"I like to go walking in the desert sometimes. I think about people that left us, you know? I feel like they're near me, and I can talk to them, and I do talk to them . . . It's good, it's a nice feeling." — Charlotte Topaha

"There was no question about it, my mom had a plan for me that all focused around becoming educated. I learned the English language first. It was engrained in me really early that I was going to complete high school, complete college, and now that I look back at it, even though I despised it, I'm glad she had those standards and expectations for me." — Delphine Tanner Yazzie

"What does it mean to be a Navajo? Family. When I got to the eighth grade, we came here and started living in the dry canyon without water. Oh, my goodness! That was living! My mom made me herd sheep on my free time. She wouldn't let me sleep in — I even know how to drive a truck and haul water." — Katherine Toney

"When I was younger I used to like to go out and climb rocks, sit up on the hill and just kind of look around and see what's up there. It's kind of hard to do that now. There's teenagers out drinking, and it's not very safe for a little kid to be walking alone out there now." — Kimberlyn Norton

"I think one big change is everybody now lives in their little cubbyholes. We don't associate, we don't go out and visit anymore . . . The only time that we see each other now is either at Wal-Mart or at some school event." — Kenneth Joe

"Being Navajo is more of a feeling of knowing, you see things differently . . . and humor. We love to laugh. If you ever meet a really mean Navajo, you're just going to have to tickle them because after a while they will get laughing." — Nelson Lee Morgan

"When we'd come up here (on the mesa) we used to think we were warriors. We'd hang out, play and just act like warriors. When I went back to school it was different. I was the shy person." — Ralphredson Filfred

"To be Navajo to me is to be able to accept change, to be able to adapt, to be able to open up your mind to new things, but at the same time to have respect for your spirituality." — Roberson Henderson

"I like this reservation. People say, 'Why are you still there? You need to get out of there. You have a degree. You could be out somewhere; you could be making money.' But money . . . I know it can ruin me. I have enough to live on, and I don't need so much . . . It's no problem for me. I can survive." — Roberta Topaha

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"My grandmother used to say, 'You take care of the land, and it will take care of you. You take care of the sheep, and they will take care of you. You treat sheep and goats like they are children, and they will continue to be there.' . . . And that's the way it is with us now. You learn a lot of things when you follow the sheep." — Stephine Manybeads

"Kids are not bilingual anymore. They only speak English, hardly any Navajo . . . Being a Navajo is to remember where you came from, regardless of whether you have another way. If you were anglicized, and you belong to Mormon or you belong to Catholic or any other denomination, you can come back and be a Navajo." — Vicki Joe

"The Mesa was our playground. We all lived in a two-room house, waking up to hot coffee in the morning, just playing outside, using our tribal jacket as our sled to slide down the dry 'popcorn' hills. That was our childhood. None of this Nintendo, Xbox or DVD." — Yolanda Mae Sam

"As parents, the biggest challenge for us is trying to get them (children) to speak Navajo. It's something we both want to do, but it's a little ways down the road. Hopefully, one day, we'll be able to carry on a conversation in Navajo." — Calvert Norton

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