Hard lesson: Children re-create Treaty of 1868

By Natasha Kaye Johnson
Diné Bureau

TWIN LAKES — Students listened closely for their cue to enter the stage Wednesday morning in the Twin Lakes Elementary gym as the narrator read the script for the play “Dahyishk’id Alana’adleehi” (A Meeting Place — A story of Hweeldi).

“They burnt the sheep and burnt the homes, they even took our warriors, children, and they even drove our livestock out,” Carmen Cody Clark read into the microphone.

As Clark narrated, pupils from ages 5 to 13, entered onto the stage and came into character, with some playing leaders like Manuelito and Barboncito.

The play is part of a pilot camp project presented by Navajo Children’s theater. Through the play, students learn the Navajo historical facts surrounding the Treaty of 1868, and apply the Navajo language in their performance. It is being funded primarily by the New Mexico Indian Education Act.

The play is free to the public and will be on Friday at Twin Lakes Elementary School from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.
“I’m finding that Navajo children need more support learning Navajo language and culture,” said Gloria Begay, an Indian curriculum specialist, who is heading the project. “Theater is a way to restore and maintain the Navajo language and culture.”

For the past two weeks, over 20 Navajo students participated in the camp for four hours a day, learning about Navajo history and culture, and about theater production.

Norman Brown, a filmmaker, whose background is in theater, is working as a technical advisor for the script development. Brown, who been working over 20 years to develop video and stage to preserve the Navajo language, recalled 15 years ago when he was working on a set of play with other young children.

“About three out of six young children spoke Navajo,” he said. But today, he estimates that only one or two out of six children speak the language.

“Our ancestors were very creative in surviving,” Brown said. “This is just a new creative way of surviving. Theirs was for life and death of their lives. This is for our life and death of our culture.”

As students finished rehearsal, some shared a little background on their characters and what they have learned at the camp.

Adam Russell, 13, from Gallup, will be playing the role of Barboncito. Russell said the theater production has helped him learn basic Navajo words, like water. It is his first time being part of a theater, and he is a bit anxious for Friday’s performance.

“It makes me feel kind of nervous because I have to show everybody how he (Barboncito) was, and people don’t know him,” he said. “I have to show a lot of leadership.”
Alyssa Rose Manuelito, 9, Twin Lakes, is playing “Sunshine.”

“She blesses them when they’re in prison because it is her family, and she wants them to be safe,” Manuelito said.

Tyra Taylor, 9, Twin Lakes, will be playing “Kaibah”, who is taken on the Long Walk with her mother. Taylor said she is nervous for Friday’s play.

“I’ve never done a Navajo play before,” Taylor said. “You have to speak Navajo, and it’s hard to remember.”

When the staff first started recruiting for the camp, Begay said they had a difficult time getting participants.

“Students were afraid to learn the language,” Begay said.

“We had to reassure them that it will be simple Navajo lines and that if they keep practicing, they’re going to be good.”

Breanna Yazzie, 10, Twin Lakes, will be playing Many Sheep Woman.

“She loses her child and she cries,” Yazzie explained.

“She talks to Barboncito (and says) that we have no home and food.”

Cami Leonard, who wrote the script and was a consultant for the project, said her main objective in writing the script was for the children to learn and know who they are as Diné.

“That was really important when writing my script,” she said.