3 Review(s)

Dine identity in the twenty-first century is distinctive and personal. It is a mixture of traditions, customs, values, behaviours, technologies, worldviews, languages, and lifeways. It is a holistic experience. Dine identity is analogous to Dine weaving: like weaving, Dine identity intertwines all of life's elements together. In this important new book, Lloyd L. Lee, a citizen of the Navajo Nation and an associate professor of Native American studies, takes up and provides insight on the most essential of human questions: who are we? Finding value and meaning in the Dine way of life has always been a hallmark of Dine studies. Lee's Dine-centric approach to identity gives the reader a deep appreciation for the Dine way of life. Lee incorporates Dine baa hane' (Navajo history), Sa'a??h Naaghai Bik'eh Hozho??o??n (harmony), Dine Bizaad (language), K'e (relations), K'ei (clanship), and Nihi Keyah (land) to address the melding of past, present, and future that are the hallmarks of the Dine way of life. This study, informed by personal experience, offers an inclusive view of identity that is encompassing of cultural and historical diversity. To illustrate this, Lee shares a spectrum of Dine insights on what it means to be human. Dine Identity in a Twenty-First-Century World opens a productive conversation on the complexity of understanding and the richness of current Dine identities.