In the past, the navajo used the land even more than they do now for food, medicine, roaming, and ceremonies. my great-grandmother told me of the time th
diné (the navajo people) were forced to go on the long walk [forced removal from their homeland) she said that when they returned home, all the people
started to settle down and make hogans (traditional sacred houses). clans joined together to survive and so there were many marriages. even through these
hard times, my great-grandmother says that the diné still practiced the traditional ceremonies. these ceremonies always included a hataall, or medicine man
the medicine man was given food and gifts, and he would give healing, blessing, stones, or pollen. she said the dine began planting com and other plants in
order to have food for everyone. the planting was holy and taken care of very well. my great-grandmother says that all the clans had sheep. she said that
every morning when the sun rose she let the sheep out of the corral to graze. she herded them all day long and returned before the sun set. she liked to her
sheep because it was the only time she got to see all her friends from other clans. she said that everyone knew where everyone else was herding their sheep
so the stock would not get mixed up.
even in the modern world we live in today, these ceremonies, stories, and customs are still kept among the navajo. undoubtedly, they are not as strong as the
once were, but they are not forgotten. the land is now distributed among the navajo, and modern technology has taken its toll on the reservation food is
produced faster, people can get to ceremonies faster and the dine get their healing faster. however, this does not mean that the cultural identity of the navajo
is lost it just means that the dinė are learning to function in two different worlds
1997 by joy harjo and gloria bird
(adapted from sonlatsa jimjames 'dine way." in the collection reinventing the enemy language contemporary native american women's w ings of north america
based on the first paragraph, which statement best describes the dine's agricultural practices?