Just Needs to Be Nurtured Again

Fort Defiance, AZ

My daughter used to go to school at DEAP Charter School, and I remember feeling proud watching her learn not just the basics, but our Diné language and teachings. She would come home and share words, songs, and lessons, and it reminded me of something I grew up with but don’t see as much anymore.

I truly believe our younger children need schools like that, places where they can learn who they are, where they come from, and how to carry our language forward. Because once that language is gone, a part of us goes with it.

When I was growing up, Navajo was spoken everywhere in the home, outside, with family, with neighbors. It wasn’t something we had to think about. It was just part of our everyday life. Herding sheep was something every household did. We were outside, learning responsibility, learning from our elders. We attended traditional ceremonies, and those teachings stayed with us.

Now, when I look at today, a lot of that is missing. Our kids are growing up differently. They are not always hearing the language the same way. They are not always connected to those teachings or that way of life.

And I can’t help but feel that this is part of why things are the way they are now.

We are slowly losing pieces of who we are our language, our traditions, our connection. And that worries me.

But seeing my daughter learn, even for that time, gave me hope. It showed me that it’s not gone it just needs to be nurtured again.

Because if we don’t hold on to it now, we risk losing it for the next generation.

 

— C. Toledo, April 2026, Fort Defiance, AZ