By Andrew L. Jaffee

As I spent the holidays in Diné Bikéyah, the Navajo Nation, it seems only appropriate to celebrate our great country’s independence in Navajo style. The Navajo people are testament to the strength of America’s tapestry of ethnic traditions. The U.S.’s diverse cultures meld in infinite combinations to form a land of opportunity unparalleled in human history. Despite the horrors suffered by the Navajo during America’s frontier-days of ethnic cleansing, these people have risen from the ashes like a phoenix, and become “known as a wealthy nation in a world of its own.” Diné is “striving to sustain a viable economy for an ever increasing population that now surpasses 250,000.” The Navajo have built a democratically-elected Tribal Council which “has evolved into the largest and most sophisticated form of American Indian government.” What struck me the most during my visit to Diné was Navajo patriotism — for both Diné and the U.S.

Instead of hearing a litany of self-indulgent pity when visiting and talking with Navajo, I encountered “United We Stand” t-shirts emblazoned with the Stars and Stripes. I had the honor of shaking hands with a Navajo Code Talker who risked his life in WWII fighting for the U.S. I met a family whose matriarch is striving to keep the Diné language alive, all while commanding English fluently. Her oldest son is working hard in the traditional livestock industry, while a younger boy is pursuing studies in computer science and engineering. I was honored to meet Jocelyn Billy, Miss Navajo Nation 2006-2007, whose philanthropic efforts aim to move Navajo young people forward while at the same time preserving their ancestral culture. Note that Jocelyn is fluent in Navajo and is planning to pursue a law degree from one of America’s great institutions of higher learning.

What better way to celebrate the 4th of July than to look at independence through the eyes of the Navajo. They are an American people who once were denied the rights set forth in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Federalist Papers, but are now sharing in and evolving through those same inaliable human rights. Please enjoy these patriotic images from Diné: