November is Native American Heritage Month. To honor, uplift, and support Native American communities, Partners in Diversity asked JR Lilly (Diné (Navajo)) to share a few thoughts. Read about JR Lilly below!
I am a citizen of the Diné (Navajo) Nation who was born and raised on the reservation in Arizona. Being part of a Native American tribe means that you have a deep connection to the land as you and your ancestors have walked these areas since time immemorial. One could say that the earth knows our footsteps.
Listening to my elders and hearing these stories of how they worked so hard to create the world we are living in inspires me to continue the work of healing our community. Knowing the troubles they overcame and the resilience they demonstrated makes me feel like I can face anything today. If they can fight for a world where I am be fully Native American then I can put in the effort to help others. In the end I do what I can to make my community and elders proud.
Growing up in some difficult situations and in a community that has gone through so much harm has created some much need for healing. Being told all my life that the way I need to think and behave should be form a colonial worldview had me thinking that being Native was somehow wrong. After much healing and a decolonization process I now see the beauty of being Native American and value what our community contributed to the world.
At every meeting and anywhere I have the opportunity, I always first introduce myself in my Native tongue. Unapologetically starting my introduction in the language of my community celebrates and honors all those who fought to keep our culture alive. Learning my language which was almost erased from history and sharing our stories helps me heal in a way that heals the community.
Native American culture and artwork is for everyone! We very much love it when non-Natives show appreciation not appropriation by wearing beaded earrings and Native Jewelry. I love running into folks in public and seeing our communities artwork in just their everyday life. I love seeing non-Native folks coming to attend our events and learning about our community, It helps share our values and shows we are still here.
We all need to reframe how we think about the land we live, work, and play on. We need to understand the stories of the communities whose families have been living on there since time immemorial. I think learning about the stories of the land we walk on changes the way we think about partnership and living in community with local tribes. We can all find ways to honor the story of those who call this land home.
It’s a Native American practice to make all decisions while thinking about how it will impact 7 generations yet unborn. We are always thinking about how future generations will sing our songs, hear our stories, and be in life with the land. We all dream about when this land will have our communities speaking our language and singing our songs again.
