Nicole Balbuena’s Reviews > Beyond the Four Corners of the World: A Navajo Woman's Journey > Status Update

“Problems come from having a foot in each culture-Navajo and Anglo-but knowing almost nothing about either.”

“many misunderstandings may manifest themselves in problems concerning the child’s opinion of himself. if he sees himself as devoted to his family and Navajo teachings. if the teacher looks at him as if he were slow stubborn because his reactions to her words are not what she expects, how will he see himself at the end of the year? How quickly will he be turned off to her teaching or any teaching at all?”

“One of the most difficult adjustments that Navajos must make if they are to succeed in the Anglo world is to think and act competitively. cooperation is the basis of the economic and social security of the group and is reinforced in the healing rights in the tending of sheep in cornfields and then all family interactions”

“the Navajos understand the art of conversation better than most anglos they know how to listen they don’t reply immediately they think about what they’ve heard and some say nothing later they may come back to you and offer a comment weeks or months later they might let you know that they’ve been thinking about what you said and made an offer a thought they think first talk later”

‘When you start teaching white children how to think like Indians, maybe we’ll have human beings again’

‘A human being is a person that thinks with his heart, that thinks of good all the time, that has respect for even the smallest rock. A human being is a person that thinks the rock will talk to him and teach him a lesson— the smallest thing that Mother Nature had made available for us. A human being must understand why we are here on earth.’

“You know, if I tried to become a totally white person, I’d I said, ‘I’m never going to come back to the reservation.’ Just cut all ties, I’d probably feel lonely all the time.”

Traditional Navajos are more likely to be successful that Navajo families who have turned away from religion or adopted Christianity. Their children are more likely to go to college. Their native religion provides a foundation, a system of belief, upon which further growth can be based.