Through Time and Space: Placeknowing and Arts at Diné College

ABSTRACT

Tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) across North America are located in communities grappling with the economic devastation caused by the coronavirus outbreak. The pandemic has intensified the stress on many Native communities already struggling with issues of economic sustainability and public health. Yet COVID-19--or "Dikos Nitsaaígíí-19"--has hit the Navajo Nation especially hard. According to CNN, by the late fall of 2020 almost one in 12 people in the Navajo Nation had contracted the virus. This article describes how Diné College in Arizona has responded to the pandemic crisis by focusing on the role of Navajo art and artists in addressing issues of community health and sustainability. In 2018, the college took the step of expanding its arts curriculum to include a four-year Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. In inaugurating the BFA program, the college's School of Arts, Humanities, and English (SAHE) has sought to deepen involvement in documenting and encouraging the practice of both traditional and contemporary Native arts in the Navajo Nation. This goal is based on the value of perpetuating Navajo traditions through communal participation and absorption of the arts. [The article was written with assistance from Theodore Jojola, Michaela Paulette Shirley, Latoya Largo, Kayla Jackson, and Paul Willeto.]