Navajo is a member of the Athabaskan family of languages spoken in the southwestern United States by the Navajo Nation. Its native name is Din?izaad. It’s unique in that most of the other Athabakan language family members are from the north.

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The major problem for most students of Native American languages is the lack of education materials available.

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The state of New Mexico recently announced the adoption a textbook for learning the Navajo language. Navajo is one of eight Native American Indian languages taught in New Mexico public schools.

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The spelling for Navajo came from the Spanish language. Literally, it is a Pueblo Indian word meaning “farmlands”. It is thought that this name was given due to the Navajo nature of settling and farming. The Navajo peoples’ traditional name of Diné bizaad is translated “the people” (what most Native Americans call themselves). The Navajos refer to themselves as Navajo as well, particularly when conversing in English.

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This is an interesting article on the recently announced scholarship program created by for Navajo language studies. Brown Receives Scholarship for Navajo Language Study

His younger sister, Kendra, at Newcomb, doesn’t have the language fluency either. Brown said that mispronouncing words in Navajo can be embarrassing because they can be “bad words.” The beauty of learning [...]

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