Jun 2019 01
According to the Navajo Nation Treaty of 1868 website; it’s been over one-hundred fifty years since a delegation of Navajo leaders signed a “treaty and agreement” with the US government, ending the incarceration at Fort Sumner and exile of the Navajo from their ancestral homeland. Last year, the Navajo Nation commemorated the Treaty of 1868, and the leaders who entered into a binding agreement with the federal government that has now resulted enormous growth of the Navajo people since then.
Last year, the Navajo Nation proclaimed 2018 as “The Year of the Treaty” and encouraged the public to reflect on resiliency of the Navajo people and how to “Perpetuate the Diné Way of Life through Resiliency” (Iiná Náás Yiilyéél, Bee Hada’iinilní). Then Vice President Jonathan Nez said, “the Navajo people went through some hard times as people, but we overcame. We are a strong nation, a strong people, and in 2018 we will magnify that to our younger generation.”
He encouraged healing as people think about the injustices and traumas of the past. “Some of us are in a place where the struggles our ancestors went through still negatively affects us today,” he said. “Some of us carry that anger within us and this is an opportunity to heal ourselves and our families. I’m not saying to forget, but to move forward with the strength and resilience that our ancestors instilled in each of us for generations to come.”
DBMHS is proud to support the Navajo Nation by promoting balance and harmony in our communities through inward healing and personal growth. By integrating traditional lifeways into our clinical programs, behavioral and mental health services are both effective and culturally appropriate. Our programs and services along with events like the Traditional Cultural Summit, we further our mission to provide comprehensive behavioral health services to Native families.