'Make Navajo cool again': Diné Bizaad adopted as Navajo Nation's official language

Dec. 30—The Navajo Nation will start 2025 with a new effort to preserve and spread the use of its native tongue.

President Buu Nygren signed legislation on Christmas Eve officially recognizing Diné Bizaad, the Navajo language, as the nation's official language.

"One of my priorities coming in as President has always been to make sure that we make Navajo cool again," Nygren said in a statement announcing the change.

He added, "It's exciting to see the work that's being done. And, so, I commend the Navajo Nation Council for doing that."

Diné Bizaad, the most widely spoken Native American language in the United States, has been spoken for generations and has been imbued with Navajo values since "time immemorial," the legislation states.

"As Dine, we are the image of our ancestors and we are created in connection with all creation," it states. "Upon our creation we are identified by: Our Diné name, Our clan, Our language, Our life way, Our shadow, Our footprints."

In addition to officially recognizing Diné Bizaad as the nation's official language, the legislation, sponsored by Navajo Nation Tribal Council Delegate Shawna Ann Claw, also tasks the tribal government with preserving and enhancing the role of the language, "encouraging greater opportunities for individuals to learn the Diné Bizaad."

The use of Diné Bizaad already has increased, data shows. According to the most recent census data, collected in 2019, more than 170,000 people speak the Navajo language at home, up from around 132,000 in 2000.

In a letter marking the signing of the legislation, Nygren noted the need to invest in language-learning opportunities. He urged delegates to put forward a "comprehensive budget for the rest of the Fiscal Year."

He also called for a stronger partnership with the Diné Language Teachers Association and language classes for Navajo judges.

"How do we put some dollars and resources behind it so that we can actually put a dent into teaching the language?" Nygren said in a statement. "I think in order to do that, we're going to need some dollars and resources actually allocated with this legislation."

At Salina Bookshelf — an independent publisher based in Flagstaff, Ariz., that specializes in Navajo/English dual language books as well as textbooks to teach the Navajo language in schools — the adoption of Diné Bizaad as an official language was welcome news to Louise Lockard.

The change, she said, could "give more recognition, perhaps, to what's already there and what's already thriving in many homes."

Lockard, a former teacher on the Navajo Nation and a college professor working with Navajo language teachers, compared the change to Hawaii's adoption of the Hawaiian language as an official language in 1978. The change, she said, brought more recognition to the islands' Indigenous language and culture.

"Tribal sovereignty is something to be celebrated, and language sovereignty is just a part of that," Lockard said.