{"id":46582,"date":"2025-03-14T15:23:43","date_gmt":"2025-03-14T22:23:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/?p=46582"},"modified":"2025-03-14T15:23:45","modified_gmt":"2025-03-14T22:23:45","slug":"indigenously-positive-dine-led-nonprofit-immerses-children-in-their-native-language","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/indigenously-positive-dine-led-nonprofit-immerses-children-in-their-native-language\/","title":{"rendered":"\ufeffIndigenously Positive: Din\u00e9-Led Nonprofit Immerses Children in Their Native Language"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\"Sign<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Posted on the door leading into the learning space in northeast Albuquerque is a sign that reads, \u201cBilag\u00e1ana bizaad dooda.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Underneath is a translation: \u201cNo English beyond this point.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is Saad K\u2019idily\u00e9, a \u201clanguage nest\u201d where Monday through Thursday, year-round, Din\u00e9 children are fully immersed in Din\u00e9 bizaad, the Navajo language. Director Warlance Chee (Din\u00e9) translates the name to \u201cthe planting of language.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe want Navajo to be their first language. English is going to come either way. We got no say over that,\u201d Chee said during a February visit. \u201cWe\u2019re prioritizing our language and our culture so that these little ones get a chance to learn the language and culture their parents and grandparents didn\u2019t learn.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The work is urgent, in part because learning the Din\u00e9 language can help speakers gain a stronger sense of cultural identity and overall well-being, said Dr. Tiffany Lee (Din\u00e9\/Lakota) and Dr. Melvatha Chee (Din\u00e9), professors at the University of New Mexico who helped develop the nest, which is a nonprofit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a Tuesday last month, toddlers gathered around two language caretakers \u2014 as they\u2019re called at the nest \u2014 to hear stories about different animals. Hanging on one of the walls are the names of the children and caretakers, along with their clans<\/a>. Up against another wall is a shelf displaying books written in Din\u00e9. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the yard outside, there are raised garden beds where the children plant, water and, eventually, harvest vegetables. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe do a lot of land-based learning,\u201d said Cheryl Yazzie (Din\u00e9), one of the language caretakers. \u201cAnd we show families how to use all of the corn \u2014 corn pollen, the husks, the kernels.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yazzie, who\u2019s been working at the nest since it opened in 2022, is proud to see the progress the children are making.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seeing a lot of our kids and our older babies now really speaking the language, and that\u2019s what we want to hear,\u201d Yazzie said. \u201cI know that these kids will continue to grow and flourish in their language, and then they\u2019ll teach the language to their kids. So hopefully that one pebble we threw in that pond is going to keep rippling out.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout the country, Native language immersion programs are working to create speakers after centuries of violent repression by the U.S. government. For 150 years, up until 1969, the federal government, often in partnership with religious organizations, separated thousands of Indigenous children from their families and placed them in boarding schools<\/a> where they faced rampant abuse from officials and harsh punishment for speaking their languages. More than 3,100 children died, according to a Washington Post investigation<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many survivors, traumatized by their experiences, \u201cwould not allow future generations to learn the language,\u201d reads an Interior Department report<\/a> published last year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parents who join the Albuquerque nest typically aren\u2019t fluent Din\u00e9 speakers, and their children often start to outpace them.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the parents get support to learn. Just outside the room where the children spend most of their days are a couple posters with questions for parents to practice speaking during drop-offs and pick-ups, such as, \u201cShiy\u00e1zh\u00edsh Din\u00e9 k\u00e9hij\u00ed han\u00e1dzih?\u201d (\u201cIs my baby using Navajo words?\u201d) They\u2019re required to attend language classes and volunteer for a few hours a month at the nest, which also hosts weekend activities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The organization is focused on prenatal to about kindergarten and wants to build a sustainable program before potentially expanding to include other ages. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThen maybe we\u2019ll get money from somebody to build an elementary, then maybe a middle school, high school,\u201d Chee, the director, said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before opening, the language nest was in the works for years. Lee and Chee, the UNM professors, were part of that effort and serve on the nest\u2019s board of directors. They\u2019re in the university\u2019s Native American Studies and Linguistics departments, respectively, and are part of a team of Din\u00e9 professors focused on language revitalization.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of their areas of study is how learning the language contributes to wellness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Din\u00e9 language helps support \u201ca stronger sense of knowing yourself, your sense of identity, your connection to your culture, so then what that leads into is your overall, holistic well-being,\u201d Chee said. \u201cIt fights against things like depression.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The professors know that connection exists based on their own experiences, including teaching students and talking with speakers, but there\u2019s little research examining those connections, Lee said. Using a method called photovoice, the professors are interviewing a core group of about 30 Din\u00e9 language learners, from infants and their parents to college students. Instead of a participant answering how they feel when they speak the language, they take a photo that captures that feeling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One high school student took a photo of storm clouds to represent \u201chow learning Navajo sometimes felt really heavy, how you feel in a heavy storm, but then when you look at how it nourishes the landscape, it inspires him to keep learning because he knows how good it\u2019s going to be for him and his family,\u201d Lee said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They want the research they\u2019re doing to help support schools with strong Native language programs, partly by helping policymakers understand the benefits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSome think learning your own Indigenous language can hold you back in society,\u201d Lee said. \u201cWe were kind of forced to believe that through the boarding school and assimilationist educational practices. So we\u2019re trying to counter that now and show how learning your own Indigenous language is not going to hold you back. Actually, it\u2019s the complete opposite.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– Bella Davis, New Mexico In Depth Indigenous Affairs Reporter\u00a0<\/strong>

This story is part of a collaborative series between New Mexico PBS and <\/em>New Mexico In Depth<\/a>, called Indigenously Positive. Bella Davis was the host\/producer for this episode; NMPBS Multimedia Producer Benjamin Yazza was the director\/producer; NMPBS\u2019 Joey Dunn was the editor\/producer.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n