Adopt-A-Native-Elder Program
GIVING - THE TRUE JOY IN LIFE
A dear client who became a wonderful friend introduced me to the Adopt-A-Native-Elder program. I have been involved in the program for the last four years and have found the need to be great and the satisfaction of helping enormous.
I invite anyone who may be interested in helping some of the neediest of our North American citizens to learn more through the information below and also the included link. This program is one where almost 100% of your donation will go to the needy, there is no staff or directors that need to be paid, everyone involved is a volunteer. The Adopt-A-Native-Elder Program is always in need of donations for food, firewood, clothing, healthcare supplies, vehicles, drivers, warehouse workers and office help. It is only through the help of others that the Elders survive year to year. If you decide to donate you will have the peace and joy of kowing that you are truly helping your fellowman. If you decide to volunteer, you will have the joy and satisfaction of making a very real difference in someone's life.
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The program was established to meet the very basic needs of the Navajo Elders, those over 70, many who live in very primitive conditions and suffer each year from lack of food, heat and medical supplies. The Navajo Nation in South Eastern Utah and North Eastern Arizona has chosen not to get involved in the gaming that is done on so many reservations, thus they continue to live a very limited lifestyle. They chose against gaming because of the many vices that will accompany it. I have come to love my Native Elder, Libby Chee. She is 98 to 100 years old (the doctor thinks) and she was Medicine Woman for the Navajos for many years. Her husband was Medicine Man and they have passed their traditions on their son who is now the tribe Medicine Man. Many of her children help her, but their resources are meager even though their love is great. The Navajo are a very noble and kind people, they have suffered greatly and yet are gracious, kind and appreciative. They honor their past traditions and love the land, nature and the simple beauty in it. I have learned much from them and I honor and love them. |
If you would like to make a donation or volunteer, please follow this link: Chee Family Pow-Wow, 2006 Libby Chee and Grandson Homecoming, September 29, 2006
www.anelder.org
Thank you so very much for your time and please call me if you have any questions.
-Jill Clark
801-706-5080
Alice Nez
by Linda A. Myers
It is mid-February when we return to the land to do home visits with some of the Elders. Our first visit headed us to Sleepy Mountain, where Alice Nez and her family live. Alice lives in a small hogan. It is very old. They have no electricity or running water. Alice will be turning 100 years old this month.
When we arrive at the hogan, Alice is sitting on her bed trying to put on some old black shoes. They have seen many miles. Her hands work very hard to try to undo the shoelaces to get them on her feet. Once she has them on, she takes little notice of us. She picks up her weaving spindle and begins spinning her wool. The thick brown wool from her own sheep begins to lengthen into fine strands as she spins and stretches the yarn around her foot.
As I watch, my thoughts focus on the beautiful rhythm of her hands, a skill that she has been using for at least 85 years. Next to her bed stands a three-foot iron loom. It is strung with warp that she has made herself. She is still busily spinning the wool to weave a rug. Mostly she has been weaving small rugs, but this will be a much bigger rug.
As we watch Alice, her daughter Edith talks about the hardship of not having electricity and running water.
She is busy everyday with caring for her mother full-time, herding her sheep and caring for her grandchildren while her daughter drives the Headstart bus. She has to chop the wood and keep the hogan very warm for her mother.
Edith must walk her mother to the outhouse quite often, which is about 50 yards from the house. It is important to help her keep steady on her feet so she doesn't fall down. Sometimes when Alice is outside, she will crawl around so as not to fall.
As we visit, the scene in the hogan could have been 50 years ago. Edith, her daughter, is now sixty years old. She also is a weaver and uses her own sheep wool to weave her rugs. She shows us a rug. It is a beautiful star pattern. The colors are brown, grey, black, white and a soft golden color that she dyed from wild carrot plants. Edith looks for shows and events to travel to so she can sell her rugs and her beadwork.
She comments on how frustrating it is when people ask her how long it takes to weave her rug. She says it's more than the hours I spend at the loom weaving the rug. It is the herding of my sheep, shearing my sheep and cleaning the wool. It is the time it takes me and my Mom to spin the wool and for some of my rugs, to dye the wool. Then I sit down to my weaving as well as taking care of feeding my mom and chopping wood to keep her warm. This is what time is woven into my rug.
Some people want rugs woven with very fine wool. I weave the old way. My rugs come from my land, my sheep and bits of the land are woven into my rugs. Edith also shows us her beautiful beaded hair barrettes that are very finely beaded. I purchase her rug and some barrettes to sell at our rug show.
The beauty of these two women is not because life is easy for them. It comes from the land itself, which they have become a part of. They live miles away from grocery stores and border towns. The post office is over 30 miles away to get the mail. Each of their lives focus on survival and caring for each other and their families.
Providing food certificates and firewood are two of the simple miracles that touch their hearts.
Many of our Elders who are in their hundred years are very blessed to be living in their traditional homes like Alice. It is a special gift of her children's love and sacrifice for their mother that touches my heart deeply..
In Blessings,
Linda A. Myers
- Article from the Adopt-A-Native-Elder Program newsletter, March 2007.
Walking the Rainbow Trail of Beauty
by Linda A. Myers
Like the clouds that move slowly across the skies, the Fall foodrun came and went with dark clouds, rainbows and with many beautiful heartfelt moments. The support people came from all over the country and as far away as France. The simple lives of the Elders were very deeply touched to see how many people come to help them and the struggles and challenges they faced to deliver the food to them.
It is with great humility I write these words. The responsibility to get the food boxes to the land was challenged by heavy rains in two locations and vehicles being stuck in the mud. We were also challenged with vehicles breaking down. The strong desire to help the Elders, and the Prayers, kept the human spirit very strong. I have been blessed with tremendous support people who put the Elders' needs first, and they worked hard to see that the needed items were there for them.
Right after the first foodrun I met Ron and Sheila Borden at Archie and Nora Barton's homeland. Archie is 93 now and has not been well. The family was in the hogan with a medicine man when I arrived. Their support people had brought the food, grandma, grandpa and medical boxes for them.
As Archie opened his boxes of food he became very emotional and very humble. The food was most needed that day for his ceremony (that would take place that evening). He spoke tearfully and held some of the items of food that were special to him. He said early that morning he had made prayers for the support people and the foodrun that would be on the homeland in a couple of weeks. The support people had brought him and Nora special items. He loved receiving a special pair of gloves and warm socks.
As I sat there I felt the deep connection to the vision of the program's hands reaching out together and the prayers that have brought us together to share with each other. I thought of the many miles these Elders travel to get to the grocery store and how dependent they are for their family to take them. Archie's words and thankfulness stayed with me for the rest of all the foodruns.
As the days rolled by I was touched many times by simple requests for a blanket and for warm socks and medical items. The Elders faces are like small children hoping their names will be called out, as we pass out food certificates and firewood orders from their sponsors.
On the last day of the foodrun at Big Mountain, we had given so much food to the Elders and to the families. It was a very emotional time for me to see the foodruns come to a close. We watched the vehicles head down the dirt road one by one.
Where the foodrun circle of boxes had been, Slim Biakeddy was still sitting next to his food boxes. No one had come to pick him up.
Slim is very old now and bent over with age. He walks with a limp and uses a wooden cane to steady himself. He has been a sheepherder all his life.
I watched him as he knelt down on his knees holding onto his cane. He was guarding his food boxes like he guarded his sheep. I asked one of the family members take warm bread and water to him. He broke small pieces of the bread to eat, but wrapped most of it back up to save for later.
As I got ready to leave, William Whitehair had decided to take him back to his sheep camp. As I drove back to Winslow my thoughts were of these simple shepherds who daily walk the land caring for their sheep. What a great blessing it is to touch their weathered hands and be blessed by their hearts.
With Blessings,
Linda
- Article from the Adopt-A-Native-Elder Program newsletter, December 2006
...A Visit to Remember: Canyon Diablo
by Linda A. Myers
I traveled to the land to spend a week visiting with the Elders at their homes, in several of our areas in the early spring.
I met with Lola Bahe who is the coordinator for the Leupp area of the Program. We left early in the morning to begin our day's journey to visit elders.
She explained to me that many of the Elders lived in an area called Canyon Diablo. In the canyon there are three main areas where the Elders live. But there is no road in the canyon that connects to each area. So we traveled in and back out to visit each area.
We planned to make a special visit to Arlene and Melvin Baldwin's home. They live in a very remote area of the canyon. Lola explained to me that the Elders that lived in this area of the canyon received very little assistance from the Navajo Tribe because of the rutted and rocky roads and the clearances needed for their vehicles.
I could see the difficult road and had to be very careful as I went very slowly over the rocks through the narrow canyon roads. As we came to and old train tunnel we needed to go under, I saw how close the walls were on both sides of my vehicle, and was extremely concerned about how close they were to the sides. As we came over the hill the land was very flat. In the far distance I could see several homelands.
We visited with Arlene and Melvin. I brought food boxes and jackets that were donated from the Park City ski resort to the men. They were very thankful and surprised by my visit to see them.
They spoke to us about two elderly women that also lived nearby in the canyon that were coming to them in need of food. As we approached their homesites, one of the Elders, Mary Louise, was out herding sheep a couple of miles from her home. We went to her sister Juanita's home, who lived about 100 yards away. I am sure she wondered about me coming to her home. She lived in a small two-room house. It was very neat and clean.
Lola told her who I was and about the program and how it could assist her. Lola spoke to Juanita in Navajo to fill out her paperwork. Juanita searched for some paperwork that might have her address on it. She returned with a ziplock bag of papers. While they talked, I looked through her ziplock bag. Most of the papers were old warranties on items she had acquired over a 30-year period of time. I was unable to find anything that had an address on it.
I asked Lola to ask Juanita if she received any mail. She answered she did not, but her children in Winslow received her mail. Juanita is a small Elder in her 80's. She didn't own a vehicle, a telephone or a TV, but had a radio she ran off of a 6-volt battery. Her small home had two large comfortable chairs in a small living room and a kitchen table and chairs. Her bedroom was in a separate room.
She is a sheepherder and tended to her sheep daily.
I tried to imagine myself living as simply as Juanita. It was at least six miles to the nearest neighbor.
I realized she was in need of firewood. She was burning some old boards from her fence. I left her several boxes of food and made arrangements for her daughter to come and pick up firewood for her.
We drove over to her sister's, Mary Louise, who was coming back with the sheep. Her home was much smaller than her sister's with only a kitchen and a bedroom. As we sat at her kitchen table, I noticed next to her wood burning stove was a small pen she had made with a baby lamb in the pen. As I glanced around her kitchen I noticed how clean her stove was. There weren't any pots and pans on it or around it, so I asked Lola to ask if she cooked food for herself. She explained she did not have any propane so she has been eating at her sister's for quite awhile. I looked at her cupboards. There were very little staples of food on her shelves. I could see that these two women had learned to survive very simply, and were dependent on each other for survival. I had Lola explain to her that I would see that she got firewood and I left her several boxes of food. As we drove away I knew the evening conversation would be about their visitors and the gifts of food, and hopefully, firewood.
The Elders we visited that day in Canyon Diablo touched my heart very deeply. I saw the many challenges each of them faced when they had to come out of the difficult canyons and go to the bordertown for food and supplies.
I felt blessed they made special trips out to attend our foodruns. I could see how happy they were at each of the foodruns, that this was something very special in their lives. My thoughts are very focused to see us get the needed food and supplies to help them for the winter. It is easy to see that we are the miracle workers that touch their lives with love, compassion and caring.
I appreciate your special support for all of our Elders.
With Blessings,
Linda
- Article from the Adopt-A-Native-Elder Program newsletter, July 2006.
