Understanding the relationship between learning Diné Bizaad and holistic wellbeing of young Diné learners, their families and communities

Project Lead:

Tiffany Lee, Melvatha Chee, and Wendy Greyeyes

Affiliations:

Native American Studies and Linguistic, UNM

Project Description: 

Our research consists of a longitudinal study that will contribute to Diné language revitalization, continuity, and support learning environments that allow children to be whole, well, and grounded in their cultural heritage and identity. Our research project examines how Diné language learning in different contexts can support the holistic wellbeing of Diné youth, from infants to young adults and what effects this might have on their families and communities. Our team’s vision is to ultimately see Diné children speaking Diné Bizaad (language) as their first language or as a bilingual person. An overwhelming majority of Indigenous children today are growing up with English as their primary language. We hope that our work supports the revitalization efforts of our community so child speakers of Diné Bizaad can thrive. We also envision bringing to light developmental milestones specific to Diné children’s language, physical, and socioemotional wellbeing. Developmental milestones are well documented fornon-Indigenous children and used in areas of education and health as universal indicators of healthy development and wellbeing. This overgeneralization is problematic, as it does not take into account cultural and linguistic variation. We hope this information can lead to the development of materials our communities need such as Diné based assessments of wellbeing and curriculum for teaching Diné.