COMMUNITY PROGRAMS

We offer free Nihok'aa Diyin Dine'e (holy surface people/Navajo) workshops taught by local traditional builders, Nááts'íilid Initiative team members, and Navajo entities. Our mission is to keep these communal practices thriving within nihikéyah (Navajo homelands/communities) for the present and future generations. We invite Diné artisans and craftspeople to teach local building techniques such as earthen plastering, earthen building, cob oven construction, Indigenous approaches to water harvesting and resource/material gathering, and home maintenance and repair. These workshops foster interpersonal connections and relationships between humans and the built environment. NI also recognizes perspectives and knowledge systems by non-Nihok’aa Diyin Dine’é. We invite these knowledge keepers to be advisors as well. This perpetuates reciprocity, cultural resilience, and adaptation akin to the intersection of traditional and contemporary lifestyles. In addition to hands-on, in-person workshops/training, and we offer virtual webinars at the Dennehotso, Chilchinbeto, and Kayenta Chapter Houses on procuring home site leases.