Introduction:
To the traditional Navajo, the small ruminants, sheep and goats, were their most prized assets— their bank accounts and their retirement funds.
The outside world looks at the poverty in the Navajo Nation—the lack of jobs, the many people without electricity and running water, their inability to borrow money to build housing, not being able to own their land—and they wonder how these people survive. Traditional Navajo have existed for generations solely on small herds of small ruminants.
Berna Little not only understood this, she lived it. She and I formed a special bond through her animals. We never had a conversation in English, because Berna spoke only Navajo. Nonetheless, every time I went to the Navajo Nation for almost 20 years, I found her, worked with her animal herd and prayed with her—each in our own native language.
Berna has now joined her ancestors and her Lord. Berna and her family taught us much about the traditional Navajo religion.
To summarize, the Native Americans worshiped the world they lived in. She and her family chose to worship the Creator of that world. She explained this so well through her sons that Dr. Page Wages and I wrote an article entitled “Serving the Creator, Not the Created” which was published in a national magazine. Her picture graces the article and her wisdom is her legacy.
And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” (Genesis 1:24-26; NIV)
Thus began our nightly devotion presented by Timothy Little, a Native American Christian from Navajo Mountain, Utah. The North Carolina State University (NCSU) Christian Veterinary Fellowship members of the short-term mission shuttle to the Navajo Nation did not fully appreciate how special this occasion was to the shuttle mission leaders, Dr. Page Wages and Dr. Sam Galphin. We met Tim five years earlier on our first shuttle to the Navajo Nation and witnessed to him, his mother and brother, and their families through our veterinary care for the animals of this remote region. The Little family now tells us, “We thank the Lord you come every year to share your skills and reach out to the Navajo.” They believe we are called by God to come out to the reservation and help with the animals. Each year we have grown closer to the Navajo people and they have shared their lives and trials with us as Christian friends. Now was such a special occasion, a blessed occasion, because God has worked so powerfully in the hearts of these shy, reserved people that they feel compelled to return His love to us through witnessing to us and facilitating our journey.
Timothy had a heart-felt message for us as we sought to understand the traditions and culture of the Navajo people who live among the canyons and rock formations of the desolate Southwest desert. Tim and Ron Little were reared in Navajo Mountain, the most remote area of the Navajo Nation, by their mother, Berna, who grew up as a traditional Navajo, believing the land and animals take care of the people. The traditional Navajo worship everything God created; the mountains, the air, the earth, the sun, the water and the animals. Ironically, it is through this special, almost sacred, connection between the people and their animals that we have found many witness opportunities in the Navajo Nation. Nevertheless, as Tim explained, “in this genesis passage God tells us we are to rule over His creations. Not worship them. We are to worship the Creator, not the created. Traditional Navajo worship has it all wrong.”
As young woman, Berna had been well known around the nation as a Medicine Woman (palm reader and Fortune Teller). Tim spoke about his memories of the people who came from all over the reservation to have her tell them their fortunes and solve their problems. Berna had an especially influential role among her people. Then, one day when Tim was four years old, a Navajo Christian pastor led Berna to Christ. After that she stopped fortune telling, got rid of the paraphernalia, and started raising her boys in a Christian home. She did this despite the criticism of her clan and family. Berna was the first Christian in her clan. Tim and Ron were blessed in Berna’s home. They were not taught about worshipping God’s creation. Instead, they rest their faith in the Creator.
During further in-depth discussion of Tim’s chosen passage, it was pointed out that God said, “Let Us make man in Our image.” This is the first reference in the bible to the Trinity. What a special message! This Native American Christian family was leading our devotional time with this powerful, personal example of the grace of the One Triune God: the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit at work among the Navajo.
Ron went on to share further about his people, “At one time eighty percent of the Navajo were Christian. Today only about fifty percent of the Navajo people are Christians. Twenty-five percent of the people are still worshipping the land and the animals in the traditional Navajo way, and the other twenty-five percent are members of the Native American Church, which was adopted from the Plains Indians. The Native American Church uses teepees, fires, and peyote (a hallucinogenic drug) to appeal to the young Navajos, and is the fastest growing religion on the reservation. Members read the bible; but, with drug use they believe they see Christ and believe many other false teachings.” Tim explained, “This shows that the devil can do anything, even to the church. In his craftiness Satan has created the Native American Church.”
Many of the Navajo continue to live in traditional ways, raising sheep and cattle and horses for a living, having large families, and living off the land. The Navajo are a warm and welcoming people; but, they are steeped in tradition and harbor a justified suspicion of the “Anglos.” Christian Veterinary Mission is mounting a concerted effort on the Navajo nation to build up the Navajo Christians and help spread the Word through relationships built in the course of working with their animals. For example, while our team was working on the reservation we met another shuttle team sponsored by CVM and led by Dr. John Krukenberg of Tennessee. The Christians on the Navajo Nation need our prayers, our presence, and our gifts to continue to be effective in their struggle against the old faith practices and now the newer Native American Church. We must continue to pray for them that they will one day learn to accept the Triune God as the one true Creator, and to accept Christ as their Savior. We must pray that the Christian families will continue to be strong examples of God’s love and grace and they will continue to raise their families in the way that Berna reared Tim and Ron.
Tim, Ron, and Berna thank you for this powerful grace-filled message and the example you have been for the NC State University Christian Veterinary Fellowship mission shuttle to the Navajo Nation.
