Yá’át’ééh shi Dine’é, shi’kéh, dóó táhanołtso! Shi’eiya Lorne James yinishyé. ’Áshįįhí nishłį́, dóó Kinyaa’áanii báshíshchiin. Tódích’íi’nii dashíchei dóó Kinyaa’áanii dashínáłí.
English translation: I am Lorne James, 2005 is when I learned I was HIV-positive. I was born for my mother’s clan, The Salt People (’Áshįįhí) and born into my father’s mother’s clan, The Towering House People (Kinyaa’áanii). My grandfather was born for the Bitter Water People (Tódích’íi’nii) and my paternal grandmother’s clan is The Towering House People (Kinyaa’áanii). This is who I am as a Navajo Diné person. In Diné [Navajo] culture, every person has four clans in the following order: the mother’s first clan, the father’s first clan, the maternal grandfather’s first clan, and the paternal grandfather’s first clan. The clan system was Changing Woman’s way of telling the Diné People that this will allow you to be who you are.
Navajo Blessing Prayer for all:
As the Bluebird sings at dawn, I breathe in the cool, clean air to nourish my spirit. As I stand towards east to offer my corn pollen, I ask Mother Earth and Father Sky to rejuvenate my spiritual, physical, mental, and emotional health. Through the blessings of harmony and balance from the Holy People, I shall Walk in Beauty of love and happiness. This blessing shall always restore unity of my family and community. Hózhó Náhásdlíí- As I walk with Beauty, the universe is walking with me, in beauty it walks before me, in beauty it walks behind me, in beauty it walks below me, in beauty it walks above me. Beauty is on every side.
