Diné Nihi Kéyah Project
A project of Indian Country Grassroots Support
Mapping Navajo Nation land history, law and custom
In order to be self-sufficient, there must be informed engagement
This project gathers information in order to map laws and trace them to their origins. The goal is for Navajo Nation communities to have a whole foundation on which to envision the wellbeing of future generations through practicable reform.
The site was last revised on July 9, 2026.
In April, 2026, the Diné Nihi Keyah Project team, in collaboration with Navajo Family Voices, began collecting stories of mostly young parents across the Navajo Nation, reflecting their family experiences, challenges, and wishes for their families and communities on this reservation, our ancestral homeland.
For individual stories as they are posted, please click on each picture below. Thank you very much for reading all our stories.
When Words Change a Family
Tse Dáá K’áán
My brother had been misdiagnosed. The doctors apologized, but by then our family had already lived through panic, grief, confusion, fear, and sleepless nights. Even though my brother was going to live, the emotional weight we carried didn’t disappear overnight. That experience changed the way I see healthcare.
Finding My Way Back
Thoreau Chapter
I hope for the next generation that every child has a safe place to turn. Whether it’s a mentor, a community center, or simply someone who will listen, I believe every child deserves to know they are valued, supported, and never alone. My journey has taught me that healing is possible. I’m still finding my way home.
Survival, Addiction, and Finding Healing Through Culture
Shiprock Chapter, NM
Sweat lodges, prayer, elders, singing, dancing, beadwork, and drum-making all help reconnect people to who they are. Addiction makes people lose their identity. Culture helps restore that.
Community Briefing - ONGD Proposed Constitution
Duties of a Government Lawyer
Stalled in Transition: The "638 Contract" Navajo Nation Government
Blessing to open the project
Let there be beauty from here my mother earth, my blue heaven, the sun. Let there be beauty extended from all the holy ones. From here this morning we will be speaking to one another. Hear the planning we speak on, for the things we need. For this reason we are doing this, take heed to them. Please my mother earth, blue heaven, and holy ones. Each and every one of us we have our homes, acknowledge them. We are your children. From here, according to what we are capable of, we talk about planning and thinking with relationships as we speak, acknowledging each other with empathy, with love. Recognize us. Make it possible for us to walk on a straight corn pollen road. These things we plea for. We are thankful for our lives. We are certain, with our thinking and planning, good will materialize in the future, even if small. This way I say my prayer from all directions. Let there be beauty from the east, from the south, from the west, from the north and from the center of the earth and from everywhere there is holiness. Beauty exists again, beauty exists again, beauty exists again, beauty exists again.