An event aimed at preserving the stories of a resilient people will be the focus of an afternoon program at the Aztec Museum and Pioneer Village on Saturday, May 18.
Beginning at noon, there will be a special presentation by journalist Debi Tracy Olsen about the importance of oral histories to the story of the Navajo Long Walk. Followed by an opportunity for Navajo people to share their stories in a StoryCorps style recording to be stored in the Library of Congress to be preserved for future generations.
In the early 1990s, Olsen was put in charge of a 26-week-long series detailing the Navajo Long Walk for the local newspaper in Farmington. Winner of the New Mexico Press Association Award for Investigative Journalism in 1992, the series was also nominated, but did not win, the Pulitzer Prize.
It was during research for the series that Olsen learned from local historians about the importance of oral histories made in the 1940s for preserving the Navajo side of the story. Upon returning to the Four Corners region in 2022, and as a member of the museum’s board of directors, Olsen saw a need to preserve the stories of elder Navajos, several generations of survivor descendants, about their culture and way of life.
Attending recent local history-focused presentations, Olsen saw an openness and willingness upon the part of some Navajos to share and preserve some of their stories.
StoryCorps is a national nonprofit with a mission to preserve and share humanity’s stories in order to build connections between people and create a more just and compassionate world. They work toward this by offering people the space and time to come together, share important memories and have their conversations preserved.
A StoryCorps interview is an opportunity to record an uninterrupted, intentional conversation with someone about anything, from favorite memories to important life questions.
“We are far from the first in the local area to work on recording oral histories,” explained Olsen. There are some things that are different about this type of recording session. This is a short, 30-minute recording of a conversation between two people about a subject of their choosing, usually a short question along the lines of: “Where did you grow up?” “Who was the most important person in your life?” or “What was your favorite tradition as a child?”
The conversations are then stored in a searchable database to be accessed by anyone and stored at the Library of Congress.
People can choose to share anything they like. Often the recording is of a younger person (minimum age of 13) asking an elder person a chosen question. What the question will be is discussed beforehand so the respondent will have time to consider their answer, especially in light of a 30-minute time limit.
“These are not intended to be stories of the Long Walk period,” Olsen said. “Those stories were told and recorded by some of the people who lived it, and it provided a valuable historical record.”
This event is different. “This is intended to be the voice of resiliency, the generations that followed the Long Walk reestablishing a Navajo way of life on Navajo homeland,” Olsen said.
“For all of us, all cultures, our previous way of life is fading. Now is a good time to record the stories of the descendants of the survivors of the Navajo Long Walk,” Olsen said.
StoryCorps is the largest collection of human voices in the world. “We want to take an opportunity to add the stories of the Dine to the rich tapestry of human voices collected at the Library of Congress,” said Joan Monninger, executive director of the museum.
There will be five separate stations to record Navajo stories beginning at 1 p.m. in various buildings throughout the Village. Four of the stations will be occupied by people who call ahead and schedule a recording time and receive verbal instructions and tips. One station will be left open to accommodate anyone who suddenly wishes to do a recording, but it is best to preregister as we cannot guarantee enough time that day for someone walking in.
It is not required to do a recording to attend the presentation. Following the first presentation there will be a fry bread demonstration, as fry bread is so deeply tied to the Long Walk and has been claimed by the Navajos as yet another badge of resiliency.
To schedule a time to record or just to find out more, please call the museum at 505-334-9829. Leave your name and telephone number and Olsen will get back to you within 48 hours (usually sooner).
The Aztec Museum thanks its 60th anniversary sponsors for making this event possible.
