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The importance of learning about people from other cultures comes down to the fact that we all have a unique story. No matter where you come from or what background you are a part of, you should be proud of where you come from and who you are. Similarly, if you learn about someone from a different culture and you get to know them better, you can learn how to appreciate them.

Naomi Begay understands the importance of both of these ideas. As a Navajo on GV’s campus, Naomi is fiercely proud of her culture and eager to learn about others. However, she worries others on campus don’t feel the same way.

Students and staff that are subscribed to GVU all-campus emails got an email on Friday, February 15, from Begay. In this email, she wrote about how she is a Navajo woman, and while wearing her traditional moccasins to class many people made fun of them. She then went on to explain her culture and the significance of the moccasins.

After this email got sent, Randall Pauling, an online professor at Grand View, responded promptly with an apology for the insults from people on campus. In his email, Pauling said, “We support and affirm you.”

Begay sat down with Viewfinder reporters to tell us more about her culture. “I was born in Keams Canyon, Arizona,” Begay said.

She is a full blood Navajo, and her upbringing was very different from what most GV students grew up with. She said that her home is in a rural area with the closest town about 50 miles away, and the closest store about 30 miles away. Residents can see the stars, dirt roads, as well as animals such as horses, sheep and cattle.

“You can see another family herding their sheep on the side of the road,” Begay said.

Begay said grandmother is very strict and doesn’t speak English. Her father is a Navajo medicine man who is well known within the tribe. He is a Navajo culture and language teacher, which puts a lot of pressure on Naomi to do well. It also puts pressure on her to be able to inform others about her culture. Naomi went to a public high school that was more than 90 percent Native American and that includes classes about the Navajo culture within the curriculum. Courses include topics such as Navajo language and government.

One of the most important things to Begay from her culture would be the clothing. There are several important pieces of clothing that helped make Begay the person she is today, someone who is proud of her culture.

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The first article of clothing she mentioned is called a Concho Belt, which is a span of silver and turquoise.

“Jewelry like these are made by a Navajo silversmith,” Begay said. “We usually wear silver and turquoise because when we walk out, the sun is shining on it. It is how the holy people see us. It has an arrowhead and mountain lion claw on it, and it has these ghost beads on it. The ghost beads mean to think clearly and not have negativity. This is for defense and protection. My father and my mom gathered me and my sister up, and they were like, ‘Grab a string, and start making a necklace for your brother or your sister or for me.’ So we could not make our own necklace; we had to make it for one of the other (family members).”.

Begay said that the beaded necklace has significant meaning to her as well. The turquoise is the same as it is in the belt, and the Abalone Shell on the necklace is a sign for peace.

As for the dress, a long time ago, the Navajo people wore clothing made out of buckskin or clothing that they had made. When they were captured by the Spaniards, much of the clothing got taken away from them.

“They told us to never wear something like this, and that is why we have the really long skirt, but it’s still kind of a good thing because Navajos praise being covered and being woman-like and not showing too many body parts,” Begay said. “My grandmother still makes (the dresses). She still wears clothes like this.”

Begay said many at Grand View don’t understand the significance of the clothing and that some have disrespected her culture.

“(People) questioned my low income and being poor and they said something about ‘does she have any other pairs of shoes?’” Begay said. “They think that my shoes are dirty and hand-made. They think that my whole culture is dirty.”

Begay said students sometimes also struggle to understand her habits and customs.

“It’s also weird to people here that I pray because I have to wake up early in the morning before the sun rises because that is when we pray. Instead of using holy water, we use corn pollen that has had a ceremony over it from a special bag. There are also four miniature horses in this bag, and their colors are black, blue, yellow, and white. Those colors represent our four sacred mountains and the four sacred colors. When we pray, we have to face the east when the sun is coming up. So when we do pray, we take a little bit of the corn pollen that is in the bag and put it in our mouths and on our head.”

Begay said she is also more reserved by nature and that she sometimes finds it difficult to stand up for herself.

“I’m very quiet, and that is something that relates to my culture,” Begay said. “In the Navajo tradition, it’s kind of rude to let yourself out there; it’s (like) bragging about yourself. So speaking in my classes is kind of difficult because that is something that I was taught.”

Alex Piedras is the multicultural director at Grand View University. His role is to make sure that all students, no matter their background, feel the need to learn about one other. He said that when he saw Begay’s email it upset him that someone at Grand View would make her feel unwelcome here. Piedras sent an email to Begay to reassure her that this is a welcoming environment for all, where we all can coexist with one another.

Piedras said that he and the multicultural outreach programs try to reach out to all students to make sure they feel welcome and connected. One of the biggest ways that students can be exposed to diversity is to join one of the various clubs and organizations on campus.

“Different clubs talk about diversity,” Piedras said. “Pride, Black Student Union, Diversity Alliance (and) programs about diversity invite students to be exposed to culture.”

“These clubs are not only meant to support students from (a particular) ethnic background but also to welcome others and share cultural information that will make us all better as a community,” Piedras said.

One of our biggest weaknesses as a community when being accepting of multicultural students at Grand View is lack of empathy, Piedras said. Students will see these diversity and multicultural clubs and will not participate because they believe it is not for them, and they do not want to go out of their comfort zone. Piedras invited everyone on campus to challenge themselves to attend an event for one of these groups. He said that we can improve ourselves by talking to each other and learning about differences as well as what we might have in common.

Cooper Thomas, a GV student, said we can all do more to become aware and accepting of people from different cultures.

“Diversity, is an important thing because you should never limit the type of people that you talk with or become friends with,” Thomas said.

Another GV student, Elly Priddy, said that this is the most diverse university that she has seen and that GV does a good job of bringing in these students.

“(Diversity) helps everyone grow into better human beings by being more understanding of people around them,” Priddy said.

Student Justin Portillo said that we should all be proud of our different backgrounds. Some people are afraid to be themselves, and Portillo said it hurts him to see that.

“It is a beautiful thing that everyone is so completely different and that we all go to this one school in Des Moines,” Portillo said. “It’s cool to meet different types of people. I love doing that, so I would say that diversity is extremely important. It is important to have a diverse campus because that promotes learning. You learn about different cultures, (which) makes you a better person.”

Begay said that if anyone wants to learn more about her culture, “it’s on them to be open-minded about it, and to really understand the depth of (our) culture and why we think that way and why we do things the way that we do.”

Begay also said she welcomes emails regarding questions about her culture. You can contact her at naomi.begay@grandview.edu.