Yá’át’ééh. Mark Charles yinishyé. Tsin bikee dine’é nishłí. Dóó tó’aheedlíinii bá shíshchíín. Tsin bikee’ dine’é dashicheii. Dóó tódích’íi’ nii dashinálí.
Mark Charles is a speaker, writer, and consultant. The son of an American woman (of Dutch heritage) and a Navajo man, Mark teaches the complexities of American history regarding race, culture, and Christendom in order to help forge a path of healing and conciliation for the nation. In 2012, Mark hosted a public reading at the US Capitol of the buried apology to Native peoples in the 2010 Department of Defense Appropriations Bill given by the 111th Congress. He is the co-author of the book, Unsettling Truths: The Ongoing, Dehumanizing Legacy of the Doctrine of Discovery, and he authors the blog Reflections from the Hogan. He is a co-founder of the Would Jesus Eat Frybread? college-conference series and has served on the boards of the Christian Reformed Church of North America and the Christian Community Development Association. In 2020 Mark ran as an independent candidate for the presidency of the United States, advocating for a Truth and Conciliation Commission – a formal and national dialogue on issues of race, gender, and class.
A hogan is the traditional Navajo home. While it symbolizes the historical and cultural dwellings of my people, it also reflects the daily life for many Navajos today. The Navajo Nation is the largest US reservation and is home to about 180,000 Navajos, yet it is one of the least developed areas of the United States. Lack of running water, electricity, and many common amenities is typical for many Navajo homes today.
My family and I lived for 3 years in the hogan pictured here, located in a remote area of the Navajo reservation. We moved there in order to gain an understanding of the traditional Navajo life.
The only artificial light you could see from our hogan was a cellphone tower located several miles away. I found that, by hanging my cellphone from the ceiling and tethering it to my laptop, I was able to get online, essentially creating a wireless network inside our wireless (off the grid) hogan. Hence, the oxymoronic name Wirelesshogan was born. ~ Mark Charles 🙂
Wirelesshogan 