By Mark Charles
"When I grow up I want to be a shepherd"
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A photo from the late 19th Century of Navajo shepherds. I remember my grandfather telling me stories about herding the sheep as a boy. That is until he went to school. Then he had to learn how to be a student in a different world far away.
I imagine that is what my grandfather said when he was a young boy growing up near Blanco Canyon in New Mexico. I remember him telling me stories about when he used to herd sheep as a child. That is until he was 'enrolled' in school. At a young age my grandfather was removed from his home and sent to a boarding school. There he was forbidden from speaking Navajo, practicing Navajo traditions and culture, and even learning from his elders. He was made to pick an English name and a birthday. Everything that was 'Navajo' was pushed aside and replaced with what was 'American'. He no longer was...
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