Flight Training - October 2013 - 25

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Navajo dress with their mortarboards.
The salutatorian and valedictorian prefaced their speeches by introducing their
maternal and paternal clans in the Navajo
language. Following celebratory hugs and
photos, we adjourned to Val’s house.
The next morning we sampled such
Diné delicacies as blue corn mush and
mutton ribs at the hotel breakfast, then
joined family and friends preparing the
reception feast. Although Tyler’s promised
traditional lamb slaughter never materialized, we still got a taste of Navajo cookery.
An uncle burned wood in a half-barrel,
shoveling the resulting coals into grills
cooking steaks and corn. To much laughter, Tyler’s grandmother, Leslie, taught
Jean to slap, flatten, and grill Navajo bread.
At such a happy occasion, it’s easy to
forget that life on the “Rez” has never been
easy. While shucking homegrown corn
from Leslie’s remote hometown of Piñon,
I learned that her relatives still water such
crops by hand from barrels. And upon
asking about her graduation, I learned that
she’d missed that opportunity because
Piñon had no high school when she was a
child. The Indian boarding school system
still existed back then, and whenever
unknown riders approached, her parents
had hidden Leslie and her sister in burlap
bags so they wouldn’t be forcibly removed
to faraway Phoenix or Albuquerque. No
wonder Leslie is enthused about her
grandson’s blossoming future.
We loaded the food into pickup trucks
and delivered it to the reception. We
toasted Tyler’s accomplishments with
iced tea and lemonade. A viola-decorated
graduation cake reflected his passion for
music along with piloting.
The Flying Carpet roared to life that
evening with proper vigor. Treasured gifts
of a Native pot and jewelry occupied our
backseat. With our hearts brimming at
Tyler’s accomplishments and the generous
warmth of his family, Jean and I soared
homeward into a golden Navajo Nation
sunset.
Greg Brown is an aviation author, photographer,
and former National Flight Instructor of the Year.
Visit his website (www.gregbrownflyingcarpet).

OCTOBER 2013 FLIGHT TRAINING

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Flight Training - October 2013

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