Navajo POV

Dziłnaodiłthe - Doorway Mountain

Photo credit: Venaya Yazzie 2016

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Did you know that the Diné, present-day 'Navajo' people live in New Mexico (and yes its in the US)?

Well, as a native- New Mexican and Diné/ Hopi woman I am rooted in this great state. My mother's family lineage is from the place named Huerfano Mesa and my maternal grandfather was raised in the Kimbetó (Chaco Canyon area). Truly I am a New Mexican through and through and very proud of my heritage.

Now, have you ever seen this mesa? If you live in the northwestern New Mexico community and surround area I'm sure you have. This iconic natural structure is a very important element of Diné culture, it is a part of our very identity. Yet, I have found that many younger generations of Diné have no clue of this mesa's existence. You may say"Well why should they? There are alot of mesas in the desert southwest." This is the 'holy grail' of Diné cosmology, its our Diné identity as a group, as Indigenous humans on the earth. To know this mesa, to know its reason for being, to know its history and to have reverence for its existence is the essence of being a Diné person.

This image is burned into the marrow of my bones. I love this mesa, it is my childhood, it talks of story of my maternal great grandparents Jim and Louise Werito, and therefore it is where my heart will always be.

This place is expressed, Dziłnaodiłthe by the Diné. It is the 'Doorway Mountain' where we as Diné entered this world. This sacred place is our identity as 'Five-Fingered" Diné people. This area is part of the Diné cultural landscape to many Navajo who live in this and surrounding communities. Just as the Monument Valley structures are prominent in the minds of the the Diné who live there, this mesa is encoded in our Eastern Diné DNA.

It is my hope that we as Diné return to our ancestral origin stories, they are our true identity and we should hope to know all these sacred sites because that will ensure we keep faith in who we are in this chaotic world

Ask your parents, grandparents, uncles and or aunts about this place. No matter how old you are as Diné, know our stories of origin it will only make you and our identity as a desert dweller Diné strong and resilient.

Bless the People.