”What You Know You Hold Onto It … that is Being Navajo”: A Critical Analysis of Diné (Indigenous) Youth’s Perspectives about Race, Culture, Language, and Identity

ABSTRACT

This article addresses critical issues of how Indigenous (Diné/Navajo) youth construct meaning of their racial, cultural, and linguistic identities within the historical, political, and socio-cultural contexts of the United States of America as a racialized, settler/colonial society. Using Tribal Crit theory, the author, a member of the Diné (Navajo) Nation, shares insights about Diné youth’s perspectives that reaffirm Indigenous-centered understandings of identity in resistance to dominant racialized discourse and white supremacy. In discussing the different ways Diné youth make meaning of multiple identities, the author postulates the need for Diné communities to articulate Diné-centered counter narratives about what it means to be Diné for the benefit of the youth. Key implications include the need for Diné communities to engage in critical dialogue about race, race relations, nationhood, language, and identity using Indigenous-centered perspectives.

KEYWORDS:

• Diné
• identity
• indigenous
• language
• race
• white supremacy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1. I use the terms Diné and Navajo here and interchangeably in various places throughout the paper. In the Navajo language, Diné means the People. Diné is the way traditional people refer to themselves, whereas Navajo is often used in news media, cultural, historical, and linguistic references by outsiders or as cited in research, quotes, or historical/government documents. Also, some Diné prefer to use Navajo to identify themselves today.

2. In the Navajo language, Diné means the People. Diné are Indigenous to the North American continent.

3. At times, I use the terms American Indian and Native American interchangeably throughout this text. However, I use American Indian in reference to how the term is used in literature, research, and/or historical/government documents.

4. For this study, I refer to racialization as the process of ascribing a racial identity to a group that did not identify itself as such culturally and historically.

5. All names of participants and other persons mentioned in interviews are pseudonyms. However, I did not change the names of places on the Navajo reservation to give a real life context of the communities from which these students come from.

6. Traditionally in Navajo culture, the mother’s clan is mentioned first followed by the father’s clan.

7. I use the terms Native and Indigenous interchangeably at times throughout this text. I use Indigenous as the sociopolitical term used by Native people to assert their claims to and rights as original inhabitants of the land.