Depend Upon Yourself
By LeManuel Lee Bitsoi

Yá’át’ééh/Greetings! I’d like to share with you a little about my family. In my family there are 23 nieces and nephews and five grand nieces and nephews. In the Navajo world, not only am I an uncle, but I am also a grandfather; thus, I feel compelled to serve as a role model, just as my mother was one for me.
I want my nieces and nephews to know that there is a world out there waiting to be explored. I want them to know that they can be anything they desire— whether it is a teacher, lawyer, meteorologist or medicine person. I want them to know that they can succeed in today’s society by contributing to society without negotiating their identity. I want them to know that they can be bilingual and biliterate in Navajo and English. Furthermore, if they choose to, they can learn several languages, even French and German. I want them to know that they can travel around the world to see new places, meet different people from distinct cultures and actually use the languages they have acquired without questioning their identity. I want them to know that their resilience and persistence will allow them to succeed in this world. These wishes for my nieces and nephews are the same desires my mother has harbored for all of her children. I trust that your parents’ desires for you are the same, and I believe you hold them for the next generation of your family.
My mother has always been my primary role model and teacher. She has influenced some of my most profound learning experiences. She has shared her wisdom countless times and reinforced the Navajo philosophy of “T’áá hwiih ajit’éégo,” which translates to “Your success or failure depends upon yourself.” Within Navajo philosophy, this ageless tenet of self-sufficiency and self-reliance was communicated to my mother from her parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. They were her role models and teachers who shared precious knowledge in hopes that she would aspire to do her best. “T’áá hwiih ajit’éégo” has been a driving force for me throughout my life thanks to the prayers of my great-great-grandparents and my mother’s commitment to her children.
My father passed away when I was an infant and my mother faced the monumental task of raising my siblings and me—there are seven of us—as a single parent. I cannot even begin to fathom what she must have endured as she was challenged to make ends meet. It was not until later that I realized the sacrifices she made. She relied on “T’áá hwiih ajit’éégo.” Although she only attended school up to the eighth grade, she had a successful career at a local elementary school as a cafeteria manager. I know she would have liked to have had a better education, but she felt strongly that she was being forced by Catholic missionary teachers to give up her identity for the sake of an education. She did not agree with this coercion and chose a different path. At the time when my mother chose work instead of school, the system was different in that one could work and support a family without much formal education. I believe it was the will of the Creator that made my mother come to realize that higher education would be crucial to the experience of her children.
Today, higher education is imperative to our evolution and development of our tribal nations. To foster that development, we need our young people to become professionals. We need to encourage them to seek out educational opportunities for the betterment of themselves, their families, communities and peoples. While higher education is very important, we also need to sustain our Native ways of education. We need to encourage our young people to continue our respective cultures and languages by encouraging apprenticeships with artisans, ranchers, weavers, and medicine people. Collectively, we can create a greater educated citizenry in all aspects.
Familial support, along with selfresilience and perseverance, will carry one as far as he or she wishes. The path upon which I chose to venture was based on educational goals and was guided by the sagacious teachings of my mother, specifically, “T’áá hwiih ajit’éégo.” I relied on my family for support and encouragement as I completed my undergraduate and graduate studies; and, I learned that my identity was not replaced with higher education but complemented by a university degree. I take pride in having earned a graduate degree, but I understand that there is much more to learn in the higher educacation system within the Navajo way of life. I can only hope to serve as a role model for the next generation and pray that they experience higher education as a complement to their identity and communities rather than a risk to their culture.

Ahéhee’/Thank you.

LeManuel Lee Bitsoi is a proud member of the Navajo (Diné) Nation. His clans are Kiiyaa’aanii and Hashtl’ishnii, two of the four primary Navajo clans, and he is originally from New Mexico. Bitsoi currently serves as director of minority training in genomics/ informatics in the department of molecular and cellular biology at Harvard University. Bitsoi is committed to improving access to educational opportunities for fi rst generation Native American college students and can be reached at: bitsoi@fas.harvard.edu.