Navajo Mormon Integration
I was listening to something on XM radio the other day, besides Rachel Maddow, and the host was exploring Native American music. And it was playing in the background and I had a lovely, yet weird, memory from my teen years.
I grew up in Las Vegas in the good old days; in the 70s when the mob ran it, before it turned into Disneyland. And I was Mormon at the time. And I remember that one day in my Mormon teenage years, a Navajo teen came to stay with a family in the ward. His name was Danny B. And all of my friends wanted him. He was exotic.
My friends Wendy and Shelly fought over him for the two years he was in the ward, staying with a member of the bishopric’s family. I pretended to want him, although I didn’t. I pretended to like guys whenever a friend would say, “how come you never like any guys,” and then I would point to the closest one around and say I had a crush on him. I didn’t of course. But I also didn’t realize at the time I was a lesbian and thus, the total lack of interest in any of the hot dudes.
The Mormon church had some program going on at the time where they would bring Native American youth from reservations and place them in upstanding white Mormon families. I guess to try and integrate them into “normal” society? Not sure. I haven’t been able to find a lot about the program in my research.
But hearing the background music on XM reminded me of a song that Danny B. taught us all at a church overnighter. I can still remember the song in Navajo (probably completely wrong by now) but don’t know how to spell a single word. It was beautiful. In English, it was something like:
I walk in beauty. Yes I do. Yes I do.
I talk in beauty. Yes I do. Yes I do.
I sing of beauty. Just for you and only you.
Hey yah hey hah hee yo.
I wonder if two years in a Mormon household saved Danny from a life of gambling casinos and alcohol. I have no clue what happened to Danny after he left. I hope is is well. I know Wendy married a Mormon man with four kids, and Shelly turned out to be a lesbian, and I recently reconnected with her online. She is happily married to a great woman and still living in Nevada.
Ah, the good old days.
What a great story. It would be a great project to find out what happened to him and others who were in his situation. Would make a great documentary, to see how they felt about the program and how it affected their lives.