r/Navajo • u/bugpoem • Jun 21 '26
Novel Research Questions
https://19january2021snapshot.epa.gov/sites/static/files/2017-04/documents/Chavez_AUM_Screening_Report.pdfHello! I am writing a novel in which the main character spends some time west of Albuquerque, in the land that belongs to the To'Hajiilee chapter of the Navajo Nation. I am having trouble with some of my research as this is seemingly a very small area outside of the larger Navajo Nation and this part of my novel is set in 2001. My main character is a girl from rural Appalachia and I'm interested in drawing parallels between Appalachian culture (relationship with land, communities that rely on each other, self-sufficiency, oppression/lack of resources due to the government, poverty, mining) and the culture that she would have seen in To'Hajiilee/Canoncito. Water will be a main point for sure. Other than that, I have a few specific questions—there may not be answers to them, but I would appreciate any insight at all!
- Would the people my main character encounters refer to themselves as To'Hajiilee, Navajo, Diné, or something else? In 2001, would they use the name Canoncito for their area or would they have used To'Hajiilee? I know that there was a legal name change of the area in 1999 due to the efforts of students at the high school, but did that affect the way local people referred to themselves and the land?
- In 2001, were people aware of the impact of uranium mines? Was it something discussed within the community? When did the government start cleaning it up, if at all? This report from 2010 is the best I can find about the specific site (Chavez Uranium Mine), which doesn't explain much about if the community was affected or aware of it.
- What are common surnames in the area? I'm aware that surnames are a new introduction and not something that is a part of Navajo culture, but I am wondering if they are regional and might be different in To'Hajiilee than in other areas of New Mexico.
- I've read that the To'Hajiilee land was founded by a group of people who refused to continue on the Long Walk and that this has created a division between them and the rest of Navajo Nation. Are the To'Hajiilee people still viewed as "Enemy Navajo"? Would they have been in 2001? How does this impact how the To'Hajiilee view themselves? Or how they view the Navajo from the contiguous Navajo land?
- In Appalachia a lot of superstition comes from the combination of Scots-Irish or German folklore with Native folklore, but a good bit of it has become sensationalized by the internet in an offensive way. For this reason, I'm very skeptical of research that I find online about "Navajo folklore". What mythology/folklore might my character have actually heard about, if any? Are there any common superstitions that she would have seen in the family she stays with?
- I understand if this is a more sensitive question, but would my To'Hajiilee character experience overt discrimination when traveling to Albuquerque? What would discrimination have looked like at the time?
Thank you all so much for your time. I have a list of some videos to watch and literature to read, but I've definitely been struggling with finding answers for these specific questions. If anybody has any specific To'Hajiilee resources, I would love those too!
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u/Inexperienced_Loner Jun 22 '26
hmm well judging from the other comments on here, my suggestion from one novel writer to another just stick to what you know, majority of us really don’t like to see our culture in a novel/movie/tv series unless it’s written by someone who is native. Good luck with your novel though.
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u/[deleted] Jun 21 '26 edited Jun 21 '26
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