Anywhere else, it's agriculture. On the Navajo Reservation, it is agriCULTURE.
The cultural emphasis in raising animals and living off the skin and bones of a lean land was brought home to a dozen team members of a Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program conducted through Utah State and Colorado State universities.Faculty members, including USU Extension specialists in agriculture with years of experience, turned into students again as they walked into the hogan of Joe and Carol Benally in Pinon, Ariz. Most were surprised at what they saw.
Instead of a dimly lit one-room structure with a dirt floor that one might expect in a hogan, visitors were treated to a spacious window-lined desert sanctuary. Walls were draped with Indian rugs and art-work. A weaving loom straight out of New England occupied a prominent place.
The Benally home actually consists of three hogans in one. It includes a family living area, three bedrooms, a bathroom and an art studio. They have running water, electricity, telephone service and a satellite dish for their television. "Feel free to walk around," Carol said. "All of our underwear has been put away."
Joe, a full-blooded Navajo, spent most of his boyhood living away from the reservation in a boarding school. He graduated from Arizona State University. He chose to return to the reservation. His two sisters, also with college degrees, did not. "They got educated and moved off - so there's education for you," Carol quipped.
The conflict between maintaining the past while embracing the future is very real in the lives of Navajos today, she said. Those who do pursue an education often find themselves with nothing to go home to. She said her husband could make a good living away from the reservation but never would. "If he had to live away from his homeland he would die," she said.
Carol is a white woman, or a bilagaana, in Navajo terms. She left her New England home to live with a family of Hopi Indians to study Indian and Southwestern art. During that time she met Joe "and we hit it off," she said. "I liked his values."
Despite their cultural differences, Carol said, they overcame their challenges and were married. They have been married now for 10 years and have one daughter. Carol said her parents have never come to visit them, but Joe's parents have fully accepted her into the family. Carol paints and teaches art at the local junior high school. She paints in both pastel and oil mediums. She graduated in 1978 from Massachusetts College of Art in Boston.
Joe greeted everybody in a soft-spoken voice. His coal-black hair rested on his shoulders. He sat on his couch and began answering questions about the land and animals. Beside him on the table was the book "Seven Habits of Highly Successful People," by Steven R. Covey.
He talked liked a rancher. He expressed worries about the lack of rain. He said he wanted to raise more animals. He was frustrated by Tribal Council regulations that restrict grazing and land ownership. He talked about wanting to put in some fencing to allow him to keep areas of land from being overgrazed. He was exasperated with the price of hay - nearly $14 a bail. He talked about feeling stymied by the lack of marketing opportunities on the reservation for his wool and sheep.
"I'm open to new ideas," he said.
His receptiveness was apparent the moment faculty members stepped inside his home. He was not living in the past. It was equally clear, however, he was not willing to live without it either.
His hogan, though modern, is still a hogan. It stands like a sentinel to his past. The animals he raises form an equally vital link. He said he welcomes new ideas not for the money but to maintain an important way of life for him and his people.
"The whole philosophy of what you call a Navajo fits into it," he said. "It is not about making more money. Raising animals is about disciplining children, teaching them responsibility and planning for the future. It encompasses the concept of being humble. That is, if you become too greedy and raise too many animals, they end up destroying the resources of the land around you. Without animals there is no sense in teaching our children about their culture and teaching them about values."
This connection between animals, land and family was underscored throughout the week as SARE team members met with four Navajo families participating in the sustainable agriculture program. By working with the families, team members hope to turn their homes and operations into demonstration sites where other Navajos can visit to get information and see firsthand the results of improved farming and ranching practices, said Lyle McNeal, USU professor in the animal, dairy and veterinary sciences department and SARE team leader.
The project is under the direction of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
McNeal emphasized that the project involves a two-way exchange of information. It means making the Navajo people sustainable in their agricultural operations by helping them become profitable without compromising cultural integrity.
By spending a week on the reservation, researchers and extension educators in agricultural economics, water quality, horticulture, textiles, range management and home-based business management were able to assess the needs of each family.
At the end of the week, team members gathered to compare notes and make plans for future visits. The project is expected to last over the next several years and will include integrated work from gardening to range management. Team members anticipate that the families they help will, in turn, be able to pass their knowledge on to other families in their communities - a domino effect for sustainable agriculture, McNeal said.
The visit laid essential groundwork and provided team members with new insights and a greater appreciation for the Navajo culture. Most important, friendships were forged and trust was established.
McNeal said sensitivity to the Navajo culture is essential if the team is to succeed. There have been many government programs to help the Navajo people. While some have succeeded, many have failed. Those that are successful are the ones that work within the Navajo culture, not without it.
Terrell Piechowski, son-in-law to Lena Begay, whose family is participating in the sustainable agriculture project, said the visit of SARE members to the home of his mother-in-law is already creating a great deal of curiosity among extended family and friends.
"On the day of your visit, relatives came who were not even invited," he said. "Something is happening with this family. For the first time, I am seeing them coming together."
The sight of the weaving loom outside Lena's house came to mind. It belongs to her 70-year-old mother, Mary Begay. The beginning of a pattern, spanning generations, was emerging in brilliant colors. Churro wool from sheep McNeal helped them establish made up the silky strands of the tightly woven rug. Here was no future door mat but an heirloom - a family, a culture incarnate.