Morgan Pritchard- Native American's Spiritual Connection to the Land

     In class on September 27th, our guest speaker mentioned that Native Americans generally have a strong spiritual connection with the land. He noted they care a lot about environmental concerns like endangered species and human impact on nature. I experienced this firsthand during a service trip I went on this summer to Navajo Nation in Arizona. 

    This trip was a great experience because I got an inside look at the Navajo culture and learned a lot about the environment as well. One particular experience I had, was at a farm near Tuba City. We spent the day helping to clear weeds out of their fields and, during breaks, the owners would tell us about their experiences and culture. A few hundred yards from the fields was a canyon and just beyond that, a huge plateau. Rose Marie, who owned the farm with her husband, could point to any rock on the mountain and tell you a story from her childhood that occurred at that exact spot. Her family has farmed there for generations. She mentioned that she did the same weed work that we were doing as a child herself. On breaks, she and her siblings would run to the bottom of the canyon and back out on the other side, and play baseball across the gap. She pointed to a white spot on the side of the mountain and explained that every day they would run there and back before dinner. It was incredible to think about how generations of her family have stood where I was standing and where Rose Marie continues to live now.

    I have moved around many times in my life, probably like a majority of Americans. There has never been just one place I have called home. It was heartwarming to see how much Rose Marie valued her land because not only has she lived there her whole life, but so did her parents, and grandparents. They have lived off this land for years and have so many connections and memories to the place they call home. I think this is why their connection with the land is so deep. The land is sacred and they protect it since it is their family's home.  Rose Marie had an incredible connection to the Earth and had so much knowledge of it as well. They knew when it was most likely to rain, how that would affect the river and their water, the best ways to keep their crops healthy, the best farming techniques, and how to navigate without technology or a map. It was a great opportunity to be able to hear their stories on how they respect their land and have a deep connection with it. Below are a few pictures from the farm including the plateau and canyon I mentioned previously.




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