Opinion: An outsider's attempt at understanding tribal cultures

Thursday, February 21, 2013  

"While my colleagues cross the southern border to Mexico to report, I drive across a different type of border in northeastern Arizona to interview the Navajo and Hopi tribes. I am a billágaana (the Navajo word for white person) who lives in Flagstaff, a border town on what's often referred to as "the edge of the Rez."

The last time I drove with my family across the reservation, we passed small clusters of trailers and several half-built wood framed structures on dirt roads. My almost 5-year-old looked out the window and asked, "Mama, why are all the houses broken?"

"They don't have enough money to fix them," I said. I did my best to explain to her in words she could understand."

Get the Story:
Laurel Morales: A Billágaana's Attempt At Understanding (Fronteras 2/20)