March 20

Rescued owls at the Navajo Nation Zoo

Last week while studying birds, I pulled out a beautiful book about Owls and was quickly informed by several students: “We Navajos don’t look at owls.”  I wondered if it were even acceptable to show the book to the students, which it was.

Subsequent research explained this taboo.  Only a few wild animals or birds are considered friendly to the Navajos. Owls, crows, mice, and coyotes are considered helpers of witches and evil spirits (Bulows).

Owls are known as messengers, but usually if you hear an owl call, it is an omen of something bad, so one must not look at it (Alford).  They see the owl as connected with sudden death -- often with little or no warning-- and consider the sightings a bad portent (Richard Sutton). According to Navajo legend, the creator, Nayenezgani, told the Owl after creating it “…in days to come, men will listen to your voice to know what will be their future” (Deanane Lewis).

This question opened a door for a discussion with a Navajo Elder at our church. He explained that this fear of owls is prevalent, but he stated confidently that he has the Lord and doesn’t believe in the owl or coyote omens.

There were ten Hilltop students with most having attended here for three years, and only one sitting there before me crossed her arms and said, “Well, I don’t believe that.” (She is the daughter of missionaries.) Great and Mighty is the Lord our God to break down the walls of fear.

Team from Kansas

Painting backdrops for the Easter Program

We’re so blessed to have Work Teams coming back for the spring and summer. Our first group came from Kansas. Since school was on Spring Break, they worked on the construction of the dorm/conference building and painted backdrops for the Easter Program. This coming week we look forward to the wonderfully energetic group of teens from Redwood Christian School. They’ll connect with the students through Bible class, Chapel, tutoring, and play times. In addition, they’ll be setting up the Carnival/Open House so HCS can reach into the community. We hope to create publicity and increase our enrollment for the next school year.

A note of praise to our God who heals: The father of my student who has cancer underwent surgery (in Houston) during the break. He is home now, and things are going well.

Blessings!

Blog: everettnavajo.blogspot.com

Support: Western Indian Ministries: http://www.westernindian.org/donate2/

P.O. Box 9090, Window Rock, AZ 86515