Culture in Holbrook

Diversity is our Strength.

Demographics

Approximately 50% of the school district (gray section of map) is located on the Navajo Nation Indian Reservation (blue section). About the same percentage of our students live on the Reservation and attend one of our five schools. Roughly 65% of our entire student population is Native American.

Within the city limits of Holbrook the demographics adjust slightly with a more balanced percentage of Native Americans, Caucasians, and Hispanics. This diversity brings a wide variety and rich culture to Holbrook.

There is a higher level or poverty in Holbrook and surrounding areas. As a matter of fact, Navajo County, of which Holbrook is county seat, is ranked America's second poorest county second to our neighbor Apache County. Several of our students continue to live in traditional Navajo Hogans with no running water, electricity, or plumbing.

Accordingly, Holbrook Unified School District is a Title I district receiving additional federal funds to help meet the needs of a poverty stricken student population. In addition, Holbrook Unified School District is a Community Eligibility Provision district which qualifies all of our students to eat breakfast and lunch at no cost to them or their families.

We do not see any of these facts as hurdles in fulfilling our mission. They are our strength and we build off of them.

The Navajo - Diné

Yá'át'ééh "hello"

The Navajo culture and traditions are much geared towards their family life. Many of the Navajo Indian games and traditions were developed because of their love for land and their attachment to it. The games they play were mostly developed in the long winter nights when the reservation was secluded to amuse and entertain themselves.

The Navajo culture is big into ceremonies and rituals. Their performances are usually four days, two days, or one day. Although some chants could be as long as nine days and require dozens of helpers. The most important ceremonies are the ones for treatment of ills, mental and physical. The Navajo are also very big into nature, so almost every act of their life is a ceremony of nature, including their building of the hogan, or the planting of the crops. All the Navajo culture ceremonies are included with songs and prayers.

In the Navajo culture, color has many symbolic meanings. For an example a single color can have many different meanings, it all depends on the context in which the color is used. The four main colors used are black, white, yellow, and blue. As part of the Navajo culture and traditions, these colors define direction. Black is referred to as north, white represents east, blue represents south, and yellow is represented as west. The colors could also represent the time of day. Black could be referred to as night, White could be referred to as dawn, blue could be referred to as day, and yellow could be referred to as dusk. Source

The Hispanic/Latino

Hola "hello"

Hispanic and Latin Americans come from diverse social, economic, and geographic backgrounds making them all very different depending on their family heritage and national origin. However, there some cultural similarities that tend to bring these diverse backgrounds together.

One of the most common cultural characteristics of Hispanic American culture is the Spanish language. In 1980, there were roughly 11 million Spanish speakers in the U.S. representing 5% of the population. By 2012 the number of Spanish speakers increased to over 38 million, representing 13% of the U.S. population. Hispanic families often teach their children Spanish as a way of passing down their heritage and culture. This emphasis on bilingualism has helped revive the Spanish language in the U.S.

Hispanic and Latin American culture places a strong value on family. Hispanics and Latin Americans tend to have large, close-knit families. It is not uncommon for three generations to live in the same household or nearby each other. Grandparents typically play an important role in their grandchildren’s upbringing. The emphasis on the well-being of the family makes Hispanic and Latin Americans very group-oriented with family gatherings being commonplace. Source

Religion

There is wide variety in religion as well - congregations include The First Baptist Church, Assembly of God, Jehovah Witness, Methodist, Lutheran, Catholic, LDS (Mormon), Seventh Day Adventist and Pentecostal among others. To the extent you wish to worship there are options available to you.

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