Iyáaní (Spirit, Breath, Life)

At Haak’u
Within the community,
on the land, in it, and of it,
there is a way in all things
that Acoma (Haak’u) children are taught.
Shadruukaʾàatuunísṿ
It is a way of saying.
It is a way of saying our life and the way
things grow and grow. It is a way of saying
the children are growing so quickly. It is a way
of saying the plants, which we so lovingly care
for in the fields, are growing and growing.
It is a way of saying neither would grow and grow
without
our love.
Amuu’u haats’i. It is a way of saying our beloved life.
Our beloved land.
Our beloved children and community.
Sráamí. It is not always easy. And we, the People, the
Hánʾu are not always good and right. But the right and good
way is the way
that we go that we might live. Srâutsʾímʾv. Srâutsʾímʾv, say
the Ancestors, our old ones, speaking up from the land
from the rivers, in and through the rain, and all the cycles
of the earth we know. Srâutsʾímʾv, children. Do you know
just how much we love you and are praying for your lives?