I have read this over and over and I still don't get it! However, I might take a guess is the Dragon is protecting the voices of America. And whether or not someones opinions are right or wrong. THis is America. And we should be loyal to our new homeland and to our god that guided us here.

Prodigious means great extent size or degree.

When i first read this I was happy to learn he openly criticized the slave trade but very confused at the fact he wanted all Native Americans to be wiped from the earth. His encounterment with the Native Americans comes off as if they are ticks and they need to be history thats it. This man seems he has compassion but is confused at the same time because his problems with the Native Americans and their existence but he is against slavery? Or the slave trade? He is a Hippocrates.

Something to remember Ho'zho' is everywhere! Hozho can be with you at school, work, home or if your by yourself. Hozho means to walk in beauty. To walk in harmony everywhere you go in life. Hozho in Dine' Bahane' is where it all began. Dine' Creation story talks about the connection of living things becoming in this world. That is Hozho. Everything emerged in a beautiful and harmonizes way. Everything is sacred. That is Hozho. Walking in beauty. This is what was taught to me by my Shima' (Mom) and Saanii'( Grandmother).

I really love the story of Changing Woman. My Saanii Jeanette Reid, which is my Cheii' (Grandfather) sister. She was taught that we are the children of Asdzaa' Nadleehi (Changing Woman). She is a holy deity found on Gobernador Knob in New Mexico. She traveled all the way to the western edge of the Navajo Nation and resides where my family live. When girls get their period, they have a ceremony for it. Its called Kinaalda. Its a ceremony that is still practiced today on the Navajo reservation and is excusable for school if the girls have a ceremony. My sisters had theirs. And it is a four day ceremony and it is tough on the girls and their families! I remember my Shima',(Shima) Saanii's (grandmothers) and relatives making cake in the ground! Also, the girl has to stay up all night for maybe one night or two and has to chant with a medicine man! My sisters couldn't even eat for a whole day! Then the girl has to run as far as she can and once she can't run any longer she runs back. I'm can't rememeber when this means, but I think from my memory its means how long they will live in their life. It represents strength. I remember when I was a kid attending these ceremonies for my sisters and the last day we bought all these supplies and food. Pepsi, chips, and cookies! I couldn't wait till the ceremony was over because that means I could eat the Chips A'hoy Cookies! While my Shima' was done talking I can run over and eat those treats that have been taunting me all afternoon! This would be my own personal award for being so patience and a good sport about the whole ceremony. Remember! I was like 11 when my second oldest sister had her Kinaalda. And I just wanted those damn cookies! But to my huge disappointment!! My mother gave all those treats away! Including my one thing I wanted out of this whole experience! Haha I cried to my Shima' (mom) later asking her why she had to give away my cookies! She felt bad because she knew I was as restless as she was and promised me later she would buy me my own cookies! I can't remember if we ever did.

I'm name is Veronica and I'm Navajo and I was so excited that this is our first assignment! I'm a proud Navajo and learn everything that is Dine' (Navajo) from my Shima' (Mom). As far as the fourth world, from what I was taught by my Shima' their is also a fifth world! At the beginning of these readings it was stated that their are many different versions of the Navajo creation story, from what my Shima' (Mom) taught me their is a fifth world. Many of these stories especially the ones about the coyote, changing woman and first man and women are similar. For me I grew up in the city but my family and me traveled back and fourth to the reservation where my Sanii' (Grandmother) lived. Growing up Dine'( Navajo) in the city was very odd. I grew up not going to church or believing in a Western God but believing in the Holy people and Diyin ( God). My Shima' (mom) taught me that everything is alive. The sky, the wind, the soil and everything has a soul. Even insects. I was not taught in a Heaven or a Hell or that someone died for my sins. I was taught that to live in a state of Hozho. Meaning to walk in beauty. If my head and my heart are in a place of harmony that I have accomplished Hozho. Meaning to walk in beauty aka to walk in a happy place. When we die, we go back into the ground because this is where we started from and then we are reborn again as Dine'. In a way Western beliefs believe we live in another life but in heaven.