Navajo Storytelling and NASA Earth Science

Stories connect generations to cultural and spiritual values. Indigenous storytelling often provides a holistic view of humans and nature. It is with this lens that Earth observations have a similar perspective, as the Earth system is complex and interconnected. To the traditional Navajo people, the indigenous knowledge they have, is an in-depth philosophy of living by the "Corn Pollen Road" way of life. Navajos call the earth, "Mother Earth" and the sky, "Father Sky", they consider all things in nature including humans to have a male and a female element. Navajos refer to the soft gentle rains as the female rains, as they tend to nourish the plants and soil more effectively. In contrast, the harsh heavy rains are known as the male rains, as they tend to be more destructive. Yet both types of rains are nourishing and both are needed for balance. For many years, Navajo elders recalled seeing more frequent male and female rains. Recently, the balance seems to be disrupted, with shorter more intense male rains observed and less water adsorbed for plants and soil. This presentation describes a NASA Western Water Applications Office (WWAO) project focused on the development of the online Drought Severity Evaluation Tool (DSET) that links satellite and ground observations. Weaving traditional knowledge with western science through storytelling is important for the Navajo elders and the community to understand and accept project results. Many Navajo elders believe that the disruption to our climate, drought and irregular rain patterns, are attributed to the Navajo people losing their sense of traditional prayers and way of life. Thus, our Navajo team member has conveyed themes of passing along knowledge of climate and rain patterns in an attempt to restore the balance of male and female rains. Approaches to this have included summit presentations with the Native Waters on Arid Lands and the Navajo Nation Division of Natural Resources community, an in-person DSET training with Navajo Natural Resource managers, and discussions at climate change adaptation planning meetings with the community. Many elders do not speak English, and as a stakeholder representative, creative storytelling measures were inevitable, to convey the usefulness of NASA Earth observations, and how a DSET tool will help the Navajo people and the place they call home.