Years ago, I had a roommate who was full-blooded Navajo Indian. She’d been raised on the rez and her culture was a big part of who she was. She read and spoke her native language, made fry bread for dinner, and wore beautiful beaded robes when she performed traditional dances with her friends. She even hung a calendar written in Navajo in our bathroom.
Living with her was the first experience I had dealing day in, day out with someone of another culture and there were some behaviors I found difficult to understand. Conflict avoidance is a huge part of Navajo culture. Because of this, Navajos don’t tend to talk to people outside of their immediate family and don’t make eye contact in a conversation. In fact, their desire to defuse strife is so absolute, they go to seemingly extreme measures to keep the peace.
Take the rules regarding interactions between spouses and mothers-in-law, for example. The two are never allowed in the same room. The two never talk. They avoid each other completely. If they have to drive somewhere together, the mother-in-law sits in the bed of the pick-up while the couple sits in the cab.
With these customs in mind, at this festive time of family togetherness I make a Christmas wish that some of you may share:
Dear Santa, if only for a few weeks, could I be a Navajo too?
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