Letters: Actions speak louder than words

It’s been said, actions speaks louder than words.

Oct. 25 was the first annual veteran and family sponsored trash pickup in the community starting at 9 a.m. and lasting to 1 p.m.

It seems like a dream come true that veterans covered about four miles counting Route 12 turnoff to the Bureau of Indian Education school plus Buffalo Pass in the mountains. The mountains — yes the mountains.

As a group, veterans in most of the campaigns from World War II to the present era came to this muster call to save the mountains. Rather than feeling helpless about litter in the sacred mountains, these veterans decided to take the objective by the horns and conquer it once again.

The objective was having the mountain travelers come to terms that this community welcomes them, however, we ask those who litter to keep it to a minimum. It won’t be perfect, but at least most of the unsightly trash would be kept under control. Even puppies are dumped in the mountains to become prey to larger creatures.

Also it’s not safe to travel up there by yourself anymore due to road rage. It is hoped that the Navajo Nation administration and other authorities can read this article so they can become aware once again.

The local veterans paid for their own trash bags, their own food, their own time and effort. We don’t want to be beggars, whiners, but volunteers as before when we answered for duty to serve America.

As you do your task on the road, folks go by with mixed thoughts and you can feel those. You think about and hope that young scholars congregating at Twin Arrows could find solutions to this rez trash problem.

You think about why the Navajo Nation has a turnstile policy about bootlegging and drug dealers. Yeah, $500 then they are out doing the same thing.

You think about other brothers and sisters who wrote about these same issues, but get no response from our Washindoon in Window Rock.

Yes, we volunteered once again.

In closing, we as comrades, we as military families, are asking just one favor: How and where can we find road signs to slow down speeders and a dedication sign with these words “Road Maintained by Lukachukai Veterans as Keepers of The Sacred Mountains/Buffalo Pass. Please Do Not Litter.”
Ahe’hee’.

Herbert Harvey
Lukachukai, Ariz.

A birthday card for grandma

So today I found a birthday card that was never mailed off. It bears the names of my little ones — their happy signatures wishing their other grandmother a happy birthday and when you open the card up it makes the sounds of sheep — baah, baaaah.

Her birthday falls on Halloween. This card should have been mailed six years ago. A lot has happened since that time. So much time has passed.

This grandmother has refused to acknowledge the little ones who are now grown adults. I thought of mailing it off because it holds such good memories, but I’m afraid she is not receiving her mail.

Back in the day, I was going through difficult times with my children and this grandmother came to our rescue. She opened her home to us. She took my now 21-year-old under her wings and put her through St. Michaels Indian School for a year.

My daughter now has very fond and beautiful memories of her time spent with grandma and on the homeland. She adapted quickly and learned to make frybread and, yes, even the Diné language. She speaks of her love for such beautiful memories and will always cherish it, she says.

She remembers her chei taking care of his pubbies and grandmother scolding him for the over care they received. Grandpa made sure the hard dog food was thickened with gravy and made nicely warm and stirred to a dog’s satisfaction. This sure made the dogs look forward to their meals.

One of the names he gave to a pubby was Bahozho, meaning “happy one.” I can attest to how he felt about his four-legged friends. Dogs have a heart and mind of their own and their love for humans is authentic.

Today, the memories linger like the cool wind breeze blowing soft sand in the desert. But birthdays come and go like the seasons change and so do people, but the memories remain.

So today we want to wish this grandma a very happy birthday and thank her for the times she was there for us. It was never about money or being needy because, guess what, we made it without her but hold on to her ways of always praying and acknowledging our holy ones.

My youngest will soon be graduating high school and I am now a grandmother of four. I have felt the hurt and pain with the loss of a grandson. But again, her ways of strength and prayer have been instilled.

I know the leader of the family is looking down on us and watching over my little family. She always made it about her grandchildren…like a true Diné warrior.

Cindy Cohoe
Lawton, Okla.

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