Navajo Sovereignty Day

"To Navajos, the concept of sovereignty is simple. It means being independent and standing on one's own two feet. Whether an individual, a family, a community, or a nation, one wants to stand on one's own. To build an independent nation, its individual members need to stand on their own feet, dependent on no one to survive and thrive. As a people, Navajos were once proud, fierce and independent. With more of our students graduating from college each year, and with our economic initiatives in place, we can see the day in the not-too-distant future when we will become independent again, and our sovereignty will flourish every day."  (President Joe Shirley, April 28, 2010 statement on Navajo Sovereignty)

This super cute little girl was scarfing up candy at the Fourth of July Parade last July

Hilltop Christian School was closed this morning and I was wondering why. When I finally  wandered down there I saw a note on the door saying it was Navajo Sovereignty Day. I've heard about this holiday before--a holiday celebrated no where else but here , but didn't know much about it. 

I found out that Sovereignty Day was instituted to celebrate the Navajo Nation's basic right to do on their own land what most governments do on their own land, specifically collect and institute taxes. It's a big deal for a people who were told for many years that they did not have any (or very little) rights on their own land.  To illustrate, it wasn't too many years ago that the government forcibly removed what they believed were excess livestock to prevent overgrazing. At that time the main way Navajo people had wealth was to have livestock, so having them forcibly removed effectively pushed most people back into abject poverty.  Too it wasn't too many years before that, that the Navajo people were forced to walk across much of Arizona and New Mexico and be confined to a reservation that had no food, little water, and no hope. Many of them died on the trip, or on the reservation, before finally being allowed to come back to their native lands a defeated people. 

Today, and every fourth Monday of April then, the Navajo people celebrate a renewal of their rights, a victory, and a regaining of what they lost so many years ago.

Steve is heading home today from the Phoenix area where he got to meet with many of you--Ahéhee' as they say in Navajo (thank you)! Please continue to pray for us. As I mentioned in our last letter, our support is very low. We need to do some planning, praying, thinking, and more to figure out how to raise more funds for our ministries. A lower mileage, car that uses less gas is also on our list of prayer items! Thanks so much for all you do! 

Katrina for the Marti family!