Literature, Life-Writing, and Identity

Classroom Activities

The classroom activities will begin on the second week of the first nine weeks. This can take place as a small part of the social studies, but a larger part of the Character Building standards under the Navajo Nation Department of Diné Education.  Activities will include listening to oral stories, reading books relating to identity, researching among the student’s family, hands-on art, writing, and creating the “Shi” book. It is up to the instructor to decide when and where to add more to it with what resources are given. Each section of this unit will allow parent involvement to monitor classroom activities, and to coordinate their efforts with teachers to encourage positive Diné culture and language to be used to ensure that the child completes the activity.  I, as the teacher of students with highly involved parents, will give greater attention to these students, and be more likely to identify at an early stage to assist parents how to find answers to their clans to advance student learning.  Positive parental involvement and parent-teacher interactions will have a positive effect on my self-perception and job satisfaction with this activity.

Before starting the unit, I read the following books; Little Herder in Summer by Ann Clark, Annie and the Old One by Miska Miles, Songs of the Shiprock Fair by Luci Tapahonso, and Father’s Boots: Azhe’e Bikenidootso’osii  to the students to give them an idea of how family, kinship, and events can bring people together.

Activity 1

Objective: Students will take a pretest, so the teacher will see how much of the lesson will need to be covered beforehand and during the unit. It can identify how many of the students know how to introduce themselves with their clans and how many will need help.  This test will be given orally to each student while the teacher is checking it off on the check list.  This test will be given after the teacher does a demonstration of how to introduce yourself.  There will be a chart on the wall with the parts they can use to help them read off of if they need assistance, but to fill in the blanks on their own. A check mark is for the student’s response in the Diné language. I used a circle to indicate the student didn’t know their answer. If it says English in the box, then that’s how they responded and all the answers were correct. Once the oral introduction has been completed there can be a checklist made by the teachers to show the understanding of introduction by the students.

EXAMPLE:

The following template will be used by the students.

Shí éí ___(1)____ yinishyé

Shíma éí __(2)_____ wolye doo Shizhe’e éí __(2)_____ wolye

Shí éí __(3)_____ nishłį́

___(4)____ bashishchiin 

___(5)____ dashicheii

___(6)____ dashinalí

Shí éí ___(7)____ naashá

The following template will be used to record the student’s response.

EXAMPLE:

This is an example of how the student should respond.

Shí éí Joyce yinishyé

My name is Joyce

Shíma éí Lorissa Lincoln wolyé doo Shizhe’e éí Amos Lincoln wolyé

My mother is Lorissa Lincoln and my father is Amos Lincoln

Shí éí Ashihii  nishłį́

I am of the Salt People

Ma’ii deshgizhnii bashishchiin 

I am born for the Jemez Pueblo Coyote Pass People

Na’kaai Dine’e T’abahaa dashichéii

The Mexican-Near the Water People are my maternal grandparents

T’aneezaani dashinalí

The Banana Fruit People are my paternal grandparents

Shí éí Na’iisho’ii bit’oo déé’ naashá

I am from Burnside

The first two lessons will begin at basic level starting off with just the introduction of name and parents in Diné. A form will be sent home at the beginning of the school year for parents to fill out.  The information will then be transferred to an index card, which the students will use to read off of to introduce themselves, so that they don’t feel stuck on their introduction. Students will repeatedly introduce themselves on a daily basis to three different students every day. 

Activity 2

This activity will help the student understand why their name identifies him and it may be the only name they will receive or other names will also be given as he grows.

Shí éí Joyce Tsinijinnie yinishyé

My name is Joyce Tsinijinnie

The truth is that names are a part of every culture and that they are of enormous importance both to the people who receive names and to the societies that given them. ... In some cases, the name given at birth is only the first of several names a person will bear throughout life.²  Within the Diné culture a name is given at birth to a child by a highly respected family member or in a Blessingway Ceremony.  A name can be a traditional (warrior) name, a nickname (define what he has done, or description of how their inner and outer personnel is), where he is from, by their clan, or by a relative. These names can change as a child grows, or through different events in their lives.  Our sacred names are not shared out in the open because it’s only for ceremonial purposes, so we only identify to the outside using our English name.

Students will work on a worksheet, “All About My Name,” with help from their parents.  They will write their name down, tell who gave them the name, the story behind their first and last name, and the story behind any special name they may have. The special name can be their Diné name or nickname.  The activity will help the student understand how important their name is. 

Activity 3

This activity will give the students an understanding of how important it is to have parents. Students will interview their parents with a sheet of questions to learn more about their parents.

Shíma éí Lorissa Lincoln wolye doo Shizhe’e éí Amos Lincoln wolye

My mother is Lorissa Lincoln and my father is Amos Lincoln

Introduction of the parents already makes that connection to which family you are coming from and the connection to other extended families in the community.  Others can already say, oh you are so and so’s daughter, granddaughter, or niece. Interviewing the parents will help the student understand where their parents came from to where they are at now and they may share some of the same traits, personality or physically.  Students will also understand why their parents create rules and consequences. Parents will have the opportunity to share their upbringing to their child. 

After students have accomplished introducing themselves with ease by their name and parents’ names, with the help from their parents they will identify what their four clans are: who he is, who he is born for, who his maternal grandparents are, and who his paternal grandparents are. They will use this information and fill out the back of the index card they already have their name and parents’ names on.  Different clans are grouped into smaller branches and each will be color coded with one color to show which clans are related.  There are going to be fifteen color coded groups of clans that will be used. With the information of their name and parent’s names already on the card, the four clans will be added on. Students will continue to practice their introduction to three different students every day.  After a while, students will soon be introducing themselves in the Diné language without the card. That is a sign that they are ready to continue to the next lesson.

Activity 4

This activity will give the student an understanding of why the first clan is the most important clan out of the four clans that are given to a child.

Shí éí Ashihii  nishłį́

I am of the Salt People

The first clan is the most important clan of the four.  When a Diné baby is born, he or she belongs to the clan of the mother. The clan is passed on through her to her children. When a young man marries, it must be to someone completely outside of his clan. This way, the blood would be strong and produce healthy offspring. Within this activity, the student will take a look at how the first clan is passed down through the matrilineal line. Students will also learn what their clan means and where it originated from.  A family tree activity will be started here to show how the first is passed on. If the student is a girl, then she will understand how her clan will continue if she has a daughter, a granddaughter, and continuing on among the daughters in the future. 

Activity 5

This activity will give the student an understanding of why the second clan is also an important clan out of the four clans that are given to a child.

Ma’ii deshgizhnii bashishchiin 

I am born for the Jemez Coyote Pass

This is my father’s first clan. This is my father’s mother’s first clan. This clan has been passed down through his mother and grandmother.  This clan will be passed onto my child as their paternal grandmother’s clan, so it will become his third clan.  This clan also affect the marriage between two individuals, so I had to marry someone outside of this clan. To marry outside this clan will not affect the bloodline and strong, healthy offspring will be the result. Within this activity, the student will take a look at how the second clan is passed down through the paternal line. Students will also learn what their clan means and where it originated from.  A family tree activity will be used here to show how the second clan is passed on. By the second generation this class will be void.

Activity 6

This activity will give the student an understanding of why the third clan is an important clan out of the four clans that are given to a child. He will see that this clan is their maternal grandmother’s clan.

Na’kaai Dine’e T’abahaa dashicheii

The Mexican-Near the Water are my maternal grandparents

This is my maternal grandfather’s first clan. This is my maternal grandfather’s mother’s clan.  . This clan has been passed down as my mother’s father’s second clan.  This clan will not be passed on to my child because only the first two clans are passed on and the third clan is void.  Within this activity, the student will take a look at how the third clan is passed down through the maternal line. Students will also learn what their clan means and where it originated from.  A family tree activity will be used here to show how the third clan is passed on. By the second generation this class will be void.

Activity 7

This activity will give the student an understanding of why the fourth clan is an important clan out of the four clans that are given to a child. He will see that this clan is their paternal grandmother’s clan.

T’aneezaani dashinalí

The Banana Fruit are my paternal grandparents

This is my paternal grandfather’s first clan. This is my paternal grandfather’s mother’s clan.  This clan has been passed down as my mother’s father’s second clan.  This clan will not be passed onto my child because only the first two clans are passed on and the fourth clan is void.  Within this activity, the student will take a look at how the third clan is passed down through the maternal line. Students will also learn what their clan means and where it originated from.  A family tree activity will be used here to show how the third clan is passed on. By the second generation this class will be void.

Activity 8

This activity will give the student an opportunity to learn about where they are from. The towns and small communities on the Navajo Reservation have stories of how they were created and many of them connect to the Diné Emergence stories.

Shí éí Na’iisho’ii bit’oo déé’ naashá

I am from Burnside

Sometimes just informing others of where you are from, many clans are localized, and right away others will know some of your relatives from there, too.  This last lesson will teach the student of the place where they live in Diné. An assignment will be sent home to identify the place where they live at in Diné and English. They will add this information on another index card and continue to practice sharing their location of home to other students in Diné right after their introduction of their name and clans.

I plan to have the students create a “SHI” book about themselves, too. The first unit of the book will have information about their clan.  This will be part of their introduction of themselves and of their family. It will include an introduction page as you see above using their clans, parents, and where they come from. Another part of this unit will be an explanation or history of their clan. Last, they will complete this unit with a family tree to see how far their family can trace their lineage and take a closer look at how names changed.

I will give each student a survey to compare attitudes, interest, and understanding of this unit of how they would use it in a real-world application. My hope is that the students will grasp the basic introduction using their clans in the Navajo language comfortably and easily, plus to be able to relate this knowledge in a very real way when they enter a contest that usually requires an introduction, at a function where they are asked to do a small speech, or even at their own family event.