The Collins Family
The Navajo
Dear and good friends,
Greetings to you all from Wake Forest. I don't know whether to complain about lack of fall colors down south, or to gloat in our 80 degree temperatures. You decide.
Several people sent me the following story from the New York Times about upcoming tribal elections among the Navajo.
The election is boiling down to two candidates. The first is fairly young, a former marine, a trained engineer, and practicing lawyer with lots of ideas about how to help his people. But he doesn't speak Navajo, which is a requirement by tribal law for the presidency. So he's suing his tribe for discrimination since he claims that US government policy was aimed at eliminating indigenous languages back in the day (which is sadly and certainly true). He says that it's not his fault that his grandmother, on pain of penalty, refused to teach him the language. Besides, he says that, if elected, he'll learn it fluently before his first term is over. Of course, if he's so bent on learning his native language, one might wonder why it would take an election to get him to do it. And is suing your tribe a good tactic? It's a complicated situation.
I am reminded that there are many Christian Navajo who feel that a nation-wide return to God will be led by American Indians because of their ancient relationship to the land and its Creator. These and many other intertwined issues are part of what is involved in Bible translation and language use, here in the Americas and around the world.
Thanks for your interest and prayers.
Blessings to all.
Wes and Nancy