Viewing or Not Viewing through Multicultural Lenses: The Clash of Cultures at Ground Zero of the Eclipse Pathway in Northern Arizona

This is not the blog I intended to publish tonight, which was going to be titled, “Ecclesiastes 3, the Solar Eclipse, and the Browns at the Navajo Village Heritage Center”.  It was to be humorous and somewhat irreverent.  That’s before I learned many traditional Navajos find it culturally offensive to picnic or celebrate during an eclipse.  Lino Footracer, a friend and relative through marriage, passed along a facebook post by his father:

"Eclipse of the sun the Navajo Way.... The sun has male qualities, is the father of Hero Twins through Changing Woman, properly named Jiigo Na'eii... Traditional observance: avoid the sun rays by staying indoors, shut any openings even cracks in the wall, do not drink or eat anything, speak softly, avoid laughter, face the east and offer prayers...afterwards offer corn pollen to the four directions and spread white corn meal around the hogan....mom's teachings.."

Then, I wasn’t going to post a blog at all.

Such are the dilemmas of our multicultural era.  Cultures overlap everywhere--it’s hard not to step on toes, and yet I think we should try to comprehend each other’s background and not trivialize sacred things. 

Wally, Shane, Everest, Tyler and Rio view the eclypse

However, I finally decided to post because currently there are some popular ethnocentric views projected on Native Americans which I believe are as bigoted and inaccurate as views held in the past, just not as mean-spirited.  The American Indian is often romanticized into something that doesn’t exist.  White people who have been disenfranchised by their own culture and are struggling to find themselves have created and projected a single image of what it means to be Native on diverse cultures, which like all cultures, are further diversified from within.  On the Rez, Indians refer to these kind-but-lost whites as Wanna-be’s.  Although, I consider the Navajo Nation my second home, I am not a Wanna-be.  I am white, Mormon and proud of who I am.  But, I can also testify that I never felt more at home than when I lived in Tsaile, deep in the heart of the Navajo Nation.  One does not have to be absorbed by a culture to love it.

Further more, what I learned from living on the Rez is that there isn’t a single Navajo Culture.  It’s a multiplicity of beliefs, that when woven together, create the great blanket called Diné Bikéyah or Navajolands.  For instance, many of my Navajo students were traditional, but just as many belonged to the Native American Church, or were Baptist or Mormon.  Likewise, towards the end of each summer, my sons would attend Bible school at a tent revival near by.  Although we are active Mormons I felt, and still feel, this was good for them, for knowing is always preferable to ignorance.  So often I’ve been judged because of my religion by people who know nothing about it, and so I’d hate to return the favor.  I don’t know if I exceeded or not, for we each have our own free wills, but I wanted to raise children who would embrace humanity with arms wide open.  You can’t do that unless you know who you are yourself, which is why I feel sorry for those Native American Wanna-be’s.  But you also can’t do this isolated completely in your own culture.

So, if you are a traditional Navajo, I hope you will not be offended by this, but my Navajo family, myself and some friends, both Navajo and biligaana (white), we prayed, we laughed and we watched the eclipse.   If that bothers you, I understand, and you probably shouldn’t look at the remainder of this post.  If it doesn’t, well, enjoy. 

Marci views the eclipse

If you're white, innocent (or ignorant), however you view it, like myself, I hope you've learned something.

Ahéhee'