VIDBE-Q 2025 Volume 70 Issue 4
during Camp and to take home, to assure adequate water intake is easily
accomplished.
Water is life on the Navajo reservation. It is sacred and demands respect.
Families are careful with every drop as many must haul water to their homes.
Navajo staff and student athletes may be seen saying a prayer when crossing over
water. Others will ask for protection when recreating in water. Staff are
encouraged to be respectful of water and not to waste it by throwing it on
pavement or dirt, but rather to walk over to a tree or bush and deposit the water
there.
Finally, at the end of the cultural presentation, staff are urged to be
respectful of the land and the people they meet. They are reminded they are guests
of the Navajo Nation. Many of the sites we visit are sacred, and some areas of the
reservation are off limits to non-natives.
Activities Selected to Reflect the Needs and Interests of the Navajo Student
Athletes
The scarcity of public pools and formal swimming lessons on the reservation
means many children do not learn how to swim, resulting in disproportionately high
drowning rates. Up to age thirty, drowning death rates for Native populations are
twice as high as for non-Natives (Clemens, 2021). Increased access to basic
swimming and water safety skills training can save lives. The Center for Disease
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