Navajo

There is a large amount of learning and reference material for Navajo. The following entries are far from complete. For further information contact one of the following SSILA members, who have volunteered to be resource persons for Navajo materials: Aryeh (Leonard) Faltz, Alan Wilson.

• Salina Bookshelf, in Flagstaff, Arizona, (owned and operated by SSILA member Louise Lockard) has recently published Diné Bizaad: Speak, Read, Write Navajo, by Irvy W. Goossen (337 pp., $25). Diné Bizaad, like Goossen's earlier book, emphasizes conversational acquisition and its 30 chapters introduce vocabulary and grammar around cultural or practical themes. - Salina Bookshelf has also reprinted Ann Nolan Clark's classic 1940 bilingual children's reader, Who Wants to be a Prairie Dog? (Haisha' T'aa K'ad Dloo Silii'?) (64 pp., $9). - Order from: Salina Bookshelf, 10250 Palomino Rd, Flagstaff, AZ 86004 (tel: 520/527-0070; fax: 520/526-0386). Prepaid orders are shipped with no charge for postage and handling. [Oct. 1995]
  
  
• The standard dictionary of Navajo is Robert W. Young & William Morgan, Sr., The Navajo Language: A Grammar and Colloquial Dictionary (Univ. of New Mexico Press, revised edition 1987, 1506 pp, $45). This is the definitive reference for Navajo, and reflects Bob Young and Willie Morgan's 50 years of experience with the language. It is nearly exhaustive in its lexical coverage (the basic entries are fully inflected words) and has provided the Navajo people with their "Webster's." A supplementary work for Navajo specialists is Young & Morgan's Analytical Lexicon of Navajo (with the assistance of Sally Midgette) (Univ. of New Mexico Press, 1992, 1469 pp., $50). This work is intended primarily as a scholarly tool, and is organized around 1135 "roots" (basic verb stems, noun stems, and particles). - Order both books from: Univ. of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, NM 87131-1591 (telephone orders: 505-277-4810). Add $2.25 for postage and handling ($2.50 for foreign orders). [Oct. 1987 & Jan. 1992]
  
  
• The Navajo Language Institute's Diné Bizaad Bee Na'adzo: A Navajo Language Literacy and Grammar Text (1986), principally written by Paul R. Platero, is intended to teach young Navajos to read and write their language and to acquaint them with Navajo grammar. Copies can be obtained from the Navajo Academy, 1200 West Apache, Farmington, NM 87401 (505 326-6571); the list price is $20. [Oct. 1990]
  
  
• Audio-Forum (Suite C7, 96 Broad St., Guilford, CT 06437 (tel: 203/453-9794; fax: 203/453-9774; e-mail: 74537.550@ compuserve.com) offers:
  
  ---Breakthrough Navajo: An Introductory Course, and Speak Navajo: Intermediate. Alan Wilson. -"These self-study audio-cassette/book programs were ... created not only to give instruction in the Navajo language but also to provide a deeper understanding of the culture and lifestyle..." [Introductory Course: 2 cassettes (3 hr.) and 234 pp. text. $49. Order # AFNV10. Intermediate: 2 cassettes (2 hr.) and 180 pp. text. $49. Order # AFNV20.]
  
  ---Navajo Place Names: An Observers Guide. Alan Wilson. - Place names in Navajo country. The arrangement is alphabetical by English name; the Navajo equivalents for each are given, with a roughly literal translation, and historical notes and location data are provided. A Navajo speaker pronounces all of the names on the accompanying cassette recording. 100 pp., with 54 minute audio cassette. $19.95.
  
  ---Laughter: The Navajo Way. - Humorous stories in Navajo with word-for-word translations, colloquial English equivalents, and an explanation of each story with cultural notes. 1 cassette (80 min.) and 143 pp. text. $39. [Order # AFNV30].
  
  ---Basic Medical Navajo. - An elementary course for physicians and nurses who treat Navajo speakers: dialogs, vocabulary, questions and instructions, grammatical explanations and notes. Topics range from childhood ailments to psychiatric problems. 1 cassette (1 hr.) and 141 pp. text. $39. [Order # AFNV40].
  
  ---Seasons of a Navajo. - In this video, filmed in the Canyon de Chelly, a couple speaks about their lives and concerns, including the kinaaldá (girls' puberty) ritual. In English and Navajo (with English subtitles). 1 VHS cassette (60 min., color, 1984). $29.50. [Order # V72300]. [Jan. 1993; April 1995]

• Garth Wilson, who teaches Navajo at San Juan Community College in Blanding, Utah, has published a conversational Navajo dictionary and textbook. The pocket-sized *Conversational Navajo Dictionary* (1989; $14.95), with an accompanying audiotape Pronunciation Guide, contains over 5,500 of the most commonly used words illustrated with sample phrases, and is designed to meet the needs of both beginning students and native speakers. Among its features is a topical appendix with everyday cultural activities such as Foods, Family Relationships, Greetings and Farewells, In the Classroom, and Health Care Assessment. Also available is the *Conversational Navajo Workbook* (1995; $24.95) and accompanying audiotape Pronunciation Model, an introduction to the Navajo language in 20 lessons. Grammatical concepts are introduced in simple terms in a conversational context. Wilson plans to make the Workbook available in an interactive CD-ROM for the Macintosh later this autumn. This version will include additional cultural stories and will be adapted to meet the needs of elementary through adult non-native speakers. - Order from: Garth Wilson, ConversationalNavajo Publications, Pinion Ridge Rd. 7-11, Blanding, UT 84511 (tel: 1-800-574-3217; e-mail gwilson@sanjuan.ceu.edu). The shipping charge is $2 per book.