Navajo Blessingway Ceremony at Washington College as Part of Native American Heritage Month

CHESTERTOWN, MD—In honor of Native American Heritage Month in November, Washington College is welcoming Will Tsosie, Tribal Archaeologist for the Navajo Nation, to campus on November 7, 2019 when he will sing the Navajo Blessingway, a series of song-prayers performed to promote health, well-being, harmony, and success.

The public is invited to the event, which begins with a reception at 5:30 p.m. in the Underwood Lobby of the Gibson Center for the Arts, where Janice Toya, a Puebloan, will prepare native foods to sample. Tsosie will lead the Blessingway in Hotchkiss Recital Hall starting at 6:30. The event is free, although donations are accepted to support a Navajo charity.

One of the oldest and most important ceremonies for the Navajo people, or Diné (meaning “the people” or “children of the holy people”), the Blessingway tells of Navajo origins and the Navajo people’s place in the universe. “It’s a rare opportunity to learn first-hand about Navajo language and culture and to experience the chants that are central to maintenance of community well-being for the Navajo Nation,” says Aaron Lampman, associate professor of anthropology, who takes students to the Navajo Nation as part of the Southwest Seminar.

The event is sponsored by the Department of Anthropology, the William James Forum, and the Douglass Cater Society of Junior Fellows.