Native American (Navajo) Beliefs.pdf

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Native American (Navajo) Beliefs

There's a portion of it in that ceremony that had a lot of Hopi influence. And those are the things that we are not aware of these things in that are only discussed in sacred settings. And I wish that our people would have that type of communication with some of our Native American neighbors, the people of the Hopi pueblos and the people of the Tiwa, the people of the Zuni, the people of the Acoma, and all these that are neighbors to us. (Native Language)

In the traditional teachings of our people, there are many things in that that deserve a lot of discussion and information to be exchanged, and it's all contained in the language and also in the songs and ceremonial songs, ceremonial prayers and the way that the ceremonies are conducted. There are many traditional teachings in that that are preserved in those ceremonies. But the other thing is the the stories in that the kachina where life began. Also the Xhosa, which is the coyote stories, the trotting coyote stories, all of those have a lot of teachings in that that we have neglected and, of course, is contained in the language of our people. When you tell those stories, that's the the language that contains all the information. And we've had comments about people asking, how will we preserve these things if they are written down, but they are not written down in a way that we can see that where we have symbols that might be put into the rocks and that the petroglyphs, but that's the extent of it. And then we have symbols, of course, the, the way that we do the stone offerings. (Native Language)

All of those colors in that when we do the stone offerings and then also the use of the cornmeal, we have the white cornmeal, the yellow cornmeal signifying the male and the female also the the dawn and the evening. And then we have, of course, the blue corn meal. So there are many symbols on that that we have in the traditional teachings of our people. And so I was mentioning the comments on that, some people asking, how do we keep all of this information available to our people? And then there are other comments on that about the, the songs on that that we have. We have an intellectual songs when we make these presentations and we call it Shinasha. The very simple meaning of that song is really a lot of teachings involved. Should not she means me not, she means I am still here. And that is to remind us that our people survive so many different catastrophes and events and that that could have wiped out our people. And so the song Shinasha actually came about after the imprisonment for four years. And so the song has great significance to our people. Shinasha I am still here. And the way that the song is put together, actually, you sing four verses.

The first verse, of course, would explain the spiritual survival. And so all of the teachings in that when we talk about the teachings, we say the negative, which means that when you are a surface person and then people begin to ask all kinds of questions about surface people, did they come out of the ground? No. None of the teachings of Arden are hocus pocus or magic or even mystical. Everything is explained if you just take the moment to understand that we are following the the plans and the way that the Holy people thought of all of this and planned all of this, and gave us life and gave us hope and gave us faith, and those are the things that we need to remind our people, is that none of this is mystical. There are so many things in that, of course, that our people are picking up, that are the influence of people from the outside. And one of the great examples is the idea of being a victim. We are not victims, and we are also not to blame other people on that the way some people think. And there is an issue right now with the idea of racism.

Racism is something that never, ever existed among the (native language) we accept. That everyone. We still should be accepting everyone. And it is that we are taught, you know, (native language) that means that people that have the five-fingered or the five-fingered being are all the descendants and the children of holy people. And the is that maybe there are some that are white, some that are of different shades of color and so on. But nonetheless, we are all descendants of the holy people, and it is their plan that we learn how to live together and how to recognize that we as individual beings, we all have the same opportunities. And that's the other thing, is that opportunities, and that in the traditional teaching is to say that we have those opportunities and that each of us. And so we should look at each other as the children of holy people. And we have so many teachings on that. The spiritual teachings, the emotional teachings, the mental teachings, and the physical teachings, all of those are very important.

Recently we had an eclipse and all the mysticism, and that has to be put out of that thing. And mysticism and superstition comes about by fear. I think the teachings of not looking at the sun during the eclipse is very simple. Don't look at the sun. There is (native language) is the teaching and it's very simple. If you look at the sun, you're going to burn your retina and you're going to become blind. So don't look at it though, there's nothing Jose said. Or who is this? And though that means keep things sacred, recognize that the holy people can do all these things in the universe, and for us to view and to respect that, and to be able to sit quietly and to meditate and to think. And that's the teaching, really. That's the pure and simple teaching of (native language). But we've put in all these other things and that and we shut down places and that, that I don't think that the holy people intended for us to do that sort of thing, and we've got to learn it from the traditional teachings have to come from the songs, the prayers, the ceremonies, and the way that they are conducted and the story of the trotting coyote and the kachina, and even the story of how Jeannie is made so complicated that our people just don't have an interest in it.

It's a very simple story, and we keep trying to explain those the very best that we can as to the way we heard and that we were told. And so there are so many things in the teachings of our people that are just right there and available for us to learn. And it is also the way that we can continue to be here and to be around for the generations to come. And right now we have the (native language) season. Right now we have had in many places the first frosts. Now we can begin the Yabusame ceremony and it's the nine-day ceremony. And (native language) is what we call it. We don't call it the (native language), we call it the (native language). And that's the ceremony that closes out the season and brings in the winter season. Now that will take us over into the the new year. But there's our calendar is the 13th moon cycle calendar. And so the month is probably now in this present day before the month of April or the spring equinox. In that moon cycle, before that spring equinox, that was the time that our people would put down their drum, put down their rattles or gourds and would not make any sounds because they want the hibernating animals to remain there.

And then when the spring time comes, becomes the new life, new everything. The new plants sprout and the new creatures are born and brought into existence, and the new season of the year begins with the springtime. Dance is what it's called, and da means the beginning. And so that is the teaching of our people. And then, of course, we have the fall season here. That is halfway. It is not the first of the year, and it is the the correct teaching that comes from the ceremonies and that that we do and the (native language) ceremony cannot be performed before that first frost. And so when we have that nine day ceremony after the two days, first before that, and then we have the two sacred beings that appear, and the people bring out their corn pollen and their corn meal, and they make offerings and that particular ceremony that is open to everyone. (Yonada Iheni Banata ni - native language) is what we call it. And it's a time when you. Ask the holy people to forgive you. And it also the time when you make promises to the holy people. And it's a time when you receive promises from the holy people that they will watch over you and that they will help you. And so it's a very important part of the ceremony.

(Barnardine - native language). And it is a time when we make promises and that to the holy people. And so it's a very important part of the ceremony in that and the other part, we try to explain to our listeners and our viewers, and we hope that you understand it's a very sacred ceremony, and it's the last of the ceremonies that is done before the 13th moon cycle. So when the 13th moon cycle comes about, then we lay the drums down, we lay the gorge down, the rattles down, and all of the ceremonial implements. And for that whole moon cycle, the (hostdescendo - native language) is to keep things sacred, to recognize the holy things that the holy people have given us. And then in the spring equinox, then it's a new time of the year. The new seasons of the year, new birth, and new types of our environment is renewed. And so then begins the New Year cycle. And it's very important for our people to understand. Now, the reason that we share this is there are so many ceremonies in that that are given to us. Some of these ceremonies, other tribes that we recognize, even the Pueblo people, the Hopi especially, there's some contribution in that that they have made to the nine-day ceremony.

Now, there's a portion of it in that ceremony that had a lot of Hopi influence. And those are the things that we are not aware of. And these things in that are only discussed in sacred settings. And I wish that our people would have that type of communication with some of our, our Native American neighbors, the people of the Hopi pueblos and the people of the Tiwa, the people of the Zuni, the people of the the Acoma, and all these that are very closely neighbors to us. And so we will continue to share a lot of these traditional teachings of our people. There are many things, and that one of the very first things is, of course, to take all of those things are so very important. The words contain so much instruction in that is that everything is our choice, everything at your table. And so it is your responsibility to choose wisely and to remember you are still here. Shinasha. And it is important to understand that you are an individual being that is the child of the holy people. You have promises that have been made to our people, and you have promises that you have made individually to the holy people. And don't ever take after the teachings that are available in the world that are misdirection. You are a victim only when you allow yourself to be a victim. You have these people that make you think that they are racist. Maybe they are, but you are not racist and you are not a victim of racism. And so the things that we share with you are the things that we are told.