WEBVTT

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It seems to me as
a Navajo man, I

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have always gained my
strength from the stories

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of Navajo women.

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And I'm not really sure why.

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But most of the
stories, I think,

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is because I come from
a patriarchal society,

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where women have the power.

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As Lucy says, the smaller they
are, the more power they got.

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I think that's true.

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So--

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There's a story.

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I would like to tell
the short story.

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And after that, I will read
some poems in the computer.

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We don't have many
trees up North.

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So I used my computer.

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These things are
great, you know?

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When you're herding sheep.

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Sometimes I use them
sitting on top of the hill.

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I always wanted to
have my picture taken

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sitting until one of
those rocks out there,

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maybe sand dunes
with a big umbrella

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that's like an orange
one from Princeton.

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And my computer, my
cellular phone, and that's

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a modern Navajo.

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Well, anyway, the story
goes that one time, this

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is one of the stories that kept
me going in times of hardship.

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And the story is that I have
a great grandmother, whose

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name was [NAVAJO].

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And she used to do
all types of thing.

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And one time, back
when they were

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Mexican raiders
in Navajo country,

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I guess she got caught.

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And there was a huge bonfire
in the middle of the plain.

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And Navajo women and
children, and even

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the men were sitting there,
they didn't know what to do.

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So most of them were
crying and gave up,

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and start talking about what
life would be like as a slave,

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and so on.

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And suddenly, they heard
the speaker, laughter.

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There's loud
laughter coming and--

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they said oh, [NAVAJO]

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And she came in and started
cheering up the people.

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She said what's
wrong with you guys?

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You know, we never get
together like this.

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And let's have fun.

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Tell each other stories,
update one another

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with the latest gossip.

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And look, you guys
are boiling some stew.

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And this is wonderful, isn't it?

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And what a great time.

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So she did that.

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And then I guess after
that, then she set out

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the bed-rollings, the
bed for her captives--

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for her captors, the Mexicans.

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And she would take off the
saddles, brushed the horses,

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and run around with a blanket,
and gather grass, and bring it

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in to feed the horses.

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And then she would run to the
nearest water place, bringing

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jugs and water, and so on.

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And so she was really
good to her captors,

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and cooked for them,
and always teasing them.

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Here, I've cooked for you.

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Eat some more, you're
getting skinny.

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Eat some more, your wife
probably won't recognize you,

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and all that.

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And she was having
such a wonderful time.

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And the people, the rest of the
people thought she was crazy.

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Perhaps, she was.

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But she was having fun.

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And so she did this every day.

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And she traveled with
them, telling them

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this is where we need to camp.

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Because if we camp over there,
the enemies will get you.

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We camp over here.

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We'll be camping near
water, and so on.

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And she kept doing
that until she

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came to the valley of Chinle.

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There was a place
called the valley store.

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Just west of there.

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There's this huge red bluff
and you can hardly go up.

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It's very hard to go up.

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There's a sand, big
giant sand stones there.

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They're almost like steps.

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And they say that it's even hard
to get up there when on foot.

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So every morning, when
she was doing this,

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she also told her captors,
you can't ride horses

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while they're still cold.

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Let me warm them up for you.

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So she would saddle them,
and test them, ride them,

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and warm them up.

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And so she just kept doing that
until they got to that place.

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And that morning, she
got on this one horse.

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And she did the same thing.

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But suddenly, she
took off the west

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and let out this
big loud scream.

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It was the kind of scream
that challenged her captors

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and said come and
get me if you can.

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And so they knew
she was escaping.

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So they took off after her.

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And she went straight for this
cliff that I was talking about.

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And as she was going
up, supposedly, she

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had missed a step to be killed.

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[SPEAKING NAVAJO]

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And of course, the horse
didn't miss a step.

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It went over the cliff.

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And I don't know
who was listening

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to her when she said that.

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Then she escaped to
Black Mesa, where

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she killed the horse that
she escaped on, and start

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butchering it, and
start screaming

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and says come on out,
you cowards, you Navajos.

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Chicken Navajos, come
and have a feast with me.

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And because she knew her
relatives and other people

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were hiding, and
they looked around

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where they found no
one following her.

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They came out.

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And they butchered the horse and
then boiled that and ate that

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and had a feast.

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And I guess she told them
the story, what she did in--

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while she was
planning her escape.

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I always remember that
story because that tells me

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that this Navajo woman
knew her country so well.

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And she also knew horses
because every time,

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she rode out those
horses every morning,

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she found the toughest,
fastest, and most sure

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footed horse she could find.

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And that's the horse
she escaped on.

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So she knew that the Mexicans
didn't have a chance.

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And so I always
remember the story

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whenever I get into
trouble or when-- no,

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does he get into trouble?

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No.

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When I find myself in
a difficult situation,

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I would ask myself, what would
[NAVAJO] do in the situation?

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What would her thoughts be?

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What would she be doing?

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And it's really interesting
because every time

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I was asked that question,
somehow her voice

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appears and says try this.

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Why don't you try this?

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Do this way.

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Come on, don't be too chicken.

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You know, dare.

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Take a little bit more risks.

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And so I've been
doing that since then.

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So now, the women
do control my life.

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Whether they're alive or from
the past, or whether they're

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mythological figures.

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So I've always valued that story
because it's a family story.

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And we pass it on
to our children.

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