Preparing for Adulthood Through Ceremony 

Told by Larry Jackson, Jr.

Transcribed by Urbina Yazzie & Rhonda Barbone 

Kinaaldá is a central part of our culture and heritage. Somewhere in a young woman’s lifetime change will happen to your body, and that is called kin naasdaʼ, meaning when a female reaches puberty and she gets blessed with Alkąąd’ (corn cake mixture). The preparation of making the cake is called Alkąąd’. When a young man reaches puberty, in Navajo it’s called bizhíí yiizyeh; marrying his voice, to connect and make one, to make it whole. In this sense, his voice will change. That’s when they build a táchééh (sweatlodge). For young men, they must run to be agile, to move quickly and easily, and to be athletic. This is also tied to the ability to think quickly.

Within each ceremony for the male and female there are prayers. With the female kinaaldá, it seems as if its already set up, like the process has already been laid out and people are more familiar with the process and activities during the ceremony. However, for the males there is a lack here and there. Perhaps some of the preparation they have fallen behind and not practiced as much but, in some areas, very few people still practice for young men. In some areas, they are just forgotten. This maybe the case but the táchééh is where the connection comes in—to build the táchééh and the fire for the male ceremony. 

Leading The Way Vol. 23 No. 8