WEBVTT

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I want to read a poem that is--

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you must have
realized or noticed

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that in all our classrooms,
we have American flags

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and the Constitution.

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And this was a law that was
passed last year in Arizona.

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So it makes it convenient
when I read this poem

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about the American flag.

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I wrote the poem way
before we had to do this,

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but this is called,
"That American Flag."

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"I wouldn't buy anything
with the flag on it,

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my friend said as I showed
her a cute straw handbag

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at Mervyn's one summer night.

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It had a small, beaded
flag in the corner.

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There's just something about
me and the flag, she said.

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I didn't respond.

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Yes, the American flag is
ubiquitous, these days,

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and we had done our share of
marches, protests, and sit-ins

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in the 1970s.

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But later that night, I
wanted to call her and explain

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about the American
flag and us Navajos.

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Let me tell you, I wanted to
say, that in the mid-1800s,

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that flag meant fear
and untold turmoil.

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Let me tell you,
there was little we

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understood about those who
followed the American flag

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onto our land.

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That thin rectangle of fabric
rippled in the dry gusts

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of wind as the troops
approached Dinétah.

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Though the men were
five-fingered like us,

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their words seemed
loud and careless,

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and their mannerisms, dramatic.

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Still, we watched for
signs of compassion,

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as these soldiers had been
born of a mother somewhere.

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Their mothers had been delighted
to hear their first words,

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just as some of the men must
have talked to their firstborn

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soothingly.

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Perhaps as they walked
on the Diné Bikéyah,

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they longed for their families.

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These men walk upright,
feet moving upon the Earth's

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surface, as we do.

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From childhood, they have
grown upward toward the sun

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as the Diné do.

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They breathed the air granted
all of us by the Holy Ones.

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They were like us in these
ways, but their hearts

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were unyielding.

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They were faithful
to orders from afar.

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They were faithful to voices
they had not heard themselves.

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They were bound
by written orders

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and armed with deadly gear.

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They were loyal to
their flag of freedom.

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The government had decreed that
Diné be moved to Fort Sumner

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so that we could
become Americans.

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We traveled hundreds
of miles to the south.

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The winters were cold.

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Our blankets became
worn and frayed.

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Though we were given
jackets, wraps, and clothing,

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the sick worsened,
the elderly passed on,

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and often babies died at birth.

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At times the children played
as children do anywhere.

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Other times they were
listless from hunger and fear.

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The men remained resilient.

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They talked late into the night
and sang quietly so as not

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to disturb the soldiers.

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They prayed for the
strength and insight

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to lead our people home.

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The women set up looms, though
they were immersed in grief.

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We have to weave as we
always have, they said.

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By weaving, we can make it
through these waves of sorrow.

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Someday we'll go
home, they said.

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We have to weave through this
hunger, through the pain,

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through the deaths
that surround us.

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We have to keep up our
strength, they said.

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We have to weave to remember
our land, our relatives,

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and our animals.

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They unraveled the blue military
jackets and red undergarments

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and wound them into
balls of crinkled wool.

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They found bits
of wool and cotton

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and sometimes sheep wool.

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The military clothes became
thin, red and blue stripes

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in the rugs.

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The stripes were
laced, line by line--

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each weft tapped into
place by the weaving comb.

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Its venerable echo
a comfort in itself.

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Sometimes they wove in
strands of hair, feathers,

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bits of plants, and
knots of corn pollen

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to ensure strength
and abundance.

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These were offerings to the
desolate land around them.

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The rugs were prayers with red,
blue, black, and white stripes.

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The rugs' white horizontal bands
are for the early morning sky

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and signaled new beginnings.

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The background of
the American flag

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is white, as is our sacred
mountain in the east.

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Thus, the women knew
we would survive.

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The red stripes
were for the dirt

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at home, the sandstone
cliffs, and for the sumac that

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turns brilliant red each fall.

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The red stripes in the
flag are for our blood

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and for our ancestors,
who tried to search

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for the good in
everyone and everything.

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By weaving blue into
the rugs, the women

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recall the hooghans they
built when the men were gone.

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They recall the
graceful ease with which

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their teenage sons chopped wood,
built corrals, and rode horses.

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In doing so, the women were
reminded of their own strength.

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The blue in the flag is for the
promise of each spring granted

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us since Fort Sumner.

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The blue stripes honor the men
and their strength, tenderness,

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and intellect.

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Often, the women wove
stars in the rugs--

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its center is for
our home, Nihimá,

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the land that was given to us.

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We were told that a specific
star watches over us,

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this star knows everything.

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The stars were prayers for the
children who held the future--

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the ones who became our
parents and great grandparents.

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The flag's star signaled our
eventual return to the Diné

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Bikéyah.

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When the clouds gather and
darken over the Dinétah,

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the air becomes sweet with
wet dirt, glistening sage,

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and creosote.

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The black bands are
like a woman's hair

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pulled back in a
tsiiyeel, which ensures

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clear thinking, guidance, and
a wealth of songs and stories.

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Late that summer night, I
wanted to tell my friend

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that we Navajos have
many reasons not

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to honor the American flag.

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But often, it reminds us of our
grandparent's enduring courage.

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In the face of terrible
odds, the stars and stripes

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came to mean that we would
return to our homeland.

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It taught us that our
mother, Nahasdzaan,

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cares for us as we care for
ourselves and our children.

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Let me tell you about the
American flag and us Diné,

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my friend.

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Let my grandparents-- Shimásáni
dóó Shícheíí dóó Shináliké,

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Let them tell you about
the American flag."

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