Nuestra Progenie Progresista: Invocation: Navajo Prayer

Invocation: Navajo Prayer

by Grace Boyne

Talking God, Speaking God
Dawn, Dark Wind
First Man, First Woman
Changing Woman,
The four Sacred Mountains,
We ask for your blessings on this act
of creating beautiful words
We ask for your assistance in creating words
which bring enlightenment

At the hogan made with dawn,
The dawn goes out along the pollen path
The hogan where words originate
The words originate in beauty

With corn pollen, I will create
Create the words that beautify
Create the words that bridge misunderstanding
Create the words that enlighten
Create the words that bring harmony

Through the words we shall journey
along the corn pollen trail with beauty
Surrounding us and in that we shall live beautifully
Through words, we shall journey
along the corn pollen trail with harmony
Surrounding us and in that we shall live beautifully

Through the sacred words we shall create the beauty
Through the sacred words we shall create harmony
Through the sacred words we shall create enlightenment
Through the sacred words we shall create understanding

Around me, there will be beauty
Ahead of me, there will be beauty
Behind me, there will be beauty
Underneath me, there will be beauty
Above me, there will be beauty

[Navajo words withheld by nnp out of

deep respect for the oral tradition of the Navajo language
consideration that most people will not know what to make of them or even how to pronounce them
and due to the fact that nnp is not Navajo, did not write this poem, and feels that it would be inappropriate to co-opt the language of Navajo peoples

nnp does realize that this reasoning could also lead one to ask, "why even post the poem then? Isn't that an act of cultural appropriation?"

answer:

perhaps, although nnp hopes not.
perhaps it is cultural appropriation of a lesser order?
nnp loves this poem and wanted to share and is hoping that no one truly minds
if Grace Boyne truly minds, please comment, and I will remove the post
requests for removal by people other than Grace will be considered in light of their individual merit
nnp feel this powerful prayer will bless this web-based consciousness-raising writing project
finally, and this is a bit of repetition, but this poem is truly beautiful and profound, aches to be shared and read aloud