Aging in America- Our Heritage of Wisdom
a series of thirty-six pencil drawings by artist jim branscum

 

Mary Francisco was a typical Navajo woman. She had four children, raising them in the traditional Navajo way. In the matriarchal society of Navajo tradition, Mary was the head of the family, a sheep rancher and rug weaver. Mary is now a resident of The Little Sister’s of the Poor Home in Gallup, New Mexico. The Sisters at the home have an open heart and an open door policy that allows those in need to find comfort and shelter without regard for ability to pay. Residents are not required to be of the Catholic faith. The Sisters have a kindness of heart that seeks to fulfill all the needs of their residents- physical, emotional and spiritual. The home is modern, clean and filled with love. The Sisters also strive to recognize the humanity and dignity of each resident. I urge every reader of this passage to remember the home in their prayers and to send a financial donation. It will be appreciated by the Sisters and each resident of the home.

As a child, Mary sat on the earthen floor of a hogan and listened to stories of Kit Carson told by the elders who had lived through his "war against the sheep and the crops." In the land of the Navajo, Kit Carson was not the heroic "Indian Fighter" I had read of as a child. He was the leader who could not conquer the Navajo, so he destroyed their homes, killed their sheep, burned their crops and starved them into submission. The Navajo people were then forced to march to Fort Sumner, New Mexico. Mary was born just thirty-five years after "The Long Walk." the Navajo’s equivalent to the Cherokee Nation’s "Trail of Tears."

"Enlightened Americans" can now see the injustice of race or gender discrimination; however, while being respected as an elder by the Navajo Nation, the Dinéh (the People), Mary today faces a new form of discrimination by the rest of America that is equally unfair-- age discrimination. When we see the form of an older American without recognizing the contributions of their many years, we are each guilty of age discrimination. Other than death, we have only one option-- to grow old. We must change or be willing to experience that discrimination ourselves in our later years.