Our Story: Nihahane'

by Della Toadlena

Overview

The author began school at age five, going on six, at a Bureau of Indian Affairs boarding school. When she arrived at the dormitory, her parents learned their daughter had not been previously registered, and there was no more room, so she could not be admitted. "Besides," the school personnel said, "She's just five and won't be six until October. We can't take her; she's underage. However, at the end of the day, another little girl who had been registered did not show up, and the school had to fill its quota, so it allowed the author to stay and go to school. Then the author joined the Humanities Division faculty at Dine College and taught English and Introduction to Native American Literature until she retired in May 2007. This is a book of perseverence and endurance. With all odds against her, she rose above them and went to school. It is a simple book about a very simple life. Then she went on to earn an AA and a BA in Elementary Education, and an MA in English.The author joined the Humanities Division faculty at Dine College and taught writing and Introduction to Native American Literature until she retired in 2007.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781426934629
Publisher:	Trafford Publishing
Publication date:	08/17/2010
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	124
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

I write my memior for my children and grandchildren, so they will know where we came from as Naashgali Dine'e. We are not Navajo in the true sense of the word. Like other Navajo people whose clans originated from Changing Woman who created the orginal clans. Instead, we came from an Apache captive woman. The Navajo people created a clan for our Apache grandmother and her future offspring to identify themselves. I grew up around elders of my mother's paternal people who instilled in me the importance of remembering this story and carrying it on to my descendants. I was born in Canyon Del Muerto and grew up around Black Rock area in northeastern Arizona on a very remote part of the Navajo Reservation. I was raised under the tutelage of elderly ancestors. I talk about my humble beginning in a one room home with dirt floor and roof and herding my mother's sheep until I went to boarding school at age five. joined the faculty at Dine College and taught writing: some developmental writing, Freshman English I, and Introduction to Native American Literature until I retired in May 2007.