yes!! $450 dollars has now been raised!
this post has nearly matched $1 for every interaction, which is amazing, and also we could do even more! i thought i would add more information to this post that’s linked in the fundraiser about who you would be supporting by donating:
A personal story from Rena Babbit-Lane, a Dine’ elder and master weaver
I was born on 10/30/1922 on Black Mesa. I am traditional Dine’ (Navajo). I speak Navajo and do not speak, read or write English. I never went to school. I started to learn how to weave when I was 6 years old. I learned by watching my mother and grandmother and imitating their designs. I also asked a lot of questions. I began giving my mother rugs to sell when I was 6 years old. I never went to the store. I stayed at home to do chores. The rugs took me time to weave. As I got older, I improved my skills.
There were no stores like we have these days. We traveled on horse and wagons. We had trading posts that were far away and we traded for what we needed. We did not get paid in cash for rugs. We got food and other items. We lived in sheep camps and set up loom stands under the trees that we made with any kind of branch or cedar post even though it was crooked. When we finished our rugs we moved somewhere else and was always working on rugs and herding sheep.
In the Spring time we sheared our sheep. Before I weave a rug, I know how much I need to card, spin and dye. Then, when I get enough wool I am ready to weave and I start weaving in any season. Weaving is my life. I enjoy weaving, using traditional designs and creating my own designs. My daughters Zena and Mary both weave. We support ourselves through our weavings.
We used to have a big herd, about 300-400 sheep. We had a lot of grazing and a lot of rain. Now we only have a few sheep and the ground is dry. There is no rain. We live on top of the Mesa along the route of Peabody Coal Company Black Mesa pipeline. They took over 40 billion gallons of our only source of drinking water to carry coal to light up Las Vegas. Our surface springs have run dry and we have to travel 25 miles each way to get water. Sometimes our truck breaks down due to the rough steep dirt roads. We need water to survive. That is why we say Tó éí ííná át'é, Water is life.
The Problem
Thousands of Dine’ (Navajo) and Hopi households haul water from distant wells. Lack of water is even more critical during the Covid-19 pandemic, when tribal communities are being impacted at one of the highest rates in the nation. This project will focus on the emergency water needs of families in several Dine’ and Hopi communities in Arizona.
By donating, you will support the urgent needs for drinking water and Covid prevention for Rena, her family, and their community, whose lands have already been severely impacted by mining and desertification due to climate change.
