Youth Navajoland Pilgrimage
The Diocese of Pennsylvania sent 32 youth and adults leaders from 7 different churches to The Episcopal Diocese of Navajoland for a 12-day pilgrimage. Archie Cotter and Mackenzie Alexander are full of gratitude for the support and prayers from all of you at Christ Church and for this opportunity for spiritual growth and relationship building. We are deeply thankful for our hosts at the Episcopal Diocese of Navajoland that took time to share their stories, teach us about Diné spirituality, and welcomed us into sacred spaces.
We began our trip in Albuquerque New Mexico, where the full group had lunch with Bishop Guiterrez who blessed us on our way. In smaller groups, we spread out over Navajoland. Yellow Group started in Bluff, Utah at St. Christopher’s Mission where we assisted Father Joe Hubbard with demolition, yard work, spent lots of time moving desert sand at St. Mary’s in the Moonlight. We got to sightsee Valley of the Gods and Goosenecks State Park before jumping into the San Juan River for a swim.
On our way to Arizona, we stopped at the Four Corners Monument and got Navajo Tacos. At The Good Shepard Mission in Arizona, our time was spent creating and distributing resource boxes, cooking a community meal, and yard work. We were able to visit a Pow Wow (twice!), a native ceremony with dancing, singing, and food, which was incredibly special to witness. Our host, Father Leon Sampson, led us in a Sunrise Ceremony where we did a Corn Pollen Blessing and led us through the Navajo Nation Museum.
Next, we traveled to Farmington, New Mexico (the area our pumpkin come from) and stayed at All Saints where we assisted with an everything-is-free yard sale and cleaned the grounds of St. Luke’s Cemetary. Here we were able to learn from Canon Cornelia Eton more in-depth how Dine sacredness is incorporated into the Episcopal tradition.
At each site, we sat at the feet of storytellers and listened deeply. Our hearts have been moved and our expression of God has been widened. The youth have also built strong ties with one another after endless hours of car karaoke, preparing meals together, and working on projects as a team. After the summer months, Archie and Mackenzie will host a conversation with the parish about our experience and we hope you can join us.
I think that this trip changed me because I have become a lot more confident in myself as a person. Just from being the only one, the only kid from my church coming here, when I first got off the plane I did not know anyone here. I was like,why am I even doing this? But now, I am so glad that I have done it because I have become so much more confident in my ability to approach people and meet new people. Not just the people in my group, but the people in the communities that we went to and talked to and learned from. I think that confidence is the main change in me. Overall I have become more confident in myself, in my abilities, and become more confident in my faith.
Archie Cotter, taken from DioPa Instagram youth testimonial videos