Translation

In an oral history interview from the Ecological Oral Histories Course (MLS 599) Collection, northern Arizona resident Katherine A. Smith discusses herding sheep, the impacts of Anglo settlers and development, land disputes and relocation, along with centuries of environmental damages in the region. Answering questions from interviewer (and daughter) Marie Gladue about ecological changes, Smith often turns to metaphor:

You see, the lands have no rain I have said. The mountain that is lying down its liver is being dug out and is beginning to suffer, and maybe that is why there is no rain.

At other times her narrative may appear controversial:

The white race is now filling up in great numbers and is engulfing us. From where they came is unknown. They are the only ones who have yielded its population all across the mass of the United States. They are overcrowding this mass area and as for the indigenous nations, the growing population is engulfing upon their space and this is widespread. Some regions they [indigenous populations] probably had their lands allocated away from them.

Many patrons might normally find the interview, conducted in Dineh, inaccessible, but Special Collections staff translated and transcribed it into English to present Smith's views to a wider audience.


Next Back