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A Navajo Thanksgiving

Navajo teacher Brent Chase with a traditional weaving.
Laurel Morales
Navajo teacher Brent Chase with a traditional weaving.

Audio Clip

A Navajo Thanksgiving

A Navajo Thanksgiving

Laurel Morales

Navajo teacher Brent Chase with a traditional weaving.

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — For some Native Americans, Thanksgiving is not quite the same kind of celebration that it is for other Americans.

After all, the Pilgrim arrival and settlement didn’t exactly work out well for the Natives.

In the vast Navajo Nation in the Southwest, many do gather with families to give thanks on this holiday, just like their Anglo neighbors. But Navajo traditions teach them that Thanksgiving is, for them, a daily practice.

That’s what Navajo teacher Brent Chase passes on to the children in his Joseph City, Arizona, classroom when its time for the Thanksgiving lesson.

Listen to the class sing the Navajo Flag Song.

Laurel Morales was a Fronteras Desk senior field correspondent in Flagstaff from 2011 to 2020.