Peter MacDonald, former Navajo Nation chairman and the youngest surviving Navajo code talker, shared his memories, and more importantly, his wisdom to a standing-room only crowd at the Farmington Public Library in January. MacDonald celebrated 95 years of life the month before. He told of his enlistment at age 15 into the U.S. Marines during WWII, along with his long experience later as the tribal chairman.

In regard to the current political ugliness, he favors colorlessness. No red states, no blue states, No purple states, etc. He emphasized the necessity of identifying a problem, generating a plan to address the problem, then all acting in unity toward the solution. Division was not an option.

He reminded the audience that disharmony is not the Native way. Beauty and harmony, long valued virtues of his people, must be prioritized. His elders knew this, yet much more recently, the poison of color identification with politics prevents the natural state of things both in his neighborhood in Northern Arizona and across the U.S.

The current political environment violates the sacred beliefs of his ancestors. I left the lecture in full agreement with the sage and warrior.

Joe Hubbard

Aztec