Youth, elders need to start talking to each other

I came into the job here at the Navajo Times thinking that with a degree from Dartmouth College, writing for a newspaper on the reservation would be a piece of cake. It turned out that I had a lot to learn.

But besides the nuts and bolts of journalism, the lead paragraphs, tight writing, and editing process, there was a lot to learn about the Navajo government and its relation to the Navajo people, particularly Navajo youth.

What is important? What should people know? How can I keep them interested long enough to read the whole story? These were things I grappled with on every story.

But it also became apparent there is a huge gap between Navajo youth and the rest of Navajo society.

Being so close to the seat of tribal government, it is convenient for us at the Times to cover government issues. In covering government I noticed the council delegates are starving for youth input and interaction. At the quarterly sessions they inevitably get to talking about the state of Navajo youth today.

Where are the young people? Why aren't they learning the language? Why don't they learn the ceremonies or dress nicely? Why aren't they interested in their government? These are some of the main topics.

At the Times we try to highlight the accomplishments of Navajo students. I've done a few stories detailing the accomplishments and experiences of some of the youth. Almost always the student says he or she wants to come back to the reservation to help their people and make it a better place.

And that's in large part why I came back after college.

But there's a dilemma for those who come back.

After returning from college, usually in a city or town, a place that has all the conveniences of the modern world, how do we adjust to reservation life again? Where do we get our entertainment?

Where can we find the conversation and friendships that made a place of higher learning so fun to be involved in?

Can we even make a difference in a place that is stuck in its ways? Where there is only one person (Pete Ken Atcitty of Shiprock) below the age of 40 on the tribal council?

As much as it's good to get back and see family, and we all know how important family ties are to Navajo people, there's a withdrawal period when you do return home from getting an education.

And once you get over being away from the bright lights, how do you help your people?

How is the Navajo Nation government relevant to us? That's the big question. How is what they do important to my future?

It is likely that neither I, nor many of my peers, will own livestock, or herd sheep over miles of grazing land.

Many youth decry the spending of the Navajo Nation Council and the constant argument between the council and the president's office and say this turns them off from being involved in the running of the tribe.

One young girl who wrote a letter to the Times last year saw it at a council session: Why, she asked, were the council members interrupting and insulting the president? Didn't they have any courtesy?

Even if they disagreed with him there was a more respectful way to go about it that would have kept things civil.

There is also old-time politics. Tribal politicians seem to speak for a small, but influential voting population of the Navajo Tribe. Unfortunately the youth are not a big part of that voting population.

And the youth voice? It is severely underrepresented. For example, for the most part we as youth don't listen to KTNN, a major source of news for the voting population, because there is no part of its programming that caters to us.

Similarly, probably few Navajo youth actually read the Times, though we are trying to do something about that. Recently the Times joined Facebook, the ubiquitous social networking Web site. Now users can see snapshots of the week's paper and chat with Times reporters.

A few reporters have also set up Twitter accounts, where they send out short bursts of information on current and upcoming news stories. (To its credit KTNN has Twitter as well.)

The lack of youth participation in the government is what made passage of the Green Economy Act in the summer session so interesting to me ("Youth laud passage of green legislation," July 23, 2009).

As far as I can tell, it's the only bill by members of my generation to reach the Navajo Nation Council so far. People my age saw a need for action, in this case for the tribal government to foster the creation of a sustainable economy, and did something about it. And the council recognized that support by passing the legislation almost unanimously.

I believe this shows that the government is ready for youth participation, and when Navajo youth do get together there are tangible results. But few young people attend the council meetings, committee meetings and commission meetings, all open to the public.

When delegates and tribal officials see a Navajo youth at one of these meetings, there's a dance that takes place. The delegate is usually middle-aged or older, and wearing the Window Rock getup: classic-cut blue jeans, a cowboy hat and boots, a button-down shirt and a few pieces of turquoise jewelry.

The young Navajo is usually dressed in baggy or skinny jeans, his pierced earlobes stretched around big metal discs, with a rocker T-shirt or maybe a polo shirt if he chooses to dress up.

The delegate, per his impeccable Navajo manners, must shake everyone's hand in the room, the youth included. There's a noticeable friction of two worlds meeting as they touch, an awkwardness.

The delegate wants to talk to the youth, partly to increase his political footprint but also because he's genuinely excited to see someone young there; it's such a rare event.

But the delegate doesn't know how, and the youth - unless he's unusually assertive and pushing a piece of legislation (so he's got an obvious conversation starter) - likely won't speak unless asked a direct question.

The handshake becomes the extent of their interaction.

But youth must get involved in tribal government, it's important to the future of the Navajo Nation.

Older and younger Navajos might not be on the same wavelength all the time but with so much at stake, dancing the right dance becomes all the more crucial.

And it needs to go beyond a handshake. The Navajo Nation belongs to all Navajos in the end.

Brossy joined the Navajo Times on Oct. 1, 2007, and resigned to continue his education on Aug. 14, 2009.