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The Navajo are a Native American nation whose reservation is near the Jemez Pueblo. Navajo people generally refer to themselves Diné rather than Navajo. Ben Benally is a Navajo man.
Navajo Quotes in House Made of Dawn
The House Made of Dawn quotes below are all either spoken by Navajo or refer to Navajo. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
2. The Longhair, July 21 Quotes
[Abel’s] father was a Navajo, they said, or a Sia, or an Isleta, an outsider anyway, which made him and his mother and Vidal somehow foreign and strange. Francisco was the man of the family, but even […] the boy could sense his grandfather’s age, just as he knew that his mother was going to die of her illness. It was nothing he was told, but he knew it anyway and without understanding, as he knew already the motion of the sun and the seasons.
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Abel’s sense of isolation begins at a young age, as he feels alienated among his own people due to his father’s identity as an outsider. Though later chapters demonstrate that the Jemez people of Walatowa live in harmony with surrounding Indigenous tribes and nations, those other peoples are still outsiders. Abel’s father is one such outsider, and that alien status extends to his family, which establishes why Abel struggles to form meaningful connections even before he leaves Walatowa. Although Abel is the protagonist, the novel does not often explicitly relate Abel’s interior monologue to readers, and so this explanation of Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ip
6. The Longhair, August 1 Quotes
It made him glad to be in the midst of talk and celebration, to savor the rich relief of the coming rain upon the rows of beans and chilies and corn, to see the return of weather, of trade and reunion upon the town. He tossed his head in greeting to the shy Navajo children who hid among the camps and peered, afraid of his age and affliction. For they, too, were a harvest, in some intractable sense the regeneration of his own bone and blood.
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People from the pueblos surrounding Walatowa have come to the village to celebrate the Feast of Porcingula, and Francisco appreciates the festivities he walks through. The festival is a time for various towns and peoples to come together and celebrate their shared beliefs and heritage, and also to renew their commitment to friendship and unity. The Feast of Porcingula is a designated time for “trade and reunion.” Francisco appreciates both the human and the environmental elements of the festival, highlighting the importance he grants to both his community and the land. Francisco’s belief that the children at the festival are Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accus
10. The Night Chanter, February 20 Quotes
He was going home, and I wanted to pray. Look out for me, I said; look out each day and listen for me. And we were going together on horses to the hills. We were going to ride out in the first light to the hills. We were going to see how it was, and always was, how the sun came up with a little wind and the light ran out on the land. We were going to get drunk, I said. We were going to be all alone, and we were going to get drunk and sing. We were going to sing about the way it always was. And it was going to be right and beautiful. It was going to be the last time. And he was going home.
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Ben narrates the implosion of Abel’s life in Los Angeles, and his subsequent decision to return to Walatowa; Ben has chosen not to return to his reservation. Ben’s repetition of “he was going home” has an almost jealous tone to it. It speaks to Ben’s own desire to return to his community, a fantasy that he indulges in with Abel. He imagines riding a horse again with his friend, and his narration emphasizes the landscape to demonstrate his desire to reconnect with the land. Ben imagines the reservation as a place of freedom and pleasure, where he and Abel can Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta
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Navajo Term Timeline in House Made of Dawn
The timeline below shows where the term Navajo appears in House Made of Dawn. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
2. The Longhair, July 21
...father is, but other townspeople say that he was an outsider (they believe he was Navajo, but don’t know for certain). This marks Abel’s family as “somehow foreign.”
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...wait for dawn. When the sun starts to rise, they go outside and join the Navajo and Domingo elders. People begin to sing and dance, and wildlife run down from the...
(full context)
6. The Longhair, August 1
...usual, convincing himself that he is content and at one with the ancient land. Other Navajo families and people (who self-identify as Dîné) travel to Walatowa on horses and wagons for...
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...languages spoken by those who have traveled to celebrate. He appreciates the beauty of the Navajo people and the art they create.
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...from the plain. Most of the visiting families leave, except for a handful of young Navajo men who remain at a bar. At the bar, Abel and the albino man conduct...
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8. The Priest of the Sun, January 26
...are not of his world. He thinks of what his friend Benally told him about Navajo religious ceremonies that connect people to the earth, but the vast sea and spawning fish...
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10. The Night Chanter, February 20
...their respective reservations and eventually reunite with each other. Ben has taught Abel about some Navajo songs and the stories behind them. As people sing at the party, Ben wants to...
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...He sings a song about the son of the Turquoise Woman, a figure in the Navajo religion, and about the love the son feels for his horse. When Ben arrives at...
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Ben is startled that Angela has made up a story that closely resembles a Navajo legend. He relates the story his grandfather told him about Esdzá shash nadle, or the...
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