Meghan Pratt

Advisor: Ralph Stern

Navajo Nation reservation boundaries following the Long Walk of 1864 and Images of the survivors and family members effected by the Long Walk.
Navajo Nation reservation boundaries following the Long Walk of 1864 and Images of the survivors and family members effected by the Long Walk.
Navajo sacred colours representing the four cardinal points.
Navajo sacred colours representing the four cardinal points.
Ground Floor Plan and renders.
Ground Floor Plan and renders.
First Floor Plan and renders.
First Floor Plan and renders.
Second Floor Plan and renders.
Second Floor Plan and renders.
Third Floor Plan and renders.
Third Floor Plan and renders.
Southern Elevation.
Southern Elevation.
Eastern and Western Elevation.
Eastern and Western Elevation.
Northern Elevation.
Northern Elevation.
Northern Façade Renders.
Northern Façade Renders.

Hózhǫ́ Náhásdlį́į́ : Cultural Preservation and Revitalization in Navajo Nation

The Navajo have persevered through generations of colonization in the American Southwest. More recently, Navajo priorities have turned from perseverance to cultural preservation. There has been a call for traditions to be passed on, yet some have not answered. Languages, practices, ceremonies and stories have been lost due to colonization. Contamination and loss of traditional lands has aided in this.

 In this study, Red Lake Chapter will be examined with its own layers of history, knowledge and traditions. In 1960, located nearby Chuska Mountains and Canyon de Chelly, the Chapter was formed around the creation of the Navajo Forest Products Industry, a sawmill that provided jobs and a stable economy. However, the mill was abandoned in 1992 as the Navajo turned toward forest and land conservation. While this caused a decline in economy, contamination from the mill due to asbestos in the drying kiln has leeched into the air and land rendering it unsafe. Only recently has the cleanup of this area been initiated. Now, the people of this town and Nation look forward in search of ways they might revitalize this area.

 Navajo Nation stands as the largest Indigenous group in the United States. Through their history of perseverance, in times of hardship, they remain rooted in their past as they look towards the future of their People. Within the revitalization of the sawmill site in the town of Navajo, residents are doing just that. Taking their history and making strives to find a solution to bring it to life. As spoken in a tradition Navajo prayer: “There is beauty before me. […] There is beauty all around me. There is beauty again,”1 this journey of observation, and comprehension of Navajo culture hopes to uncover a solution through collaboration for this site and bring beauty back again.

 

1 Unknown. Talking feather. Accessed January 21, 2022. https://talking-feather.com/home/walk-in-beauty-prayer-from-navajo-blessing/.