I got to go and visit some church friends of ours, about 45 miles northeast of me. They showed us their guest hogan (a hogan is a traditional Navajo dwelling, kind of like a hexagonal log cabin) and their home, which was the coolest one I've ever seen! I was going with a couple of Dordt student teachers for a cultural orientation to Navajo Christians, in particular, and Native Americans, in general.

Part 1. Indian tacos. They are kind of like American tacos except pinto beans are mixed in with the meat and instead of taco flavoring, they add red or green chile. The main difference, though, is that they are served on open-faced frybread (biscuit batter flattened and fried, basically... delicious and unhealthy :-D). Besides the yumminess of indian tacos, the main challenge is how to eat them. Pretty much you just have to get at least one hand really messy as you rip the frybread up and grab toppings with your hand.

Part 2. Conversation. Ted's son Mark Charles talked about the Native perception of time. In the dominant culture here in the USA, we think of time as a line. You are born at one point, you die at the end, and time continues both directions too. Once something has passed, you never get it back. To show someone that you think they are valuable, you make an appointment and are sure to be punctual. Native Americans, however (as well as most of the rest of the "Non-Western" world), view time as more circular. If you miss an event one time around, you can always try to catch it the next year. If you want to make a person feel valuable, you make sure to finish the interaction, whether it means you'll be late to your next engagement or not. Ending time, and not being concerned about schedule, are far more important than arriving punctually. This is why we laugh and say that church starts at 10:30 a.m. - Zuni time. :-) In effect, church usually starts at 10:45, and half the congregation shows up after that.
Mark and Ted also talked about the problem that Native Americans don't really have a voice, and this is really not fair. If you're interested, here's a link to a blog that more thoroughly explains the whole concept I am about to summarize. http://wirelesshogan.blogspot.com/2009/01/virtual-native-american-state.html
Mark compared it to an elderly woman who has a huge, beautiful house. She always stays in one room, as she is now sick and frail. Her house is full to bursting with people talking, laughing, etc. No one takes the time to go up to her room and tell her, "Thank you for letting us stay in your house; we had a wonderful time..." and listen to any of her stories. They don't even remember that she is there. Technically, yes she could walk down and say hello, but the guilt lies on the people who don't even remember whose house they are in. The woman is like Native Americans. They were here first, and (as a general rule) were willing to let us "immigrants" come into the country. In the 1800s they were relegated to reservations, pushed aside, and forgotten. And we don't show them much respect at all.
Mark Charles proposes a "Virtual Native American State" that would allow Native Americans to at least band together and have a small effect on the electoral college. He's trying to think of a way to give them a voice. Currently, even if all the Native Americans were to vote for the same president, their votes wouldn't make a difference because in each state they are a minority. However, if they had the option to check a box on their ballot that said they were voting as part of Native American State, they could get a bit of clout. Maybe politicians would start listening to them a bit.

3. We watched a documentary about the Navajo Code Talkers, Navajo marines who designed a code that allowed them to transmit messages in the Pacific with great accuracy and security. The Japanese cracked every code the USA tried, except for the Navajo one. It's a fascinating story; look it up sometime.

So much more could be said but that's all for now :-).