Living Voices: The Diné Elders Project

 

THE PROJECT

In 2020 the Covid-19 pandemic was raging through the Navajo Indian Reservation claiming an alarming number of elders and wisdom keepers. As each one passed on, more ceremonies and sacred stories were lost with them.

Dudley Yazzie, a 99-year old Navajo medicine man and tribal leader, chose to preserve his stories on film before they were lost for future generations. In August, 2020 between Covid-19 lockdowns, we drove to his hogan in White Cone, Arizona and turned on our cameras so he could share what was most important to him.

 

 

PART ONE: PRODUCTION

Dudley Yazzie recounted his life story growing up on the Navajo Reservation, being sent to boarding school, marrying at age 16, and more. It’s a fascinating story of a diné man with only a third grade education becoming an army veteran and a respected tribal leader who lobbied before the United States Congress for passage of the Native American Religious Freedom Act.

But he had much more on his mind. For the next two days, Dudley undertook a marathon retelling of the Navajo creation stories in his native language, diné bizaad. When finished, he made protection prayers for the stories and for those involved in the filming to protect against any who may object to his recording the sacred stories on film.

What began as a small film project for the family turned into a four-year labor of love. Dudley’s creation stories were recorded in diné bizaad with spiritual words and concepts only traditional medicine men would understand. Many of his younger descendants are not fluent in the language, so it became clear we needed to translate his footage into English and create subtitles to make it accessible to them. This was not an easy task as it required a diné who was the same clan as Dudley Yazzie, steeped in the traditional culture and ceremonial language, had the time and energy to devote to the project, and was computer-savvy with reliable internet.

It took a dedicated team of Yazzie family members, clan members, medicine men, and cultural advisors to complete the translations. Other notable Navajo elders recorded additional footage to support the effort. The result was over seven hours of subtitled film footage, a 160-page transcript, a 20-minute tribute film to Dudley’s remarkable life, and a password-protected website to archive everything.

It was an honor and a privilege to help Dudley Yazzie save his sacred creation stories for future generations. We were all blessed in the process.

 

 

PART TWO:   THE TRIBUTE FILM

“100+ Years of Living”
Tribute Film to Dudley Yazzie’s Remarkable Life on the Navajo Reservation

To celebrate Dudley Yazzie’s 100th Birthday, we produced “100 Years of Living”, a  20-minute film honoring his life growing up on the Navajo Indian Reservation and his contributions to his diné people. The film was premiered at Dudley’s 100th Birthday Celebration in White Cone, Arizona in August 2021, and has been circulated and viewed extensively since then on social media.

You can view Dudley’s tribute film here:

Dudley Yazzie: 100 Years of Living

 

 

PART THREE:  THE CREATION STORIES

“Dudley Yazzie Speaks”
The Navajo Creation Stories – Footage and Translations

 

 

The completed translation project was presented to the Yazzie Family in August, 2023 at Dudley’s 102nd Birthday Dinner in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Leather bound copies of the completed transcripts with thumb drives of the raw and subtitled footage were gifted to the key family members involved.

 

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PART FOUR:  THE ARCHIVES

https://www.DudleyYazzie.com
https://dudleyyazzie.org

For accessibility, a website was created to archive Dudley’s “100 Years of Life” tribute film; the Yazzie clan family tree; complete film footage of his creation stories with English subtitles; and the 160-page transcript. All culturally-sensitive materials are password protected, with access maintained by the Yazzie family.

Hózhó náhásdlii. It is in Beauty.

 

OUR SPONSORS

Living Voices: The Diné Elders Project was a production of Purple Root Production, LLC and the New Mexico Film Foundation.

Funding for this project was provided by Layton Family Trust, Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company Foundation, and numerous individuals who support the preservation of indigenous language and culture. We are grateful to all of them for helping bring this project to completion.