Grandma’s Basket
In her delicate and aged hands,
thin strips of three-leaf sumac are carefully laced and woven.
Kóodęę’ hózhǫ́dóo
Shitsijí’ hózhǫ́dóo
Shikédęę’ hózhǫ́dóo
Shikáagí, shiyaagí hozhǫ́dóo
T’áá ałtso shinaagóó hózhó dóo’
In beauty I walk
With beauty before me I walk
With beauty behind me I walk
With beauty above me I walk, with beauty around me
I walk It has become beauty again
Sacred and alive with caring hands,
Sunbeams light her creations—
embraced with beauty,
She is the only home I have ever known.
Haalánee’ (No direct English translation; used as a term of endearment)
Alyssa Nakai is a student at Navajo Technical University.
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