Laura Bush advocates Native language revitalization

[Richard LaFortune]

First Lady Laura Bush advocate of Native American
Language Revitalization

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/05/20030508-19.html

For Immediate Release
Office of Mrs. Bush
May 8, 2003

Remarks by Mrs. Bush at Reach Out and Read Event
– Kayenta Indian Health Services

Ya'at'eeh. Thank you, Dana, Principal Baker,
Superintendent Allsbrook, and all of the students for
welcoming me to the home of the Mustangs. Thank you,
First Lady Shirley, Vice President and Mrs. Dayish for
welcoming me to Tohdenasshai. This is a beautiful and
blessed land which the Navajo proudly call home. My
name is Laura Bush and I'm from the small town of
Midland, Texas.

 I am so glad to be here to visit with all of you and
with my good friend, Linda White, who is the CEO of
the Kayenta Service Unit of the Navajo Indian Health
Services. Thank you, Linda, and all of the men and
women who work at the Kayenta Indian Health Services
for your dedication to the good health of Kayenta's
families and children. I applaud IHS for their
continued accreditation and for the work doctors and
nurses are doing here through Reach Out and Read.

Through Reach Out and Read, doctors and nurses
encourage parents and caregivers to read aloud to
their babies from their earliest days. Doctors and
nurses know that just as the human touch is necessary
for babies' physical and emotional growth, reading to
them is necessary for language development. During
clinic visits, doctors talk with parents and
caregivers about the importance of reading and they
give every child a new book to take home. I am happy
that Kayenta's Reach Out and Read clinic provides
children with books about Navajo poetry and language.

Educating and nurturing children is one of the
strongest traditions of the Navajo people. Another
strong tradition is serving in our military. The world
recognizes the Navajo Code Talkers who provided a
critical service to the United States during World War
II.

Thank you, Samuel Holiday, who is here with us today,
for your service and your courage. We continue to pray
for all who serve in our military and those in Iraq.
We also pray for their families and for those who have
lost loved ones. We pray especially for the family of
Lori Piestewa.

I know that the family is the core of the Navajo
culture, and I've learned that the four seasons
reflect on the importance of family, tradition and
education. As a five-fingered people, children are the
center of a family, where they are surrounded and
nurtured by parents and grandparents. One of the best
ways we can help nurture our children is through
education - and their education should begin before
they are even born.

The first sound a child hears is her mother's heart
beat. This sound carries a child through her entire
life and is repeated in the rhythm of traditional drum
songs. When a parent reads to a baby, the baby will
grow to love the sound of her parent's voice and of
hearing stories. Reading to children not only helps
them to develop, but it comforts them as well.
Children who are read to learn that reading and
stories are important - and that they are important.

We are entering the spring season, which is the
direction of the East. Spring is a time to focus on
young babies and the beginning of new life. As we wait
each year for the first thunder and for mother earth
to wake the world, parents can read to their children
to wake them to words, stories and learning. If we
talk to and listen to children, read with them, and
surround them with books - then we can help them
establish the skills and knowledge they need for
school and for life. And we keep alive the traditions
of storytelling and oral teachings, which are so
precious in every culture.

Many parents know the joy of reading to their
children, whether during cozy moments at bedtime or
breaks in a long day. Some of my happiest memories
from childhood are of the times my mother read to me.
And some of my favorite memories as a mother are of
reading to my own daughters. This is why Reach Out and
Read is so great. Pediatricians who prescribe reading
are not just helping children learn to read, but they
are helping parents as well.

I want to share a story with you about my friend, Dr.
Donna Bacchi, a pediatrician in Texas. She started a
reading program in her practice and gave her very
first reading prescription to a young boy with asthma.
She talked with the boy's mother about the importance
of reading and showed her how to hold her baby and a
book while reading. After a few minutes, the mom
leaned over and whispered in Dr. Bacchi's ear,
"Doctor, I do not know how to read." Fortunately, Dr.
Bacchi was prepared.

She connected the mother with a local family literacy
provider so she could learn how to read - so she could
read stories to her child, and maybe even more
important, the labels on her son's asthma medicine.
What an extraordinary opportunity to break the cycle
of illiteracy for one family and to enrich their lives
with reading and books. This is what Reach Out and
Read does for millions of children and their families.
And it is what education does for America.

I understand soon you will be entering the direction
of the South. With summer comes preparing children for
the future. The children here are in school right now.
But soon, as you grow and learn, you will go out into
the world to work or to college. Remember the words of
Chief Manuelito who said, "My grandchild, education is
the ladder." He encouraged his people to go to school
and to use their skills and education in their
communities.

There are ways you can give to the Navajo community.
Consider becoming a teacher here so Navajo children
will learn their language and culture in school. The
Kayenta Health Clinic needs Navajo doctors and nurses.
I understand that a new hospital will open here in a
few years. What a wonderful time to think about a
career in science or health care. Perhaps someday you
will talk to parents about the importance of reading
with their babies.

Whether you work here or go off to college, remember
that you are ambassadors of the Navajo nation.
Wherever you go, you can teach others about the
history and tradition of your people. That is what
Navajo poet Lucy Tapahonso does. Lucy visited the
White House last year during the second National Book
Festival. During this festival, we celebrate authors,
stories, and reading. Lucy spoke about the importance
of tradition and of sharing stories and language with
children.

Her words inspired everyone there, and today I hope
they will inspire all of us to continue to share the
joy of books, reading and education with children.
Lucy said, "To honor our children we must first honor
our ancestors. Let us walk then into the future, bound
by the hopeful words of all our grandparents. Let us
honor their wisdom and love of language which sustains
us all."

Education, reading and stories sustain us all and will
lead children home to Tohdenasshai - this land at the
end of the rainbow. Thank you and walk in beauty.




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