Introduction

After the Diné traveled through different worlds in their journey to the current world, they had to utilize certain traditional practices that were prescribed by the Diyin Diné (Holy People). Governance was never mentioned in the instruction; the Diné were just told to live by certain principles, to be caretakers of the land and environment, and to act according to Diné Bi Beenahaz’aanii (fundamental laws).

Today, the Diné live in a world where traditional teaching is central, yet it has become difficult to find traditional knowledge keepers. Before contact with the Bilagáana (Europeans) and the Nakáí diné (Spanish), Diné and dooné (clan) communities depended on Naachid (traditional Navajo form of governance) for guidance in certain community functions. The Diné had a history of being at war with the Wááshindoon bikeyah ałhidadiidzooígíí (United States) government, primarily over land. As the years progressed toward modern times, the Diné were forced to assimilate into a white society that almost stripped their culture, language, and land away. In this short essay, we will look at Diné history and how the COVID-19 pandemic has altered and impacted the way medicine people and Navajo chapter houses interact with the community.

A Brief History of Navajo Governance

The Navajo Nation is located in the Four Corners area of the Southwest and is a semi-autonomous nation within the United States, spanning across Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. Before 1868, the Navajo people were at war with the United States Army. The U.S. Army rounded up the Navajo people and relocated them to Fort Sumner, New Mexico, which is approximately 300 miles from their homeland. For four years they stayed there until a treaty was signed in 1868, afterwhich the Navajo people returned home to what is the Navajo Nation today. However, the landmass that was promised to them in the Treaty of 1868 was significantly smaller than the area they occupied before.

Prior to the internment at Fort Sumner, the Navajo people had a system of governance called the Naachid. According to David E. Wilkins (1999), the Naachid was ceremonially conducted to ensure an abundance of water and fertility. It also served as a council in times of war and peace. The literal translation of the word “naachid” means someone motioning, making hand gestures, and making a decision to address the well-being of others while meeting or speaking. This shows that the Navajo people discussed issues at the local level and that this was their form of governance.  

After the war with the U.S. Army and the return of the Navajo people to their homeland following the Treaty of 1868, the Diné no longer conducted the Naachid and this form of governance was lost. Instead, the Bureau of Indian Affiars (BIA) ran the Navajo Nation with five agency superintendents. It wasn’t until the 1920s that the Navajo people had a government and this was because of the discovery of oil in the Navajo Nation in 1922. Before the 1920s, if an oil company wanted to operate in the Navajo Nation it had to contact the agency superintendent who would then gather a general council of Navajo adults to decide whether there should be any resource extraction in the agency (Wilkins, 1999). This was a very crude and informal way to gain the consent of the Navajo people in the local area.

In 1922, the Department of Interior implemented two policies. First, revenue generated from resource extraction would not belong to individual members of the tribe where the extraction took place but rather to the entire tribe. Second, there was to be a business council to deal with lease grants. Three men were selected by the Secretary of Interior and they composed this business council (Wilkins, 1999). These actions were the precursor to the Navajo tribal council. Initially, any type of local governance or national governance was for the purpose of approving resource extraction. The Navajo Nation exerts local control over its territory and its members, among whom are cultural leaders known as hataałiis (medicine men) who are a great asset in leading the Navajo people.   

Medicine People

The Diné have a long tradition of using herbal medicine to heal people through ceremonial practices. These holistic ceremonial practices date back thousands of years and are still performed on the Navajo reservation today but are changing due to rapid development in the modern world. These traditional practices have always been a primary source of healing for the Diné. They are performed on an individual basis, which includes having a hataałii conduct these ceremonies (Griffin-Pierce & Momaday, 2005). A hataałii is trained from birth as an apprentice by an older medicine man. Throughout the years of apprenticeship, the young hataałii will learn all the protocols and procedures of the traditional healing practices and acquire jish (spiritual prayer items or medicine bundles). Some hataałiis receive a spiritual gift with bundles, which give them the ability to engage in crystal gazing, hand trembling, charcoal gazing, stargazing, or feather gazing. As one scholar notes, “A good Navajo medicine-man is a superior being, at once a doctor, a religious leader, and a historian”(Carey, 2008, p.1).

When time permits, the apprentice will conduct their first ceremony and receive approval from their mentor. This individual will become independent and utilize his abilities to help the Navajo people. The hataałii only conducts these ceremonies at a patient’s home. He meets the specific needs of his patients by focusing on healing that individual (Griffin-Pierce & Momaday, 2005).

The hataałiis were once leaders of the Navajo people and form the Naachid system of governance. Hataałiis are empowered by the Diyin Diné to protect, foster, and maintain the beautiful language, culture, customs, philosophies, and traditional ceremonies of the Diné. Hataałiis travel from home to home throughout the Navajo Nation to help individuals overcome physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual problems.

Today, COVID-19 has had a huge impact on the Diné and all the hataałiis on the Navajo reservation. The hataałiis no longer go from home to home to conduct ceremonies for people in need due to the new curfew laws and the stay-at-home orders of the Navajo Nation government. The virus has also restricted the Diné from having close contact and has created a disconnect between hataałiis and community members. The hataałiis are still able to conduct ceremonies from home without patients but this has become difficult because ceremonial practices need to have the patients there to utilize herbs and sandpainting. Diné hataałiis saw this coming and have diagnosed COVID-19 as ch’osh doo yit’iinii, or ha’t’ííshíí na’ałniihi (deadly and unseen sickness or ghost-virus) (Quintero, 2020). Furthermore, the hataałiis are doing what they can from home but would prefer to conduct ceremonies on their patients face to face. The people are suffering and cannot resort to the primary source of healing. However, the hataałiis are remaining vigilant and continue to offer their prayers and songs to aid the Diné. Hataałiis have always worked with their elected tribal leaders by meeting with them at the local chapter houses, but today they are closed due to COVID-19.   

Chapter Houses

The Navajo Nation government evolved into the Navajo tribal council. First created in 1923, the tribal council initially served an advisory role. At the local level, Navajo people have the chapter house, which is a sub-political unit of the Navajo Nation—the non-Navajo equivalency is a city hall. People meet at the chapter house every month to discuss local and national issues. There are three elected officials, each with a full-time staff of two. According to Acrey (1978), the first chapter houses were started in 1927 in the Leupp area by the agency superintendent John G. Hunter who proposed a New England townhall meeting style to help the people communicate among themselves and with the BIA government. Chapter houses sprang up in different communities and they became part of community life, a place of gathering. The chapter was an instrumental asset when large scale activities or disasters occured. 

In the 1930s, the BIA determined that there was overgrazing in the Navajo Nation and decided to reduce livestock. This was done in two phases—the first was volunitary and the second was forced. This meant families giving up livestock such as sheep and other animals that are considered family members. During the first livestock reduction, BIA goals were met with the cooperation of the Navajo people and livestock reduction was carried out at the chapter level (Acrey, 1978). Chapters were utilized as a place where people gathered and coordinated how to implement livestock reduction in the community. But livestock reduction was devastating and traumatic, and the chapter house played a key role in its implementation.

Still, chapters can be effective units that assess the community’s needs and deliver services in a timely way, as they are the center of the community’s activities. The chapter facilitates democratic gatherings such as chapter planning and regular meetings (Wilkins, 1999). The chapter house offers a place where people go to gather for monthly meetings, but they are also sites for national, state, and tribal elections. In most cases, the Navajo Nation chapters are one of the first responders when it comes to assisting local communities. According to Heinsius (2019), the Navajo government, which includes chapters and agencies, spent nearly $1 million on the emergency response to the winter storm of 2019. As of May 2019, there was around $2.5 million that chapter houses can collectively access for emergencies (Heinsius, 2019).

Chapter houses serve as the frontline in major disasters such as winter storms and major mud build-up, but they also handle voting, distribution of food, and facilitate other community services. The COVID-19 pandemic has moved into the Navajo Nation and affected tribal government and departments, namely chapter houses and local community members.

COVID-19

In 2020, the coronavirus that originated in China spread to the United States and in March it spread to the Navajo Nation. Towards the end of the month, there were 23 people infected. Two months later, on May 18, there were 4,000 infected and 140 dead. The Navajo Nation infection rate rose to 18 cases per 1,000 people, higher than any state in the U.S., including New York, which reached an infection rate of 10 cases per 1,000 people (Ufberg, 2020).

This virus has hit the Navajo Nation hard for several reasons: not everyone has running water, there are multigenerational families in the same household, there is a lack of housing, and Navajo people traditionally are a communal society so people participate heavily in family and social gatherings where interactions are important. “The chapters are the backbone of the community,” stated Frank Smith, a chapter president (Yurth, 2020). Navajo chapters are the place where community members go for information and Smith’s sentiment of emphasizing the role the chapter house plays echoes this. The Navajo Nation closed all 110 chapter houses to the public for any type of gathering. However, many continued to offer essential services such as water and solid waste disposal (Silversmith, 2020, p.1).

From March 16 to 20, the Navajo Nation tribal council debated appropriating money and where it would be the most effective in combating the coronavirus. Initially, the council voted down a proposed $3 million emergency package in the first round of funding negotiations (Yurth, 2020). The debate on the allocation of where funds should go showed that the Navajo chapter is the institution that the people and council see as pivotal to aid community members. On March 20, the Navajo Nation council appropriated $4 million to the Navajo Department of Health (Silversmith, 2020). The funding will help fight COVID-19 at the tribal level.

There are other opinions from other parts of the Navajo Nation government. The Navajo Office of the President and Vice President stated: “The chapter employees and volunteers may not be trained or have the equipment to safely deliver services” (Yurth, 2020). Therefore, the Navajo government mandated to close all non-certified chapter houses but not the certified ones, which have more autonomy from the central government and are able to determine for themselves if or how they want to stay open. The way the virus has changed how chapter houses interact with the community is by preventing people from gathering in chapter houses. With the pandemic worsening, chapter houses have to find new ways of serving the community and to be the place that will meet the needs of Navajo citizens.

The Tuba City chapter and St. Mary’s foodbank coordinated and worked together to distribute food to 2,000 families in a non-contact process. The line was five miles long, which was the largest single mobile distribution in its history (Curtis, 2020). Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez thanked the Tuba City chapter and St. Mary’s for the distribution of the food. This is one way Navajo chapters are playing a role on the ground fighting the virus. COVID-19 has fundamentally changed the way chapters operate and their connection with community members. Time will tell how they will evolve to meet the growing needs of their citizens.

Conclusion

The character of a nation is determined and revealed not by its successes and its triumphs but rather by its adversities and disasters (Roessel, 1980). Native nations have faced several challenges to their education systems that don’t address citizens’ needs, healthcare systems that don’t include cultural practices, and control over their resources. Today, a mixture of traditional culture, modern education, and technology are bringing the Navajo tribe rapidly towards its goals of self-determination and progress without destroying basic cultural heritage (Acrey, 1978). Despite new advancements in education like online classes and Zoom lectures, and in medicine like new hospitals and clinics, Navajo people still maintain a sense of Navajo identity by emphasizing the way we live and how we do things. While what we have may not originate from Navajo culture, how we use it does.

Navajo people in the past have faced public health issues and the U.S. federal government did not adequately help the Navajo Nation address these issues, even when several pandemics originated outside the Navajo reservation. In 1887, a throat infection epidemic spread across the reservation. From 1918 to 1920, during the influenza pandemic, the infectious disease hit the reservation like a wave. Medicine men sought to help those afflicted. “In the mind of the Navajos, these healers saved  many  lives  and  performed a valuable service comparable to the work of the [white] doctors” (Brady & Bahr, 2014, p. 16). 

This is one of the many lessons through Iina’, and having self-discipline and respect for the Holy Ones and Navajo values and culture. Throughout history, we live and learn from the past. We hold information from the matriarchs of our clan mothers and fathers with herbal medicine to heal people. The Navajo Nation has a sacred location for the Diné, surrounded by six sacred mountains for protection, with 110 chapters within the five agencies that directly serve the needs of their communities. The use of  social media to spread information offers new ways to better serve the Navajo Nation in a pandemic environment. The Diné community today is struggling, causing the elders to panic about what the future holds for them and about the lack of a solution to the virus. Over the last one hundred years, the Navajo population has increased. The Diné will perservere and aim towards conquering the evil spread of coronavirus in the Navajo Nation.  

Franklin Sage, PhD, is the director of the Diné Policy Institute (DPI) at Diné College in Tsaile, Arizona; Michael S. Parrish is a policy analyst at DPI, Travis L. Teller is a DPI research assistant, and Natasha Goldtooth and Crystanna Begay are DPI student interns.

References

Acrey, B.P. (1978). Navajo History: The Land and the People. Shiprock, NM: Department of Curriculum Material Development Central Consolidated School District.

Brady, B.R., & Bahr, H.M. (2014). The Influenza Epidemic of 1918-1920 among the Navajos. American Indian Quarterly, 38(4), 459–491. Retrieved at: https://tslib01.dinecollege.edu:2282/10.5250/amerindiquar.38.4.0459

Carey, H. (2008, February 17). Navajo Medicine-Men. Navajo People. Retrieved at: http://navajopeople.org/blog/navajo-medicine-men/

Curtis, C. (2020 , April 14 ). St. Mary’s Gives Food to 2,000 Navajo Nation Families in Its Largest Mobile Distribution Ever. AZ Central. Retrieved at: https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-health/2020/04/14/coronavirus-pandemic-st-marys-food-bank-donates-navajo-nation-families/2993903001/

Griffin-Pierce, T., & Momaday, N.S. (2005). Earth Is My Mother, Sky Is My Father: Space, Time, and Astronomy in Navajo Sandpainting. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

Heinsius, R. (2019, May 22). Trump Signs Disaster Declaration for Navajo Nation After Winter Snow. KANU. Retrieved at: https://www.knau.org/post/trump-signs-disaster-declaration-navajo-nation-after-winter-snow

Quintero, D. (2020, April 21). A History of Epidemics: In Past, Navajos Survived Many Epidemics. Spanish Flu, Virus Pose Danger. Navajo Times. Retrieved at: https://navajotimes.com/ae/culture/a-history-of-epidemics-navajos-survived-many-epidemics-using-traditional-healing/

Roessel Jr., R.A. (1980). Pictorial History Of The Navajo, from 1860 to 1910. Rough Rock, AZ: Navajo Curriculum Center Rough Rock Demonstration School.

Sliversmith, S. (2020, April 4). “Why My Community?”: An Early Response, but Lack of Federal Support for Navajo Nation’s Fight Against the Coronavirus. AZ Central. Retrieved at: https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2020/04/04/how-covid-19-has-impacted-navajo-nation-early-response-but-lack-of-federal-support/2918í86001/

Ufberg, M. (2020, May 12). The Navajo Nation Is Being Decimated by This Virus. Gen Medium. Retrieved at: https://gen.medium.com/the-navajo-nation-is-being-decimated-by-this-virus-b3a47ea69c01

Wilkins, D.E. (1999). The Navajo Political Experience. Tsaile, AZ: Diné College Press.

Yurth, C. (2020, March 24). Chapters Ordered to Close; Senior Centers Running Low on Supplies. Navajo Times. Retrieved at: https://navajotimes.com/coronavirus-updates/chapters-ordered-to-close-senior-centers-running-low-on-supplies/