Social Change and My Community by Cit'lali Castillo

My Family

lalicastillo — 2025-04-08 04:09:11 UTC

This is a photo of my siblings and I sitting with our late Grandmother - Amá sání in Navajo - after family celebration.

lalicastillo — 2025-04-08 04:24:24 UTC

lalicastillo — 2025-04-08 04:32:29 UTC

This encompasses some of the history that shows how Navajo Nation got to where it is today. It briefly illustrates the struggles that the Dine people had to endure during colonization, but they still remain strong and thriving to this day.

lalicastillo — 2025-04-08 04:33:39 UTC

lalicastillo — 2025-04-08 04:43:23 UTC

This is a more recent view into the lifestyle and culture of people who live in Navajo Nation, specifically on the reservation. I thought it was interesting to have a more current representation into how Navajos on the Rez live in the modern world. It is also a well-known fact that the reservation is poverty stricken, however, I know a lot of Navajos who take pride in being from the Rez and carrying on the traditions of their ancestors.

lalicastillo — 2025-04-08 04:50:04 UTC

There has been a drought within Navajo Nation for years now. It hit the hardest during Covid and people have been trying to resolve these issues. This is a short clip that talks about the challenges of the drought. It will only get worse throughout the years as our Earth's climate continues to change, this is a concern that needs to be resolved very soon.

In Navajo Nation...

lalicastillo — 2025-05-11 21:55:01 UTC

Obviously, there is and has been bias and discrimination against Native Americans for generations. Within society as a whole, Navajos are in a relatively low position, given that a lot of Navajo Nation is on the reservation and in very small towns. In chapter 3 of the textbook, according to the Wheel of Privilege and Power (pg. 26), Most Navajos rank low on many of the categories such as language, geography, social class, education, and physical/mental health. Within just the Navajo Nation, some members find themselves even lower in regarding some categories such as gender identity, sexual orientation, ability, or neurodiversity. Although, in recent years, there has been movements for Navajo Nation to be more accepting of these communities as they are still our people who share the same story and ancestors, who should be welcomed, accepted, and loved in our communities.

Effects of Globalization

lalicastillo — 2025-05-11 22:29:42 UTC

Globalization has shifted many aspects of Navajo culture. For one, the Navajo language is on the decline, many younger generations (my siblings and I included) do not speak the Navajo language. Although efforts are made to preserve our language, such as classes and learning opportunities. Duolingo now offers a Navajo language course! Another well known shift in our culture is geographically, when Natives were forced out of their land and left in the desert to make new homes on the reservation, losing many aspects of our culture and traditions as well as many loved ones. Globalization has also made our culture and artisan crafts more widespread, leading to other cultures (mostly white people) to take up a great interest in our traditional crafts, designs, teachings/spirituality, and attire. Although this can bode well for some people who are able to profit off of selling designs and crafts, it may also be seen as exploitative because the people who are buying up these seller's creations and use the Navajo culture and designs as an aesthetic usually do not fully understand or care to know the tragic history behind the culture they are displaying.

Standing Rock and Mobilization

lalicastillo — 2025-05-11 22:52:05 UTC

One of the most well known Native led resistance to globalization and colonization is the fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline, where many natives and non natives stood together to protest a pipeline being built directly underneath sacred indigenous land that would inevitably affect the Sioux tribe's water supply. The movement was so big that people the protests were known internationally. It had many supporters. Even though the pipeline ended up being built, the fight is not over and people are still fighting to get it either removed or halting construction.

Navajo Nation Dept. of Agriculture

lalicastillo — 2025-05-11 23:21:17 UTC

Preserving Mother Earth has always been an important aspect of Native cultures around the world. Navajo Nation has an established department from their executive branch to protect and promote agricultural practices and resources. Although, some parts of Navajo Nation have not fully subscribed to farming, most communities will have livestock nearby that are kept to provide food for the community or for whoever's family owns them. In Northern Arizona, there is a farm that is Navajo owned that promotes growing organic food amongst the Navajo community called Ch'ishie Farms.

Boarding Schools and Relearning Culture

lalicastillo — 2025-05-25 22:20:24 UTC

As it was also discussed in the text book, Natives had been forcefully assimilated into white culture and stripped of their own and punished for practicing their beliefs. Many Native Americans have family history with boarding schools and the experiences that they share are incredibly sad and horrific. To hear what the conditions were in these schools puts into perspective how little respect white people had for Native culture and for our people in general.

However, in recent years, it has been many peoples' and tribes' goals to relearn and teach their culture to the new generations. There are schools and opportunities to learn traditional practices and learn the tribal language. I have been to and participated in some Navajo language classes in my life time, usually with an elder as the instructor. There are also schools and programs that immerse their students to learn the language. One that I found is called Dine College, which is a Navajo Language Immersion Institute.

Navajo Wellness Model

lalicastillo — 2025-05-25 22:30:16 UTC

Navajo cultural experts, philosophers, and traditional healers have worked together to develop the Navajo Wellness Model. This model helps to act as a guide on how Dine people can take care of themselves while incorporating traditional teachings. It has also been used for healthcare workers so as to increase awareness, knowledge, and understanding of Navajo core practices so Dine people can live their daily lives while leading with a traditional approach in order to cater to their traditional belief systems.

Conversion to Christianity

lalicastillo — 2025-06-11 03:29:48 UTC

Many Natives nowadays practice some type of Christianity. Traditionally, of course, this is not what was practiced before colonization. Each tribe has its own set of tales, some of them overlapping with others, that help to make sense of how the world came to be and why they follow certain traditional practices. However, when U.S. colonialism took over, Christian missionaries went after Natives to try to "teach" and "help" them assimilate into their culture, believing that they were saving them from their old ways. Although the conversion became more threatening and forceful when the Indigenous resisted. They continued to push Natives to Christianity by either monetary promises, like the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 which promised land and citizenship to those who renounced their tribal affiliations and assimilated to white culture, and by force, such as boarding schools which took Native children from their families and forced them to assimilate to white American culture and renounce their culture.

AIM

lalicastillo — 2025-06-11 03:44:54 UTC

The American Indian Movement has been a progressive movement that has continued to grow over the last decades. It was started in the 1950's in Minneapolis, Minnesota but urban Indians who wanted to fight back against legislative acts and government policies that gave to respect to Indian rights and treaty promises. There have been many acts of resistance that promote the innovative change that Native communities want to see, such as protests, sit-ins, rallies, take overs, marches, and awareness being spread on social media which gains national, and a few times, even global attention. From this resistance by Natives and allies, we have seen more action from the government, like respecting tribal sovereignty, reviewing treaties and upholding them, or the land-back movement worldwide. Natives are in a way better place than they were only one or two generations ago, but there is still a long way to go in order to fully protect our rights and preserve our culture.

Changes in Culture

lalicastillo — 2025-06-11 04:11:45 UTC

Over the course of generations, the globalization and widespread use of Native culture has become normalized. Although our traditional artisan crafts or beliefs may fall into the wrong hands, we have to look on the brighter side, which is that our culture continues to prosper even when it had been ripped away from our ancestors. Most Natives are or at least have older relatives that actively do their part in making sure younger generations do not lose touch with their culture, such as taking language lessons from elders or taking part in ceremonies and learning traditional practices, like dances. The Powwow scene is a huge example of Natives of all tribes coming together to keep the culture alive and well.

Change in Learning

lalicastillo — 2025-06-11 04:23:34 UTC

This conservative change is an act of resistance from Native communities in order to preserve our languages and cultures when so many Natives have turned to urban life. This is a nationwide movement regarding U.S. recognized tribes. Institutions to relearn language and cultural practices, even small ones, have grown and multiplied because our people want to relearn our ancestors' ways. One that I am familiar with is called Unity, which my little sister is a part of and is representing Navajo Nation in the 2025 conference. Unity states that its mission is to "foster the spiritual, mental, physical, and social development of American Indian and Alaskan Native youth".

Continuous Change

lalicastillo — 2025-06-11 04:40:43 UTC

AIM is responsible for many of the innovative changes that we see today in Native communities. It has many sub-movements that people from all over the nation have organized, such as #NoDAPL, the Occupation of Wounded Knee, and fights for tribal sovereignty and climate justice. These are movements that many communities are wanting to take part in and as this movement/organization continues to grow, there will be even more power on our side in order to accomplish more goals and find the justice we are looking for. It has yet to hit the decline stage as it continues to push forward strong.

Cultural Immersion

lalicastillo — 2025-06-11 04:44:07 UTC

School on Pine Ridge Reservation immerses its children in the Lakota culture