Yá’át’ééh, shí éí Clarene Davis yinishyé. Náneesht’ézhí Táchii’nii nishłį́ dóó Bit’aanii Bashishchiin dóó Honágháahnii dashicheii dóó Hashk’ąą Hadzohi dashinalí.
Hello, my name is Clarene Davis. I’m of the Charcoal-Streaked clan, born for the Within’ His Cover clan. My maternal grandfather’s clan is One-Walks-Around and my paternal grandfather is of the Yucca Fruit-Strung-Out-In-A-Line Clan. I am from Manyfarms, Arizona and a member of the Diné (Navajo Nation).
While growing up on the Navajo Reservation in Manyfarms, I was raised by my parents and grandma alongside my 4 other siblings. All my life, my parents, grandparents, and great grandparents passed on many traditional knowledge’ and at the same time helped me further understand how valuable education is. With my education, yet still more to gain, I hope I can inspire others!
I’m currently working on my internship program with Columbia University and my research paper is “What causes the Arsenic and Uranium Water Contamination on the Navajo Nation?” I am very fortunate to be doing my research paper on my homeland. The information will help out my community.
My art pieces are the reflection of my culture, tradition, and identity as Indigenous young women. As Indigenous women I represent the Navajo Nation and my family. Therefore with what’s going on back home on the Navajo Nation with COVID-19 it’s very hard on my heart not being able to see my own family at this time including my mom, older sister, my baby nephew and my grandmother. Being Dine’, our home is everything and our cultural knowledge, ceremonies, faith, and narratives of mother earth are what will help us preserve through the pandemic. The Navajo people believe the universe to be delicately balanced. Only unwanted evil can upset it causing disasters and or illness. When this happens, the creator is restored in the universe by healing with offers such as chants, herbs, and prayers, songs. After all, our connection to mother earth and my ancestors were resilient, and still continues a legacy of dedication and devotion to our future generation.
I advocate creating space by using @indigenous_activist for my radical unapologetic voice. With the help of @afropuffchronices platform for the empowerment of women and femmes of color through all forms of social media and feel free expression. I truly believe this platform will provide influence and outlook to help me pursue my goals in the coming years to come.
Hi, I am very interested in your work, spreading knowledge about your ethnic group to more people. I have long had this idea of recording the minority’s language and tradition and set up a mini audio-visual library to store them. I believe this is what some Native tribes in Alaska are doing, but as far as I am concerned, there is no other organization dedicated to preserving the languages (and culture) of other minority groups. Can you tell me more about your project? It will be very, very appreciated!