Cleansing ritual helps clear atmosphere
By: Jackson Crews
Issue date: 9/7/07 Section: News
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The Navajo prayer, cleansing and healing ceremony was led by Thomas Yazzie, a well known traditional Navajo medicine man, said Manley Begay, a UA professor of education and American Indian studies and director of the Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management and Policy.
"The aim is to restore harmony," Manley said. "It's a given that a tragedy has occurred in one of the buildings here, and the ceremony is a way to begin to heal the tragedy that has occurred."
Between 50-60 native and non-native residents of the Graham-Greenlee dorm and members of the UA faculty participated in the event that included rituals involving prayer, fire and water, Begay said.
No cameras, ipods or recording devices were permitted inside. Access was provided only to Graham-Greenlee residents and UA faculty, he added.
Others were not allowed within the perimeter of the sidewalk surrounding the building and UAPD was on hand to ensure that the ceremony was not disturbed.
While it was scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m., Yazzie elected to wait until 8 p.m., well after sundown, for spiritual reasons, Begay said.
"The cleansing and the restoration of harmony really is about exactly that; it's about getting people back in to the correct fame of mind," Begay said. "It's also about a cleansing of the building."
In the Navajo sense of the world these buildings are alive, he said. "They're not just sort of bricks and mortar; they're actually living entities."
Because the Tucson valley is considered Tohono O'odham land, the Navajo people had to ask permission to conduct the ceremony.
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sidonie
posted 9/07/07 @ 1:06 PM MST
Do a majority of the residents agree with how this ceremony was handled? I think the university needs to be sensitive to that part of the hall community that doesn't share these particular religious beliefs. (Continued…)
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