Zhini on the Rez

Greetings from Dinetah! The Navajo Reservation! (Well, to be honest, I'm just north of it now in Colorado. But I spent a majority of my time on it.)

This is third time visiting the Rez, and I learn something new every time. While I wanted to come in less urgent circumstances around Christmas, I still loved my time here.

A bit of back story: The Salt Clan (SaltMama's clan and Mr. Salt's maternal clan) had a family emergency, so Mr. Salt and I took the 18 hour trip from Texas to get all the way to Rez. Why not fly? It still takes four hours to drive to Shiprock, Mr. Salt hometown on the Rez, from Albuquerque.

So while I have a moment, I thought I'd post some random thoughts about my time here. I'll have pictures soon as I develop them, as well as some more in depth posts:

1. I was probably the only Zhini (black person) for miles in certain areas of the Rez.

2. SaltMama's cooking, especially her frybread, is heaven.

3. I received a Storyteller's bracelet from SaltMama as an early Christmas gift.

4. I got a chance to meet more of Mr. Salt's family this time around.

5. SaltMama is my mom, shi ma in Navajo. SisterSalt is my sister. They're in laws, but I only refer to them as that when I'm talking to other people. Otherwise, it's my mom or my sister. It's common terminology for the Dine.

6. Rez dogs are everywhere on the Rez. Rez Dogs are dogs "owned" by people as far as being fed, but are allowed to roam free since there are no fences around the houses.

7. You truly make your own roads on the Rez. It was muddy around SaltMama's housing complex, and you could see the deep grooves in the dirt paths leading to the houses.

8. It's very cold up here! As a Texan, it's something I have to get used to.

More coming soon! Hopefully, I would have done the City Market experiment the next time I post. City Market is a store in Shiprock, and I need to by my quarterly supply of Blue Bird flour.

-DineBoo

Are you red or brown or...

Last night, I posed this question to Mr. Salt:

DineBoo: Do you consider yourself brown or red?
Mr. Salt: Hmm...Brown.
DineBoo: Where did red come from?
Mr. Salt: Don't know. Always wondered about that myself.

It's funny how we perceive ourselves. A good portion of minorities can look mostly brown, but classify as brown, red, or black. Going further, if others are perceived to act too white, we're either an Oreo (as I've been called on occasion when I was younger) or an Apple for Native Americans.

Then, when it comes to Mr. Salt, there's the whole 'You don't look like an Indian!" comments that he gets, which is another blog post in and of itself.

DineBoo

What are your clans?

First of all, welcome to my blog! I'm DineBoo, the 'Zhini' of Zhindian Affairs. I've discussed with my husband about creating a blog about our life, so here it is. This will also have commentary on interracial living, issues, Navajo way, and of course, frybread.

So let me introduce my husband, the 'indian' of Zhindian Affairs. I'll say this in English to simplify things:

He belongs to Salt Clan, and is born for the Mexican People Clan. So he'll be called Mr. Salt from now on. If I say his other two clans, people would probably figure out who he is ;)

If we were to create our own clan, it would have to be the Tasty Salt Clan. It's a joke from my mother-in-law.

When Mr. Salt was talking about his family when we were dating, it would often confuse me when he would talk about his many grandmas. Especially when I thought you would only have two grandmas. Now that I know about the clan system, I get it.

So what are your clans?

DineBoo, who passed all but two of the tests to be a Navajo wife. More on that later.