This year’s DV walk to be shared with Hopi
WINDOW ROCK
Ernest Tsosie, Jr. and John L. Tsosie
The night he physically hurt his wife, was the night he knew he needed to break the cycle.
“Domestic violence is a learned behavior,” said John L. Tsosie, a founder of “Walking the Healing Path,” an organization dedicated to ending domestic violence.
Tsosie remembers his dad hurting his mom and after hurting his own wife, he called the police on himself and decided to make a change.
Tsosie founded Walking the Healing Path with his dad Ernest Tsosie, Jr., and together they started working and walking against domestic violence. Both men have shared their stories of a violent past and hope to motivate other men to stand with them against domestic violence.
On Wednesday, Oct. 14, at 9 a.m., the pair will begin a weeklong walk from Window Rock to the Hopi Reservation as part of the “Journey to the Hopi Nation.” Along the way they will be making stops at Ganado High and Hopi Jr./Sr. High to talk to students about domestic violence.
The idea of walking to Hopi comes after the pair was invited to come to the reservation by the Hopi-Tewa Women’s Coalition to End Abuse. This will be the fifth walk for the organization and they are inviting everybody to come out and walk with them.
“It’s symbolic of the pain and suffering our women are going through, our families are going through,” the younger Tsosie said, adding that the distance they walk helps in healing and is a time for prayer and reflection. “It’s a way for me to reach out at a grassroots level to our communities.”
The father-son duo has been working against domestic violence for 13 years and Ernest said the walks are still a reflection of the abuse and violence he once committed against his wife.
“It’s really hard to admit it’s your fault,” he said about domestic violence.
The elder Tsosie continued, people committing the violence are likely to blame the spouse or children before they blame themselves.
October is Domestic Violence Awareness month and with this walk, both Tsosies hope to reenergize the call for action against domestic violence on the Navajo Nation and Hopi reservation.
More information: Walking the Healing Path on Facebook or jltsosie@yahoo.com.
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Highway 264,
I-40, WB @ Winslow