23:38.970 align:middle line:84% that I thought it wasn't a good idea. 00:23:38.970 --> 00:23:41.730 align:middle line:90% He smiles and leaves anyway. 00:23:41.730 --> 00:23:45.840 align:middle line:84% A few days later, I saw him and he was on crutches. 00:23:45.840 --> 00:23:50.460 align:middle line:84% He had slipped before he reached the top and fractured his leg. 00:23:50.460 --> 00:23:54.060 align:middle line:84% He was kind of embarrassed, but he wasn't the only one 00:23:54.060 --> 00:23:56.190 align:middle line:90% that that happened to. 00:23:56.190 --> 00:23:59.700 align:middle line:84% The holy people take care of themselves, they do. 00:23:59.700 --> 00:24:02.140 align:middle line:90% Just as they take care of us. 00:24:02.140 --> 00:24:04.710 align:middle line:84% So I really like these old stories 00:24:04.710 --> 00:24:07.770 align:middle line:84% and always feel good when someone wants to hear them 00:24:07.770 --> 00:24:11.490 align:middle line:84% and to know about what we believe in and what we know. 00:24:11.490 --> 00:24:15.780 align:middle line:84% That's the Indian way to sit and tell stories together. 00:24:15.780 --> 00:24:19.500 align:middle line:84% Each tribe is the same and the story is different. 00:24:19.500 --> 00:24:23.550 align:middle line:84% It's a good thing this storytelling. 00:24:23.550 --> 00:24:25.600 align:middle line:84% As we were finishing our breakfast, 00:24:25.600 --> 00:24:28.560 align:middle line:84% his daughter came in with her two small children. 00:24:28.560 --> 00:24:31.530 align:middle line:84% She had come to teach her class in basket weaving 00:24:31.530 --> 00:24:33.480 align:middle line:90% in another part of the center. 00:24:33.480 --> 00:24:35.730 align:middle line:84% She was surprised by the enrollment 00:24:35.730 --> 00:24:37.950 align:middle line:84% and pleased that so many women wanted 00:24:37.950 --> 00:24:41.550 align:middle line:84% to learn the old tradition of making baskets. 00:24:41.550 --> 00:24:44.160 align:middle line:84% When she was a child, she asked to learn 00:24:44.160 --> 00:24:46.350 align:middle line:90% and her grandmother taught her. 00:24:46.350 --> 00:24:48.660 align:middle line:84% In preparation for the class, she 00:24:48.660 --> 00:24:52.620 align:middle line:84% had gone out to gather the plants needed and soaked them 00:24:52.620 --> 00:24:55.170 align:middle line:90% overnight in large metal tubs. 00:24:55.170 --> 00:24:57.750 align:middle line:84% She would tell the women where the plants were 00:24:57.750 --> 00:25:00.390 align:middle line:90% and when to gather them. 00:25:00.390 --> 00:25:02.610 align:middle line:84% This morning, the dozen or so students 00:25:02.610 --> 00:25:05.700 align:middle line:84% followed her across the patio to their classroom. 00:25:05.700 --> 00:25:09.870 align:middle line:84% They were mostly Indian, maybe one or two non-Indian women. 00:25:09.870 --> 00:25:13.890 align:middle line:84% They followed her, this 23-year-old Pima woman. 00:25:13.890 --> 00:25:15.930 align:middle line:84% And her two and her little children 00:25:15.930 --> 00:25:19.290 align:middle line:84% ran to catch up, pouting, unwilling to share 00:25:19.290 --> 00:25:21.900 align:middle line:90% their mother. 00:25:21.900 --> 00:25:25.320 align:middle line:84% As I left the center, there were two tourists coming in. 00:25:25.320 --> 00:25:27.930 align:middle line:84% And across the road, people were at the store 00:25:27.930 --> 00:25:29.550 align:middle line:90% talking and laughing. 00:25:29.550 --> 00:25:32.730 align:middle line:84% Some were setting up tables facing the highway, 00:25:32.730 --> 00:25:36.240 align:middle line:84% getting ready to sell jewelry, beadwork, tamales, 00:25:36.240 --> 00:25:37.530 align:middle line:90% and fry bread. 00:25:37.530 --> 00:25:40.380 align:middle line:84% There were huge jars of dill pickles 00:25:40.380 --> 00:25:44.670 align:middle line:84% and swivel racks of colored syrup for snow cones. 00:25:44.670 --> 00:25:47.250 align:middle line:90% Patio umbrellas were going up. 00:25:47.250 --> 00:25:53.290 align:middle line:84% The sun was already overhead and there weren't any trees nearby. 00:25:53.290 --> 00:25:57.280 align:middle line:84% I pull over and went to see what they had to say. 00:25:57.280 --> 00:26:02.200 align:middle line:84% Bet you're Navajo, one guy said to me. 00:26:02.200 --> 00:26:04.180 align:middle line:90% Bet you're Hopi-- I'm sorry. 00:26:04.180 --> 00:26:06.760 align:middle line:84% Bet you're Hopi, one guy said to me. 00:26:06.760 --> 00:26:09.640 align:middle line:90% I just laughed and said, Navajo. 00:26:09.640 --> 00:26:14.710 align:middle line:84% Hey, he said, I could have start a war here. 00:26:14.710 --> 00:26:18.920 align:middle line:84% Everybody nearby laughed, and I told them where I was from 00:26:18.920 --> 00:26:21.850 align:middle line:84% and I was doing some writing for the city. 00:26:21.850 --> 00:26:25.330 align:middle line:84% A woman told me about her son who had married a Navajo 00:26:25.330 --> 00:26:27.710 align:middle line:90% and now lived in Santa Fe. 00:26:27.710 --> 00:26:30.460 align:middle line:90% It seems so far away, she said. 00:26:30.460 --> 00:26:32.540 align:middle line:90% We hardly go up there. 00:26:32.540 --> 00:26:36.070 align:middle line:84% But at least they come back here every once in a while. 00:26:36.070 --> 00:26:38.110 align:middle line:90% It is far, I said. 00:26:38.110 --> 00:26:40.300 align:middle line:84% I told her about my parents and how 00:26:40.300 --> 00:26:42.580 align:middle line:90% I worried about them sometimes. 00:26:42.580 --> 00:26:47.380 align:middle line:84% They're getting old and get sick more often now, I added. 00:26:47.380 --> 00:26:49.780 align:middle line:90% That's the way it is, she said. 00:26:49.780 --> 00:26:52.840 align:middle line:84% There are a lot stronger than we think though. 00:26:52.840 --> 00:26:54.340 align:middle line:90% And we smiled. 00:26:54.340 --> 00:26:56.680 align:middle line:84% I bought a fry bread and Diet Coke 00:26:56.680 --> 00:26:59.440 align:middle line:90% and started back to the car. 00:26:59.440 --> 00:27:02.230 align:middle line:90% Come on back-- come back again. 00:27:02.230 --> 00:27:06.220 align:middle line:84% We're always here selling and getting rich, one of the women 00:27:06.220 --> 00:27:08.740 align:middle line:90% said laughing. 00:27:08.740 --> 00:27:14.200 align:middle line:84% Tell everyone at Hopi we said hi, they tease me again. 00:27:14.200 --> 00:27:16.600 align:middle line:84% As I drove back to Phoenix, the traffic 00:27:16.600 --> 00:27:19.330 align:middle line:90% was heavy and the air, hot. 00:27:19.330 --> 00:27:22.060 align:middle line:84% Heat wave shimmered above the freeway. 00:27:22.060 --> 00:27:24.820 align:middle line:84% Off to the side, there were the huge plants 00:27:24.820 --> 00:27:29.110 align:middle line:84% used for basket making and the mountain, a looming dusky 00:27:29.110 --> 00:27:30.190 align:middle line:90% purple. 00:27:30.190 --> 00:27:33.550 align:middle line:84% In a matter of minutes, I was part of the traffic rushing 00:27:33.550 --> 00:27:34.690 align:middle line:90% into the city. 00:27:34.690 --> 00:27:39.130 align:middle line:84% The roar of cars and planes above pushed inside the car 00:27:39.130 --> 00:27:43.630 align:middle line:84% where the radio sang out loud and I drove on alone 00:27:43.630 --> 00:27:46.540 align:middle line:90% except for my silent breathing. 00:27:46.540 --> 00:27:49.300 align:middle line:84% Later in the day at the Pueblo Grande site, 00:27:49.300 --> 00:27:52.540 align:middle line:84% as I looked over the place that had been excavated 00:27:52.540 --> 00:27:55.810 align:middle line:84% and the huge cement pillars now installed there, 00:27:55.810 --> 00:27:59.050 align:middle line:84% the voices and stories from earlier in the day 00:27:59.050 --> 00:28:00.610 align:middle line:90% stayed with me. 00:28:00.610 --> 00:28:04.600 align:middle line:84% The construction crews had left the equipment parked 00:28:04.600 --> 00:28:07.120 align:middle line:84% in neat rows and the ground beneath 00:28:07.120 --> 00:28:11.200 align:middle line:84% was a dry brown color, newly dug and the presence 00:28:11.200 --> 00:28:15.040 align:middle line:84% of powdery pieces, bone shards, clothing fibers, 00:28:15.040 --> 00:28:19.540 align:middle line:84% or any other signs of a former village were imperceptible. 00:28:19.540 --> 00:28:21.910 align:middle line:84% Yet I knew that they had been there. 00:28:21.910 --> 00:28:25.930 align:middle line:84% We had seen the small paper sacks of excavated 00:28:25.930 --> 00:28:30.250 align:middle line:84% remains standing upright in the bright sun. 00:28:30.250 --> 00:28:34.000 align:middle line:84% And we stood in the middle of their homes all these centuries 00:28:34.000 --> 00:28:35.050 align:middle line:90% later. 00:28:35.050 --> 00:28:39.250 align:middle line:84% The silence was heavy and I sat down under the trees, 00:28:39.250 --> 00:28:43.420 align:middle line:84% still waiting to talk, laugh, and share stories. 00:28:43.420 --> 00:28:47.200 align:middle line:84% We're all still here, I said to the Hohokam Ki, 00:28:47.200 --> 00:28:50.170 align:middle line:84% whose homes and burials were disturbed 00:28:50.170 --> 00:28:52.450 align:middle line:90% and we are still the same. 00:28:52.450 --> 00:28:55.360 align:middle line:84% There are memories and stories too powerful 00:28:55.360 --> 00:28:59.920 align:middle line:84% for something as new as cement and asphalt to destroy. 00:28:59.920 --> 00:29:02.470 align:middle line:84% The words I had entered that morning 00:29:02.470 --> 00:29:04.540 align:middle line:84% were the prayers and hopes that they 00:29:04.540 --> 00:29:07.150 align:middle line:90% had thrown ahead for all of us. 00:29:07.150 --> 00:29:09.040 align:middle line:90% It is the same now. 00:29:09.040 --> 00:29:13.660 align:middle line:84% We pray several times each day for ourselves, our children, 00:29:13.660 --> 00:29:16.850 align:middle line:84% our ancestors, and our grandchildren. 00:29:16.850 --> 00:29:19.450 align:middle line:90% We call it throwing our prayers. 00:29:19.450 --> 00:29:24.050 align:middle line:84% Our prayers are thrown seven generations ahead. 00:29:24.050 --> 00:29:28.150 align:middle line:84% This is what this place known as the Hohokam Expressway 00:29:28.150 --> 00:29:29.980 align:middle line:90% embodies for some of us. 00:29:29.980 --> 00:29:43.480 align:middle line:90% 00:29:43.480 --> 00:29:46.270 align:middle line:84% This is a poem called It is Night in Oklahoma. 00:29:46.270 --> 00:29:51.500 align:middle line:90% 00:29:51.500 --> 00:29:55.910 align:middle line:84% The used air in a plane and the still air in the wide terminal 00:29:55.910 --> 00:29:58.880 align:middle line:84% is no different than the vast skies shared 00:29:58.880 --> 00:30:01.130 align:middle line:90% with other silent travelers. 00:30:01.130 --> 00:30:03.140 align:middle line:84% To most people who are leaving, it's 00:30:03.140 --> 00:30:08.780 align:middle line:84% nothing more than a hollow roar than an empty runway space. 00:30:08.780 --> 00:30:12.410 align:middle line:84% It is night in Oklahoma when he walks toward me, 00:30:12.410 --> 00:30:17.720 align:middle line:84% his voice low and eyes brimming from that raw place inside. 00:30:17.720 --> 00:30:22.010 align:middle line:84% His brother's death is a jagged sigh flooding him. 00:30:22.010 --> 00:30:26.070 align:middle line:84% It has taken him back to his birth, the first phases 00:30:26.070 --> 00:30:28.850 align:middle line:90% he knew, mother and Tommy. 00:30:28.850 --> 00:30:33.740 align:middle line:84% The long, humid afternoons of his boyhood trapping crawdads 00:30:33.740 --> 00:30:36.290 align:middle line:90% and wrestling washed over him. 00:30:36.290 --> 00:30:39.140 align:middle line:90% How sad the dirt stained pants. 00:30:39.140 --> 00:30:42.860 align:middle line:84% The old TV shows flickering black and white, 00:30:42.860 --> 00:30:47.090 align:middle line:84% the days of high school are framed with longing. 00:30:47.090 --> 00:30:51.680 align:middle line:84% Now on long football afternoons, his step will waver. 00:30:51.680 --> 00:30:55.820 align:middle line:84% When he gets up to call his brother, then remembers. 00:30:55.820 --> 00:30:58.460 align:middle line:84% He will walk nearer me as we journey 00:30:58.460 --> 00:31:03.290 align:middle line:84% through music-filled stores, hugging bright secret packages. 00:31:03.290 --> 00:31:07.910 align:middle line:84% All around us, listening tinsel and forced cheer. 00:31:07.910 --> 00:31:13.400 align:middle line:84% There are no words for this anguish, his brother is dead. 00:31:13.400 --> 00:31:15.770 align:middle line:84% From the airport, I drive back through 00:31:15.770 --> 00:31:19.250 align:middle line:84% the dark, frozen streets squeezing his hand. 00:31:19.250 --> 00:31:23.390 align:middle line:84% He sits beside me, his breath ragged wet. 00:31:23.390 --> 00:31:28.160 align:middle line:84% We crossed the black yard slick with ice and enter the house. 00:31:28.160 --> 00:31:31.280 align:middle line:84% My steps are small and frightened. 00:31:31.280 --> 00:31:34.640 align:middle line:84% Inside, we circle the room with corn pollen, 00:31:34.640 --> 00:31:38.150 align:middle line:84% sprinkling oh, words, sprinkling oh, pleas 00:31:38.150 --> 00:31:39.841 align:middle line:90% for help and wholeness. 00:31:39.841 --> 00:31:42.883 align:middle line:90% Nihi Diyin, nihíká ilyeed. 00:31:42.883 --> 00:31:45.966 align:middle line:90% Nihíká ilyeed, nihi Diyin. 00:31:46.110 --> 00:31:49.280 align:middle line:84% We move the furniture around straight in the room 00:31:49.280 --> 00:31:51.740 align:middle line:90% as his people have always done. 00:31:51.740 --> 00:31:54.290 align:middle line:84% These rooms gather us in, yet hold 00:31:54.290 --> 00:31:57.230 align:middle line:90% the empty space left by death. 00:31:57.230 --> 00:31:59.720 align:middle line:84% Later he holds me in the darkness. 00:31:59.720 --> 00:32:02.570 align:middle line:84% He holds me breathing into my hair. 00:32:02.570 --> 00:32:05.660 align:middle line:84% My hair thawed from the ice night air 00:32:05.660 --> 00:32:08.900 align:middle line:90% and damp with exhausted sighs. 00:32:08.900 --> 00:32:12.590 align:middle line:84% As his smooth hands slide down my back and legs, 00:32:12.590 --> 00:32:14.750 align:middle line:90% I suddenly feel drunk. 00:32:14.750 --> 00:32:18.080 align:middle line:84% But then I recognize the frightening dizziness 00:32:18.080 --> 00:32:20.150 align:middle line:90% that grief causes. 00:32:20.150 --> 00:32:25.430 align:middle line:84% Slowly, slowly, we move into each other, that warm familiar 00:32:25.430 --> 00:32:26.600 align:middle line:90% slickness. 00:32:26.600 --> 00:32:32.030 align:middle line:84% It seems all we have in the torn winter ahead. 00:32:32.030 --> 00:32:36.290 align:middle line:84% In other rooms, perhaps trouble spirits hover in the dark air, 00:32:36.290 --> 00:32:40.610 align:middle line:84% above the same old furniture, above sleeping limp bodies, 00:32:40.610 --> 00:32:44.630 align:middle line:84% and above the covered pans of food on the counters. 00:32:44.630 --> 00:32:47.630 align:middle line:84% But in here we breathe each other's skin, 00:32:47.630 --> 00:32:50.690 align:middle line:90% move to feel our pulses beating. 00:32:50.690 --> 00:32:55.760 align:middle line:84% And this is the only reassurance of our own tender lives, 00:32:55.760 --> 00:32:57.725 align:middle line:90% our own tender lives. 00:32:57.725 --> 00:33:01.120 align:middle line:90% 00:33:01.120 --> 00:33:02.516 align:middle line:90% I'm going to read this. 00:33:02.516 --> 00:33:05.988 align:middle line:90% 00:33:05.988 --> 00:33:09.980 align:middle line:90% This is a series of pet stories. 00:33:09.980 --> 00:33:11.170 align:middle line:90% So I'll read one. 00:33:11.170 --> 00:33:12.585 align:middle line:90% There's several in the series. 00:33:12.585 --> 00:33:15.850 align:middle line:90% 00:33:15.850 --> 00:33:20.500 align:middle line:84% And this section doesn't really have a title to it yet, 00:33:20.500 --> 00:33:23.560 align:middle line:90% but it's from the series. 00:33:23.560 --> 00:33:28.150 align:middle line:84% At home, they say Navajo shouldn't buy or sell dogs. 00:33:28.150 --> 00:33:33.430 align:middle line:84% Why would you buy a family member anyway, they ask. 00:33:33.430 --> 00:33:38.020 align:middle line:84% Navajo dogs are expected to be responsible. 00:33:38.020 --> 00:33:41.650 align:middle line:84% My father's dogs respond only to Navajo 00:33:41.650 --> 00:33:44.410 align:middle line:90% and don't understand English. 00:33:44.410 --> 00:33:48.310 align:middle line:84% They are courteous, extending their paws when someone says 00:33:48.310 --> 00:33:51.070 align:middle line:90% yá'át'ééh to them. 00:33:51.070 --> 00:33:56.110 align:middle line:84% Some years back, we had a dog named Sandoval. 00:33:56.110 --> 00:33:59.920 align:middle line:84% After old man Sandoval who lived South of us. 00:33:59.920 --> 00:34:04.480 align:middle line:84% My father pronounce his name Sando-wool. 00:34:04.480 --> 00:34:08.440 align:middle line:84% Because that was what he called his old friend. 00:34:08.440 --> 00:34:12.429 align:middle line:84% Sandoval would ride by our house on his horse with five 00:34:12.429 --> 00:34:15.400 align:middle line:90% or six dogs running alongside. 00:34:15.400 --> 00:34:19.960 align:middle line:84% He wore a tall black hat and exchanged silent calm waves 00:34:19.960 --> 00:34:21.100 align:middle line:90% with us. 00:34:21.100 --> 00:34:24.889 align:middle line:84% We missed him when he died, when he died. 00:34:24.889 --> 00:34:30.429 align:middle line:84% But at least we had the dog, Sando-wool. 00:34:30.429 --> 00:34:33.730 align:middle line:84% My parents were without any pets for a few weeks 00:34:33.730 --> 00:34:36.550 align:middle line:84% or so because someone or something 00:34:36.550 --> 00:34:41.110 align:middle line:84% was stealing dogs and cats in the farm area where we live. 00:34:41.110 --> 00:34:44.469 align:middle line:84% It was strange and everyone talked about it. 00:34:44.469 --> 00:34:47.500 align:middle line:84% They would speculate and become suspicious 00:34:47.500 --> 00:34:51.520 align:middle line:84% of any unfamiliar vehicles in the area. 00:34:51.520 --> 00:34:54.310 align:middle line:84% Each time I talk with someone in Shiprock, 00:34:54.310 --> 00:34:59.500 align:middle line:84% they told me the pets were gone, and wasn't that just awful? 00:34:59.500 --> 00:35:04.010 align:middle line:84% They even talked about devil worshippers and Satan cults, 00:35:04.010 --> 00:35:07.300 align:middle line:84% but that was just too much to imagine. 00:35:07.300 --> 00:35:11.680 align:middle line:84% We knew that the pets were quite handsome and valuable for 00:35:11.680 --> 00:35:15.640 align:middle line:90% the animal -nappers to resist. 00:35:15.640 --> 00:35:18.550 align:middle line:84% One day my sister was unloading her car. 00:35:18.550 --> 00:35:20.650 align:middle line:84% She had just driven back from work 00:35:20.650 --> 00:35:24.040 align:middle line:84% at [? Toadlena ?] when a blue pickup drove up. 00:35:24.040 --> 00:35:28.960 align:middle line:84% A woman leaned out and said, are you people missing a dog? 00:35:28.960 --> 00:35:32.470 align:middle line:84% Yeah, my sister said, putting everything down. 00:35:32.470 --> 00:35:36.100 align:middle line:84% Well, I know where your dog is, she said. 00:35:36.100 --> 00:35:40.000 align:middle line:84% But first don't ask me my name or where I'm from. 00:35:40.000 --> 00:35:44.800 align:middle line:84% OK, my sister said, growing excited by the minute. 00:35:44.800 --> 00:35:47.380 align:middle line:84% There's a woman by the last name of Tso 00:35:47.380 --> 00:35:52.240 align:middle line:84% who lives at Ojo Amarillo. She's the one that stole your dog. 00:35:52.240 --> 00:35:54.760 align:middle line:84% She sure bragging about it, saying 00:35:54.760 --> 00:35:58.060 align:middle line:84% she stole a good dog from the Tapahonsos. 00:35:58.060 --> 00:36:01.790 align:middle line:84% She's just bragging around up there. 00:36:01.790 --> 00:36:06.430 align:middle line:84% So if you want your dog that's where it is, she said. 00:36:06.430 --> 00:36:09.595 align:middle line:84% That Tso lady's my sister-in-law and we don't get along. 00:36:09.595 --> 00:36:12.320 align:middle line:90% 00:36:12.320 --> 00:36:16.015 align:middle line:84% That's why I told you this, she added and drove off quickly. 00:36:16.015 --> 00:36:19.330 align:middle line:90% 00:36:19.330 --> 00:36:22.750 align:middle line:84% My mother said after that crime stopper came, 00:36:22.750 --> 00:36:25.360 align:middle line:90% everyone knew about it. 00:36:25.360 --> 00:36:27.730 align:middle line:84% They were out to find that Tso lady. 00:36:27.730 --> 00:36:31.750 align:middle line:84% She was suspected of stealing more than the dog. 00:36:31.750 --> 00:36:35.770 align:middle line:84% An aunt who lives at Ojo Amarillo heard about all this, 00:36:35.770 --> 00:36:38.410 align:middle line:84% and she found out where this woman lived. 00:36:38.410 --> 00:36:41.920 align:middle line:84% She called a Navajo police officer for help. 00:36:41.920 --> 00:36:45.520 align:middle line:84% This officer had also been asking her out. 00:36:45.520 --> 00:36:53.200 align:middle line:84% He said-- he said, in his official capacity, 00:36:53.200 --> 00:36:56.860 align:middle line:84% I'll help you recover your parents' dog. 00:36:56.860 --> 00:36:59.830 align:middle line:84% That night, around 9:00, the officer and my sister 00:36:59.830 --> 00:37:02.410 align:middle line:90% went to the suspect's house. 00:37:02.410 --> 00:37:03.940 align:middle line:90% And a man answered. 00:37:03.940 --> 00:37:08.170 align:middle line:84% And upon seeing my angry aunt and the law said, 00:37:08.170 --> 00:37:12.730 align:middle line:84% go ahead, go on in and get the dog. 00:37:12.730 --> 00:37:16.720 align:middle line:84% Their children watched silently as they walk to the backyard. 00:37:16.720 --> 00:37:21.400 align:middle line:84% There was so no sign of the offending dognapper, the Tso 00:37:21.400 --> 00:37:22.480 align:middle line:90% lady. 00:37:22.480 --> 00:37:26.230 align:middle line:84% So at least they found the dog and took it. 00:37:26.230 --> 00:37:29.770 align:middle line:84% My aunt was sure glad she had some influence with the law 00:37:29.770 --> 00:37:32.290 align:middle line:90% enforcement. 00:37:32.290 --> 00:37:35.830 align:middle line:84% That same night, after 10:00 PM, my aunt and her kids 00:37:35.830 --> 00:37:40.240 align:middle line:84% arrived at my parents' home some 20 miles away. 00:37:40.240 --> 00:37:41.950 align:middle line:90% Who's that? 00:37:41.950 --> 00:37:47.050 align:middle line:84% So late, my mother mumbled, looking out the front window. 00:37:47.050 --> 00:37:50.530 align:middle line:84% My sister, we have something for you and dad, 00:37:50.530 --> 00:37:53.230 align:middle line:84% my aunt said, showing her the dog. 00:37:53.230 --> 00:37:57.190 align:middle line:84% Everyone was happy and they all settled into the kitchen. 00:37:57.190 --> 00:38:00.820 align:middle line:84% They told about how they found the Tso lady 00:38:00.820 --> 00:38:05.170 align:middle line:84% and how they confiscated the dog with the help of the law. 00:38:05.170 --> 00:38:08.980 align:middle line:84% By now, the other sister had come over from next door. 00:38:08.980 --> 00:38:12.490 align:middle line:84% Finally, they all had to leave, the kids at school 00:38:12.490 --> 00:38:13.810 align:middle line:90% the next day. 00:38:13.810 --> 00:38:16.150 align:middle line:84% That night they went to bed happy, 00:38:16.150 --> 00:38:20.560 align:middle line:84% at least to have-- to have at least one dog. 00:38:20.560 --> 00:38:24.100 align:middle line:84% A few days later, my mother called another sister 00:38:24.100 --> 00:38:28.450 align:middle line:84% who had given her Dale, the doberman puppy that was stolen. 00:38:28.450 --> 00:38:32.800 align:middle line:84% She asked, did they all have his ears pinned? 00:38:32.800 --> 00:38:35.200 align:middle line:90% Yes, my sister answered. 00:38:35.200 --> 00:38:36.970 align:middle line:90% Was his tail cut? 00:38:36.970 --> 00:38:38.500 align:middle line:90% My mother asked. 00:38:38.500 --> 00:38:40.870 align:middle line:90% Yeah, my sister answered. 00:38:40.870 --> 00:38:45.130 align:middle line:90% I have the rest of it over here. 00:38:45.130 --> 00:38:49.654 align:middle line:84% She lives on the other side of the Chuska mountains. 00:38:49.654 --> 00:38:51.760 align:middle line:90% Hmm, my mother said. 00:38:51.760 --> 00:38:54.880 align:middle line:90% Was Dale a boy dog? 00:38:54.880 --> 00:38:58.300 align:middle line:84% Chip and Dale are both boys, she said. 00:38:58.300 --> 00:39:03.220 align:middle line:84% Chip was Dale's brother and he remained at my sister's home. 00:39:03.220 --> 00:39:05.410 align:middle line:90% Oh, dear, my mother said. 00:39:05.410 --> 00:39:10.150 align:middle line:84% Your aunt brought the wrong dog back to me. 00:39:10.150 --> 00:39:15.910 align:middle line:84% This one's ears just flop around and he has a long tail. 00:39:15.910 --> 00:39:19.390 align:middle line:84% Joe's been acting like it's a female. 00:39:19.390 --> 00:39:22.540 align:middle line:84% Joe had also been missing and had just appeared 00:39:22.540 --> 00:39:24.490 align:middle line:90% on the porch one morning. 00:39:24.490 --> 00:39:26.170 align:middle line:90% He had just run off. 00:39:26.170 --> 00:39:31.210 align:middle line:84% He wasn't the type of dog to get stolen. 00:39:31.210 --> 00:39:33.220 align:middle line:90% Oh, dear, my mother said. 00:39:33.220 --> 00:39:36.160 align:middle line:90% Joe has a wife. 00:39:36.160 --> 00:39:39.280 align:middle line:84% The last we heard, Joe was happy with Dale 00:39:39.280 --> 00:39:41.425 align:middle line:90% or whoever we thought Dale was. 00:39:41.425 --> 00:39:47.340 align:middle line:90% 00:39:47.340 --> 00:39:49.495 align:middle line:84% Then there's this little section about Joe. 00:39:49.495 --> 00:39:52.900 align:middle line:90% 00:39:52.900 --> 00:39:55.120 align:middle line:90% There was a dog named Joe. 00:39:55.120 --> 00:40:00.580 align:middle line:84% Once, my mother went out to the porch and yelled out, Yo, Joe! 00:40:00.580 --> 00:40:03.580 align:middle line:84% We were all surprised because we thought 00:40:03.580 --> 00:40:08.560 align:middle line:84% only marines and miners yelled "Yo" allowed 00:40:08.560 --> 00:40:11.470 align:middle line:90% to answer roll call or phones. 00:40:11.470 --> 00:40:16.660 align:middle line:84% And here was my mother saying that all the time to call Joe. 00:40:16.660 --> 00:40:21.340 align:middle line:84% Sometimes he came running when we call, Joe Babe. 00:40:21.340 --> 00:40:26.200 align:middle line:84% And we just laughed and laughed because Joe Babes were 00:40:26.200 --> 00:40:29.920 align:middle line:84% girls at Indian boarding school who teased their hair, 00:40:29.920 --> 00:40:35.110 align:middle line:84% wore lots of mascara, and wore white go-go boots 00:40:35.110 --> 00:40:36.205 align:middle line:90% when that was the style. 00:40:36.205 --> 00:40:39.430 align:middle line:90% 00:40:39.430 --> 00:40:42.715 align:middle line:84% One could tell Joe was not the boarding school product. 00:40:42.715 --> 00:40:48.350 align:middle line:90% 00:40:48.350 --> 00:40:50.690 align:middle line:84% My mother didn't say "Yo" the way I said it. 00:40:50.690 --> 00:40:53.210 align:middle line:84% She has a much tougher way of saying it. 00:40:53.210 --> 00:41:04.370 align:middle line:90% 00:41:04.370 --> 00:41:11.630 align:middle line:84% There's a classic poem called "Leda and the Swan." 00:41:11.630 --> 00:41:16.380 align:middle line:84% And so people are always doing takes on it in different ways. 00:41:16.380 --> 00:41:22.730 align:middle line:84% And so this next poem is, I guess, the Indian answer 00:41:22.730 --> 00:41:26.540 align:middle line:90% to "Leda and the Swan." 00:41:26.540 --> 00:41:28.010 align:middle line:84% It's called "Leda and the Cowboy." 00:41:28.010 --> 00:41:31.640 align:middle line:90% 00:41:31.640 --> 00:41:34.940 align:middle line:84% A few months back, when the night sky was darker 00:41:34.940 --> 00:41:39.170 align:middle line:84% than Leda had ever seen, she stepped through the worn door 00:41:39.170 --> 00:41:41.390 align:middle line:90% frame of the queue lounge. 00:41:41.390 --> 00:41:46.550 align:middle line:84% The suddenness of thick, smoky air left her slightly faint. 00:41:46.550 --> 00:41:49.160 align:middle line:90% After that, it was easy enough. 00:41:49.160 --> 00:41:53.120 align:middle line:84% Leda saw him across the damp, just wiped bar. 00:41:53.120 --> 00:41:57.770 align:middle line:84% She did nothing but hold the glance a second too long. 00:41:57.770 --> 00:42:01.010 align:middle line:84% Sure enough, as if she called out his name, 00:42:01.010 --> 00:42:05.720 align:middle line:84% he walked over, a slight smile and straw hat. 00:42:05.720 --> 00:42:09.260 align:middle line:84% Even then as they danced, the things he told her 00:42:09.260 --> 00:42:10.640 align:middle line:90% were fleeting. 00:42:10.640 --> 00:42:15.200 align:middle line:84% Leda a smile and a strange desperation engulfed him. 00:42:15.200 --> 00:42:18.170 align:middle line:84% I have to leave, she said, remembering 00:42:18.170 --> 00:42:20.720 align:middle line:90% that clear empty air outside. 00:42:20.720 --> 00:42:24.140 align:middle line:84% He followed her, holding her shoulder lightly. 00:42:24.140 --> 00:42:27.320 align:middle line:84% And outside, he bent over, his body 00:42:27.320 --> 00:42:29.150 align:middle line:90% an arc in the street light. 00:42:29.150 --> 00:42:34.550 align:middle line:84% And it was clear he didn't know the raw music she lived. 00:42:34.550 --> 00:42:37.700 align:middle line:84% But for now, he's leaning across the table, 00:42:37.700 --> 00:42:40.640 align:middle line:84% smiling and telling Leda things he 00:42:40.640 --> 00:42:42.860 align:middle line:90% wants to take her on a picnic. 00:42:42.860 --> 00:42:47.780 align:middle line:84% It might rain tonight and she can phone him any time. 00:42:47.780 --> 00:42:51.410 align:middle line:84% He thinks he is leaving for a rodeo 400 miles 00:42:51.410 --> 00:42:53.780 align:middle line:90% to the north in a few hours. 00:42:53.780 --> 00:42:56.930 align:middle line:84% His pickup is loaded with saddles, clothes, 00:42:56.930 --> 00:42:59.390 align:middle line:90% and a huge ice chest. 00:42:59.390 --> 00:43:02.420 align:middle line:84% Leda notices the parking lot outside 00:43:02.420 --> 00:43:06.440 align:middle line:84% is stained with oil, twist cigarettes, and small bits 00:43:06.440 --> 00:43:08.120 align:middle line:90% of colored glass. 00:43:08.120 --> 00:43:11.900 align:middle line:90% He leans toward her, hat tilted. 00:43:11.900 --> 00:43:14.300 align:middle line:84% And in that low morning voice says, 00:43:14.300 --> 00:43:17.120 align:middle line:84% he has been tracking her all night. 00:43:17.120 --> 00:43:20.280 align:middle line:84% In this desert city of one million people, 00:43:20.280 --> 00:43:23.600 align:middle line:84% he drove over cool asphalt trails 00:43:23.600 --> 00:43:28.130 align:middle line:84% searching smoky dance halls, small Indian bars, 00:43:28.130 --> 00:43:31.880 align:middle line:84% the good Mexican place that serves until 11. 00:43:31.880 --> 00:43:35.030 align:middle line:84% And when he found her, she was laughing at a table 00:43:35.030 --> 00:43:37.670 align:middle line:90% near the shiny dance floor. 00:43:37.670 --> 00:43:40.910 align:middle line:84% But Leda saw his straw hat and half smile 00:43:40.910 --> 00:43:43.250 align:middle line:90% as he watched from the bar. 00:43:43.250 --> 00:43:45.800 align:middle line:84% When they danced, it was flawless. 00:43:45.800 --> 00:43:49.520 align:middle line:84% He thinks he has done this many times before. 00:43:49.520 --> 00:43:55.460 align:middle line:84% His shirt carried the scent of the hot night breezes outside. 00:43:55.460 --> 00:43:59.900 align:middle line:84% East of here, above the dry fields of the Hohokam Ki, 00:43:59.900 --> 00:44:02.150 align:middle line:90% the stars are sparse. 00:44:02.150 --> 00:44:05.870 align:middle line:84% And as he follows Leda through the stark beauty 00:44:05.870 --> 00:44:09.170 align:middle line:84% of the old stories, he has already 00:44:09.170 --> 00:44:11.660 align:middle line:90% left his own life behind. 00:44:11.660 --> 00:44:17.050 align:middle line:90% 00:44:17.050 --> 00:44:28.290 align:middle line:84% So then this leads right into a much, much requested poem 00:44:28.290 --> 00:44:29.535 align:middle line:90% called Raisin Eyes. 00:44:29.535 --> 00:44:34.170 align:middle line:90% 00:44:34.170 --> 00:44:36.015 align:middle line:90% So, Raisin Eyes. 00:44:36.015 --> 00:44:38.770 align:middle line:90% 00:44:38.770 --> 00:44:43.840 align:middle line:84% I saw my friend Ella with a tall cowboy at the store 00:44:43.840 --> 00:44:46.180 align:middle line:90% the other day in Shiprock. 00:44:46.180 --> 00:44:51.520 align:middle line:84% Later I ask her, who's that guy anyway? 00:44:51.520 --> 00:44:54.550 align:middle line:90% Oh, Luci, she said. 00:44:54.550 --> 00:44:57.250 align:middle line:90% I knew what was coming. 00:44:57.250 --> 00:45:00.130 align:middle line:90% It's terrible. 00:45:00.130 --> 00:45:05.650 align:middle line:84% He lives with me and my money and my car. 00:45:05.650 --> 00:45:11.900 align:middle line:84% But just for a while, he's in AIRCA and rodeos a lot, 00:45:11.900 --> 00:45:14.560 align:middle line:90% and I still work. 00:45:14.560 --> 00:45:19.240 align:middle line:84% This rodeo business is getting to me, you know. 00:45:19.240 --> 00:45:22.720 align:middle line:84% And I'm going to leave him because I 00:45:22.720 --> 00:45:27.730 align:middle line:84% think all this I'm doing now will pay off better somewhere 00:45:27.730 --> 00:45:28.900 align:middle line:90% else. 00:45:28.900 --> 00:45:34.780 align:middle line:84% But I just stay with him and it's hard. 00:45:34.780 --> 00:45:40.540 align:middle line:84% Because he just smiles that way, you know. 00:45:40.540 --> 00:45:45.590 align:middle line:84% And then I end up paying entry fees 00:45:45.590 --> 00:45:52.030 align:middle line:84% and I'm putting shiny, Tony Lamas on layaway again. 00:45:52.030 --> 00:45:57.040 align:middle line:84% It's not hard, but he doesn't know when I'll leave him. 00:45:57.040 --> 00:46:00.010 align:middle line:84% And I'll drive across the flat desert 00:46:00.010 --> 00:46:05.260 align:middle line:84% from red valley and blue morning light straight to Shiprock 00:46:05.260 --> 00:46:07.300 align:middle line:90% so easily. 00:46:07.300 --> 00:46:10.750 align:middle line:84% And anyway, my car is already used 00:46:10.750 --> 00:46:17.560 align:middle line:84% to humming a morning song with Gary Stewart complaining again 00:46:17.560 --> 00:46:23.750 align:middle line:84% of aching and breaking down and out love affairs. 00:46:23.750 --> 00:46:30.247 align:middle line:84% Damn, these Navajo cowboys with Raisin Eyes [AUDIO OUT]. 00:46:30.247 --> 00:46:41.080 align:middle line:90% 00:46:41.080 --> 00:46:44.680 align:middle line:84% all the time, she said with a little laugh. 00:46:44.680 --> 00:46:58.760 align:middle line:90% 00:46:58.760 --> 00:47:03.470 align:middle line:84% This is, in a sense, I guess, it's an epic poem. 00:47:03.470 --> 00:47:07.260 align:middle line:90% It's called In 1864. 00:47:07.260 --> 00:47:13.080 align:middle line:84% Which was the year that over 8,000 Navajos were forced 00:47:13.080 --> 00:47:17.550 align:middle line:84% to walk from Dinétah, which is Navajo country to Bosque 00:47:17.550 --> 00:47:20.070 align:middle line:90% Redondo in Southern New Mexico. 00:47:20.070 --> 00:47:22.830 align:middle line:84% It was about 300 miles that they walked, 00:47:22.830 --> 00:47:26.010 align:middle line:84% and they were held there for four years. 00:47:26.010 --> 00:47:32.130 align:middle line:84% And then the government allowed them to go back and over 00:47:32.130 --> 00:47:36.690 align:middle line:84% 2,500 people died of different kinds of diseases 00:47:36.690 --> 00:47:38.490 align:middle line:90% and starvation. 00:47:38.490 --> 00:47:44.470 align:middle line:84% And so the survivors came back in 1868, four years later. 00:47:44.470 --> 00:47:48.870 align:middle line:84% So this is sort of based on that. 00:47:48.870 --> 00:47:50.580 align:middle line:84% While the younger daughter slept, 00:47:50.580 --> 00:47:54.210 align:middle line:84% she dreamed of mountains, the wide blue sky above, 00:47:54.210 --> 00:47:56.070 align:middle line:90% and friends laughing. 00:47:56.070 --> 00:48:00.690 align:middle line:84% We talked as the day wore on, the stories and highway beneath 00:48:00.690 --> 00:48:02.670 align:middle line:90% became a steady hum. 00:48:02.670 --> 00:48:05.970 align:middle line:84% The cedar lines were blurred guide. 00:48:05.970 --> 00:48:10.770 align:middle line:84% As we near to turn to Fort Sumner, I remembered the story. 00:48:10.770 --> 00:48:14.460 align:middle line:84% A few winters ago, he worked as an electrician on a crew 00:48:14.460 --> 00:48:18.930 align:middle line:84% installing power lines on the western plains of New Mexico. 00:48:18.930 --> 00:48:21.090 align:middle line:84% He stayed in his pickup camper, which 00:48:21.090 --> 00:48:23.350 align:middle line:90% was connected to a generator. 00:48:23.350 --> 00:48:25.410 align:middle line:84% The crew parked their trucks together 00:48:25.410 --> 00:48:27.510 align:middle line:90% and built a fire in the center. 00:48:27.510 --> 00:48:30.210 align:middle line:84% The nights were cold and there weren't any trees 00:48:30.210 --> 00:48:31.650 align:middle line:90% to break the wind. 00:48:31.650 --> 00:48:36.060 align:middle line:84% It snowed off and on, a quiet steel blanket. 00:48:36.060 --> 00:48:39.750 align:middle line:84% The land was like he had imagined from the old stories, 00:48:39.750 --> 00:48:42.030 align:middle line:90% flat and dotted with shrubs. 00:48:42.030 --> 00:48:45.720 align:middle line:84% The arroyos and washes cut through the soft dirt. 00:48:45.720 --> 00:48:48.510 align:middle line:90% They were unsuspectingly deep. 00:48:48.510 --> 00:48:50.760 align:middle line:84% During the day, the work was hard 00:48:50.760 --> 00:48:52.920 align:middle line:90% and the men were exhausted. 00:48:52.920 --> 00:48:57.390 align:middle line:84% In the evening, someone went into the nearby town 00:48:57.390 --> 00:48:59.610 align:middle line:90% to eat and drink a few beers. 00:48:59.610 --> 00:49:03.810 align:middle line:84% He fixed a small meal for himself and tried to relax. 00:49:03.810 --> 00:49:07.950 align:middle line:84% Then at night, he heard cries and moans carried by the wind 00:49:07.950 --> 00:49:09.660 align:middle line:90% and blowing snow. 00:49:09.660 --> 00:49:13.890 align:middle line:84% He heard the voices wavering and rising in the darkness. 00:49:13.890 --> 00:49:16.980 align:middle line:84% He would turn over and pray, humming songs 00:49:16.980 --> 00:49:19.440 align:middle line:84% he remembered from his childhood. 00:49:19.440 --> 00:49:21.930 align:middle line:84% The songs returned to him as easily 00:49:21.930 --> 00:49:25.230 align:middle line:84% as if he had heard them that very afternoon. 00:49:25.230 --> 00:49:29.670 align:middle line:84% He sang for himself, his family, and the people whose spirits 00:49:29.670 --> 00:49:32.430 align:middle line:84% lingered on the plains in the arroyos 00:49:32.430 --> 00:49:35.070 align:middle line:90% and in the old windswept plants. 00:49:35.070 --> 00:49:38.680 align:middle line:84% No one else heard the thin wailing. 00:49:38.680 --> 00:49:41.560 align:middle line:84% After the third night, he unhooked his camper, 00:49:41.560 --> 00:49:45.850 align:middle line:84% signed his time card, and started the drive north 00:49:45.850 --> 00:49:47.020 align:middle line:90% to home. 00:49:47.020 --> 00:49:50.320 align:middle line:84% He told the guys, sure, the money's good, 00:49:50.320 --> 00:49:54.250 align:middle line:84% but I miss my kids and it sure gets lonely out here 00:49:54.250 --> 00:49:56.240 align:middle line:90% for a family man. 00:49:56.240 --> 00:49:58.540 align:middle line:84% He couldn't stay there any longer, 00:49:58.540 --> 00:50:01.570 align:middle line:84% the place that contained the pain and cries 00:50:01.570 --> 00:50:05.530 align:middle line:84% of his own relatives, the confused and battered spirits 00:50:05.530 --> 00:50:09.400 align:middle line:90% of his own existence. 00:50:09.400 --> 00:50:11.890 align:middle line:84% After we stopped for a Coke and chips, 00:50:11.890 --> 00:50:14.050 align:middle line:90% the storytelling resumed. 00:50:14.050 --> 00:50:17.650 align:middle line:84% My great aunt had always started the story saying, 00:50:17.650 --> 00:50:20.080 align:middle line:84% you are here because of what happened 00:50:20.080 --> 00:50:23.330 align:middle line:84% to your great grandmother long ago. 00:50:23.330 --> 00:50:26.290 align:middle line:84% They began rounding up the people in the fall, 00:50:26.290 --> 00:50:29.930 align:middle line:84% some were lured into surrendering by offers of food, 00:50:29.930 --> 00:50:31.900 align:middle line:90% clothes, and livestock. 00:50:31.900 --> 00:50:35.830 align:middle line:84% So many of us were starving and suffering that year 00:50:35.830 --> 00:50:39.190 align:middle line:84% because the bilagáanas kept attacking us. 00:50:39.190 --> 00:50:42.910 align:middle line:84% Kit Carson and the army had burned all the fields 00:50:42.910 --> 00:50:46.780 align:middle line:84% and they killed our sheep right in front of us. 00:50:46.780 --> 00:50:48.910 align:middle line:90% We couldn't believe it. 00:50:48.910 --> 00:50:52.060 align:middle line:90% I covered my face and cried. 00:50:52.060 --> 00:50:54.340 align:middle line:90% All my life, we had sheep. 00:50:54.340 --> 00:50:56.650 align:middle line:90% They were like our family. 00:50:56.650 --> 00:51:01.090 align:middle line:84% It was then I knew our own lives were in great danger. 00:51:01.090 --> 00:51:05.440 align:middle line:84% We were all so afraid of that man, Red Shirt, and his army. 00:51:05.440 --> 00:51:08.890 align:middle line:84% Some people hid in the foothills of the Chuska mountains 00:51:08.890 --> 00:51:11.050 align:middle line:90% and in Canyon de Chelly. 00:51:11.050 --> 00:51:15.940 align:middle line:84% Our family talked it over and we decided to go to this place. 00:51:15.940 --> 00:51:21.070 align:middle line:84% What would our lives be without sheep, crops, and land? 00:51:21.070 --> 00:51:24.160 align:middle line:84% At least we thought we would be safe from gunfire 00:51:24.160 --> 00:51:27.580 align:middle line:90% and our family would not starve. 00:51:27.580 --> 00:51:31.300 align:middle line:84% The journey began and the soldiers were all around us. 00:51:31.300 --> 00:51:34.600 align:middle line:84% All of us walked, some carried babies. 00:51:34.600 --> 00:51:36.910 align:middle line:84% Little children and the elderly stayed 00:51:36.910 --> 00:51:38.500 align:middle line:90% in the middle of the group. 00:51:38.500 --> 00:51:41.440 align:middle line:84% We walked steadily each day, stopping only 00:51:41.440 --> 00:51:44.470 align:middle line:84% when the soldiers wanted to eat or rest. 00:51:44.470 --> 00:51:48.220 align:middle line:84% We talked among ourselves and cried quietly. 00:51:48.220 --> 00:51:53.080 align:middle line:84% We didn't know how far it was or even where we were going. 00:51:53.080 --> 00:51:57.580 align:middle line:84% All that was certain was that we were leaving Dinétah, our home. 00:51:57.580 --> 00:52:00.640 align:middle line:84% As the days went by, we grew more tired. 00:52:00.640 --> 00:52:04.840 align:middle line:84% And soon the journey was difficult for all of us, 00:52:04.840 --> 00:52:07.360 align:middle line:90% even the military. 00:52:07.360 --> 00:52:11.090 align:middle line:84% And it was they who thought all this up. 00:52:11.090 --> 00:52:13.870 align:middle line:84% We had such a long distance to cover. 00:52:13.870 --> 00:52:17.470 align:middle line:84% Some old people fell back, fell behind, 00:52:17.470 --> 00:52:20.560 align:middle line:84% and they wouldn't let us go back to help them. 00:52:20.560 --> 00:52:23.770 align:middle line:84% That was the saddest thing to see. 00:52:23.770 --> 00:52:28.510 align:middle line:84% My heart hurt so to remember that two women were 00:52:28.510 --> 00:52:32.140 align:middle line:84% near the birth of their babies and they had a hard time 00:52:32.140 --> 00:52:34.360 align:middle line:90% keeping up with the rest. 00:52:34.360 --> 00:52:38.500 align:middle line:84% Some army men pulled them behind a big rock 00:52:38.500 --> 00:52:43.300 align:middle line:84% and we screamed out loud when we heard the gunshots. 00:52:43.300 --> 00:52:46.690 align:middle line:84% The women didn't make a sound, but we cried out loud 00:52:46.690 --> 00:52:49.150 align:middle line:90% for them and the babies. 00:52:49.150 --> 00:52:53.380 align:middle line:84% I felt then that I would not live through all this. 00:52:53.380 --> 00:52:56.770 align:middle line:84% When we crossed the Rio Grande, many people drowned. 00:52:56.770 --> 00:52:58.810 align:middle line:90% We didn't know how to swim. 00:52:58.810 --> 00:53:03.460 align:middle line:84% There was hardly any water deep enough to swim in at home. 00:53:03.460 --> 00:53:07.180 align:middle line:84% Some babies, children, and some of the older men and women 00:53:07.180 --> 00:53:10.180 align:middle line:84% were swept away by the river current. 00:53:10.180 --> 00:53:13.930 align:middle line:84% We must not ever forget their screams and the last 00:53:13.930 --> 00:53:19.390 align:middle line:84% we saw of them, hands, a lake, or their hair floating. 00:53:19.390 --> 00:53:22.720 align:middle line:84% There were many who died on the way to Hwééldi. 00:53:22.720 --> 00:53:26.620 align:middle line:84% All the way we told each other, we will be strong as long 00:53:26.620 --> 00:53:28.210 align:middle line:90% as we are together. 00:53:28.210 --> 00:53:30.910 align:middle line:84% I think that was what kept us alive. 00:53:30.910 --> 00:53:33.970 align:middle line:84% We believed in ourselves and the old stories 00:53:33.970 --> 00:53:37.590 align:middle line:90% the holy people had given us. 00:53:37.590 --> 00:53:40.380 align:middle line:84% This is why, she would tell us, this 00:53:40.380 --> 00:53:45.330 align:middle line:84% is why we are here, because our grandparents prayed and grieved 00:53:45.330 --> 00:53:47.010 align:middle line:90% for us. 00:53:47.010 --> 00:53:51.420 align:middle line:84% The car hums steadily and my daughter is crying softly, 00:53:51.420 --> 00:53:53.940 align:middle line:90% tears stream down her face. 00:53:53.940 --> 00:53:56.070 align:middle line:90% She cannot speak. 00:53:56.070 --> 00:53:59.520 align:middle line:84% Then I tell her that it was at Bosque Redondo they 00:53:59.520 --> 00:54:01.450 align:middle line:90% learned to use flour dough. 00:54:01.450 --> 00:54:06.330 align:middle line:84% And now fry bread is considered to be the traditional Navajo 00:54:06.330 --> 00:54:07.620 align:middle line:90% bread. 00:54:07.620 --> 00:54:11.310 align:middle line:84% It was there they acquired an eternal appreciation 00:54:11.310 --> 00:54:13.650 align:middle line:90% for strong coffee. 00:54:13.650 --> 00:54:17.310 align:middle line:84% The women learned to make long-tiered calico skirts 00:54:17.310 --> 00:54:20.460 align:middle line:90% and fine velvet shirts for men. 00:54:20.460 --> 00:54:23.220 align:middle line:84% They decorated their dark velvet blouses 00:54:23.220 --> 00:54:27.030 align:middle line:84% with silver dimes, nickels, and quarters. 00:54:27.030 --> 00:54:30.360 align:middle line:90% They had no use for money then. 00:54:30.360 --> 00:54:34.200 align:middle line:84% It is always something to see silver 00:54:34.200 --> 00:54:39.825 align:middle line:84% flashing in the sun against dark velvet and black, black hair. 00:54:39.825 --> 00:54:53.980 align:middle line:90% 00:54:53.980 --> 00:54:57.040 align:middle line:90% I'm going to do one-- 00:54:57.040 --> 00:54:59.260 align:middle line:84% do one short one and then finish up 00:54:59.260 --> 00:55:03.790 align:middle line:84% with a combination of poetry and song. 00:55:03.790 --> 00:55:06.115 align:middle line:84% This is a poem called Hills Brothers Coffee. 00:55:06.115 --> 00:55:10.830 align:middle line:90% 00:55:10.830 --> 00:55:13.500 align:middle line:84% Which my uncle calls the Catholic coffee-- 00:55:13.500 --> 00:55:14.730 align:middle line:90% the Catholic's coffee. 00:55:14.730 --> 00:55:19.120 align:middle line:90% 00:55:19.120 --> 00:55:21.160 align:middle line:90% My uncle is a small man. 00:55:21.160 --> 00:55:26.170 align:middle line:84% In Navajo, we call him shidá'í, my mother's brother. 00:55:26.170 --> 00:55:30.070 align:middle line:84% He doesn't know English, but his name in the white way 00:55:30.070 --> 00:55:31.780 align:middle line:90% is Tom Jim. 00:55:31.780 --> 00:55:34.180 align:middle line:90% He lives a mile or so-- 00:55:34.180 --> 00:55:38.950 align:middle line:84% he lives about a mile or so down the road from our house. 00:55:38.950 --> 00:55:43.030 align:middle line:84% One morning, he sat in the kitchen drinking coffee. 00:55:43.030 --> 00:55:45.940 align:middle line:90% I just came over, he said. 00:55:45.940 --> 00:55:49.030 align:middle line:90% The store is where I'm going to. 00:55:49.030 --> 00:55:52.000 align:middle line:84% He tells me about how my mother seems to be 00:55:52.000 --> 00:55:55.660 align:middle line:90% gone every time he comes over. 00:55:55.660 --> 00:56:00.610 align:middle line:84% Maybe she sees me coming then runs and jumps in her car 00:56:00.610 --> 00:56:03.760 align:middle line:84% and speeds away, he says smiling. 00:56:03.760 --> 00:56:09.310 align:middle line:84% We both laugh just to think of my mother jumping in her car 00:56:09.310 --> 00:56:11.230 align:middle line:90% and speeding. 00:56:11.230 --> 00:56:15.490 align:middle line:84% I pour him more coffee and he spoons some sugar and cream 00:56:15.490 --> 00:56:19.390 align:middle line:84% until it looks almost like a chocolate shake. 00:56:19.390 --> 00:56:22.720 align:middle line:90% Then he sees the coffee can. 00:56:22.720 --> 00:56:26.230 align:middle line:84% Oh, that's that coffee with the man 00:56:26.230 --> 00:56:30.710 align:middle line:90% in a dress like a church man. 00:56:30.710 --> 00:56:35.860 align:middle line:84% Oh, that's the one that does it for me. 00:56:35.860 --> 00:56:38.840 align:middle line:90% Very good coffee. 00:56:38.840 --> 00:56:45.430 align:middle line:84% I sit down again and he tells me, some coffee has no kick. 00:56:45.430 --> 00:56:47.980 align:middle line:90% But this one is the one. 00:56:47.980 --> 00:56:50.860 align:middle line:90% It does it good for me. 00:56:50.860 --> 00:56:52.870 align:middle line:90% I pour us both a cup. 00:56:52.870 --> 00:56:57.790 align:middle line:84% And while we wait for my mother, his eyes crinkle with the smile 00:56:57.790 --> 00:57:00.490 align:middle line:90% and he says, yes. 00:57:00.490 --> 00:57:02.830 align:middle line:90% Ah, yes. 00:57:02.830 --> 00:57:05.950 align:middle line:90% This is the very one. 00:57:05.950 --> 00:57:09.850 align:middle line:90% Putting in more cream and sugar. 00:57:09.850 --> 00:57:13.660 align:middle line:84% So I usually buy Hills Brothers Coffee. 00:57:13.660 --> 00:57:19.720 align:middle line:84% Once or sometimes twice a day, I drink a hot coffee 00:57:19.720 --> 00:57:22.570 align:middle line:90% and it sure does it for me. 00:57:22.570 --> 00:57:29.870 align:middle line:90% 00:57:29.870 --> 00:57:33.900 align:middle line:90% So I'll end with this one. 00:57:33.900 --> 00:57:35.870 align:middle line:84% It's called the Motion of Songs Rising. 00:57:35.870 --> 00:57:38.810 align:middle line:90% 00:57:38.810 --> 00:57:41.780 align:middle line:84% Even though it's not really winter yet here, 00:57:41.780 --> 00:57:46.640 align:middle line:84% it's winter at home, so we're OK because this is a winter thing. 00:57:46.640 --> 00:57:50.030 align:middle line:90% The Motion of Songs Rising. 00:57:50.030 --> 00:57:52.910 align:middle line:84% The October night is warm and clear. 00:57:52.910 --> 00:57:55.490 align:middle line:90% We are standing on a small hill. 00:57:55.490 --> 00:57:59.210 align:middle line:84% And in all directions around us, the flat land 00:57:59.210 --> 00:58:02.000 align:middle line:90% listens to the songs rising. 00:58:02.000 --> 00:58:04.460 align:middle line:90% The holy ones are here dancing. 00:58:04.460 --> 00:58:06.560 align:middle line:90% The Yeis are here. 00:58:06.560 --> 00:58:09.620 align:middle line:84% In the west, Shiprock looms above the desert. 00:58:09.620 --> 00:58:14.220 align:middle line:84% Tsé bit'a'í, old bird-shaped rock, she watches us. 00:58:14.220 --> 00:58:17.570 align:middle line:84% Tsé bit'a'í, our mother who brought the people here on her 00:58:17.570 --> 00:58:21.500 align:middle line:84% back, our refuge from the floods long ago. 00:58:21.500 --> 00:58:26.570 align:middle line:84% It was worlds and centuries ago, yet she remains here, Nihimá, 00:58:26.570 --> 00:58:27.950 align:middle line:90% our mother. 00:58:27.950 --> 00:58:31.640 align:middle line:84% This is the center of the night, and right in front of us, 00:58:31.640 --> 00:58:33.350 align:middle line:90% the holy ones dance. 00:58:33.350 --> 00:58:36.887 align:middle line:84% They dance surrounded by hundreds of Navajos. 00:58:36.887 --> 00:58:37.595 align:middle line:90% Diné t'óó àhayóí. 00:58:37.595 --> 00:58:40.100 align:middle line:90% Diné t'óó àhayóí. 00:58:40.100 --> 00:58:43.310 align:middle line:84% We listened and watched the holy ones dance. 00:58:43.310 --> 00:58:46.490 align:middle line:84% Yeibicheii, grandfather of the holy ones. 00:58:46.490 --> 00:58:50.970 align:middle line:90% 00:58:50.970 --> 00:58:51.790 align:middle line:90% [SINGING] 00:58:51.790 --> 00:58:58.680 align:middle line:90% 00:58:58.680 --> 00:59:01.320 align:middle line:84% They dance moving back and forth. 00:59:01.320 --> 00:59:03.900 align:middle line:84% Their bodies are covered with white clay 00:59:03.900 --> 00:59:06.300 align:middle line:84% and they wave evergreen branches. 00:59:06.300 --> 00:59:10.800 align:middle line:84% They were hides of varying colors through coyote swinging 00:59:10.800 --> 00:59:13.290 align:middle line:90% as they sway back and forth. 00:59:13.290 --> 00:59:16.530 align:middle line:84% All of them dancing ancient steps. 00:59:16.530 --> 00:59:21.420 align:middle line:84% They dance precise steps our own emergence onto this land. 00:59:21.420 --> 00:59:25.050 align:middle line:84% They dance again the formation of this world. 00:59:25.050 --> 00:59:29.520 align:middle line:84% They dance for us now, one precise swaying motion. 00:59:29.520 --> 00:59:33.510 align:middle line:84% They dance back and forth, back and forth. 00:59:33.510 --> 00:59:37.210 align:middle line:84% As they are singing, we watch ourselves recreated. 00:59:37.210 --> 00:59:40.710 align:middle line:90% [SINGING] 00:59:45.710 --> 00:59:48.072 align:middle line:90% Éí ałts'íísgíí shił nizhóní. 00:59:48.260 --> 00:59:51.590 align:middle line:84% The little clown must be about six years old. 00:59:51.590 --> 00:59:55.460 align:middle line:84% He skipped slightly about, waving his branches around. 00:59:55.460 --> 00:59:57.800 align:middle line:84% He teases people in the audience, 00:59:57.800 --> 01:00:02.600 align:middle line:84% tickling their faces if they look too serious or sleepy. 01:00:02.600 --> 01:00:04.520 align:middle line:84% At the beginning of each dance, when 01:00:04.520 --> 01:00:08.840 align:middle line:84% the woman walks by to bless the Yeis, he runs from her. 01:00:08.840 --> 01:00:11.270 align:middle line:84% Finally, after the third time, she 01:00:11.270 --> 01:00:16.040 align:middle line:84% sprinkles him with corn pollen and he skips off happily. 01:00:16.040 --> 01:00:20.540 align:middle line:90% 'Éí shił nizhóní. 01:00:26.480 --> 01:00:28.370 align:middle line:90% Yeis are dancing again. 01:00:28.370 --> 01:00:31.190 align:middle line:84% Each step, our own strong bodies. 01:00:31.190 --> 01:00:35.420 align:middle line:84% They are dancing the same dance thousands of years old. 01:00:35.420 --> 01:00:39.440 align:middle line:84% They are here for us now, grateful for another harvest 01:00:39.440 --> 01:00:41.660 align:middle line:90% and our own good health. 01:00:41.660 --> 01:00:44.060 align:middle line:84% The roast corn I had this morning 01:00:44.060 --> 01:00:48.420 align:middle line:84% was fresh, cooked all night, and lift out of the ground 01:00:48.420 --> 01:00:49.430 align:middle line:90% this morning. 01:00:49.430 --> 01:00:53.530 align:middle line:84% It was steamed and brown just right. 01:00:53.530 --> 01:01:01.280 align:middle line:90% [SINGING] 01:01:01.280 --> 01:01:02.480 align:middle line:90% They are dancing. 01:01:02.480 --> 01:01:05.150 align:middle line:84% And in the motion of songs rising, 01:01:05.150 --> 01:01:09.200 align:middle line:84% our breathing becomes the morning moonlit air. 01:01:09.200 --> 01:01:12.800 align:middle line:84% The fires are burning below as always. 01:01:12.800 --> 01:01:14.640 align:middle line:90% We are restored. 01:01:14.640 --> 01:01:15.510 align:middle line:90% We are restored. 01:01:15.510 --> 01:01:18.700 align:middle line:90% 01:01:18.700 --> 01:01:20.372 align:middle line:84% I want to thank you all for coming. 01:01:20.372 --> 01:01:22.080 align:middle line:84% And I really want to thank the people out 01:01:22.080 --> 01:01:26.220 align:middle line:84% in the lobby who are very patient people. 01:01:26.220 --> 01:01:27.000 align:middle line:90% Thank you. 01:01:27.000 --> 01:01:29.630 align:middle line:90% Hágoónee'. 01:01:29.630 --> 01:01:37.000 align:middle line:90%