{"id":1576,"date":"2013-02-12T14:03:01","date_gmt":"2013-02-12T19:03:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/navajopeople.org\/blog\/?p=1576"},"modified":"2013-02-12T14:06:45","modified_gmt":"2013-02-12T19:06:45","slug":"dr-wilson-aronilth-jr-navajo-teacher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/navajopeople.org\/blog\/dr-wilson-aronilth-jr-navajo-teacher\/","title":{"rendered":"Dr. WIlson Aronilth Jr. Navajo Teacher"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\u00a0Navajo Oral History Project –\u00a0<\/span>Photos and Video 2009<\/span><\/h1>\n

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\"Dr.<\/a><\/h1>\n

Photo by Tom Grier\/Navajo Oral History Project.<\/em><\/p>\n

“Forever will I teach”<\/h2>\n

By Jessica Larsen<\/strong><\/p>\n

WHEATFIELD, Ariz. \u2014 He took his first step into the room. There was no turning back.<\/p>\n

With one more step he was met with eyes \u2013 24 pairs of them.<\/p>\n

This was it, his first classroom.<\/p>\n

No curriculum, no books, no idea what to teach.<\/p>\n

The futures these students rested on the shoulders of a man who never once considered teaching.<\/p>\n

His name is Wilson Aronilth Jr. He was born on the Navajo Reservation in 1933 in the back of a Model-T truck. Aronilth never thought he would become one of the most respected teachers at Dine College and one of the key designers of the school curriculum.<\/p>\n

To get there, Aronilth had to become a student himself.<\/p>\n

\"Dr.
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

Photo by Tom Grier\/Navajo Oral History Project.<\/em><\/p>\n

Aronilth was born for his maternal grandmother the Red House Clan, and for his paternal grandmother, Zuni Red Streak Running into the Water Clan, for his maternal grandfather, Near the Water clan, and for his paternal grandfather, the Under the Sleeve clan.<\/p>\n

Education had always been important to Aronilth; he learned that through his mother. When he was born, his mother decided the best way to provide for her son was by getting a higher education for herself. She gave her son to his grandmother when he was five days old. His grandmother taught him all he needed to know about manhood, being Navajo and marriage.
\nHe and his wife have been married for 54 years through an arranged marriage. Together they had four children – Veronica, Lawrence, Cynthia, Pat and adopted son Louie – 14 grand-children and seven great-grandchildren.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe made a lot of adjustments, that\u2019s why I say my life wasn\u2019t jolly and sweet and lovable all the way,\u201d Aronilth said. \u201cI feel like if you were to evaluate my marriage from my perspective, about 98 percent of my married life was enjoyable and good. We practically raised one another because we got married at a young age. I was 22 years old, she was only about 18.\u201d<\/p>\n

Being Navajo meant Aronilth and his family had to make sacrifices \u2013 and he knew it. Living on the reservation meant forfeiting the chance for a better education because of the little availability. Students were giving up knowledge by choosing to stay where their heritage was versus going off the reservation for school. Aronilth wanted to change that, all he needed was the opportunity.<\/p>\n

Aronilth clearly remembers the day he was asked to teach at Dine College, it was 1969 – a day that changed his life forever.<\/p>\n

Ned Hatathi, a college official, asked Aronilth to teach Navajo culture to the students at the college.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know anything about teaching as far as classroom involvement,\u201d Aronilth said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I\u2019m not asking if you went to school to be an educator,\u201d Hatathi said. \u201cI think you are an educator in your own way. So teach Navajo culture, knowledge and history the way you were taught.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Aronilth did.
\nFeature layout by Winona State University students Jessica Larsen and Kim Streblow
\nHis grandmother told him self-clan introduction is very important. You never know who you are related to, she would say.
\nSo Aronilth started with that.<\/p>\n

\u201cProbably the most important thing that I learned in his class was how to properly introduce myself in Navajo with my clans,\u201d said Miranda Haskie, former student of Aronilth and current colleague at Dine College. \u201cAnd from that moment\u2026every time that I met anyone, I introduced myself to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Haskie\u2019s first day class, she learned Aronilth was her grandfather by clan.
\nNow that Aronilth had taught his students the most important lesson, clan introduction, he needed to go deeper into Navajo teachings. He needed books \u2013 something the school did not have.<\/p>\n

So Aronilth took matters into his own hands. He wrote six books, three of which are still used in classes today. His first, \u201cFoundations of a Navajo Culture,\u201d was to teach the students where they came from and who they are. Also, \u201cNavajo Philosophy\u201d and \u201cNavajo Holistic Healing,\u201d to go deeper into teachings that have been taught for years.<\/p>\n

All of his books were written based on teachings that were passed down from his ancestors. That is the Navajo way.
\nHe received a very small profit from his books, but he never cared about the money. It was his passion for Navajo culture that he wanted to spread and this was the only way he knew how.<\/p>\n

Aronilth believes in the younger generations. He knows they are the future and he wants that future to be a promising one.
\nThat is why he took the job. For some of these students, few believed they could make it to college. And Aronilth couldn\u2019t let them quit.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re my generation, you\u2019re my children, you\u2019re my future leaders, and you are my flesh and blood,\u201d he would say to them. \u201cI\u2019m here to try and do what I can to support you and to give a little advice or guidance in your life in the way of education. I think you\u2019re unique, special and intelligent.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dr.<\/a><\/p>\n

Photo by Tom Grier\/Navajo Oral History Project.<\/em><\/p>\n

Aronilth is credited with building a majority of the Dine College curriculum. At 76, Aronilth is still teaching and writing books. Although he is retired, Aronilth plans to stay at the college until he can no longer teach. His mission is to share the knowledge he has, while he knows it is only one perspective in a world of many.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy knowledge is smaller than a mustard seed,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t know everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aronilth\u2019s humble, Navajo up-bringing is what his family and friends know him most for.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s the real McCoy,\u201d Louie Barton said, Aronilth\u2019s adopted son. \u201cHe\u2019s the genuine\u2026a Dine, a Navajo. He has come a long ways, up to the point where you can say he\u2019s a man, he\u2019s a warrior.\u201d<\/p>\n

..End
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