Letter to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson from Diné Hatałii Association, Dr. Avery Denny
Dr. Avery Denny, DHALH, President Anson Etcitty, DHALH, Vice President
Dr. Marilyn Begay, DHALD, Secretary Daniel Johnson, DHALC, Treasurer
Ernest Harry Begay, DHALC, Board Member Adrian Lerma, DHALC, Laison/IT Tech
RE: “Do Not Put Remains on the Moon”
The Board Members of the Diné Hataałii Association stand firmly against the interment of human remains on Mother Moon. As traditional Navajo healers we are opposed to the idea of using the moon as a grave site. The universe was created in a perfect form and balance, and as a part of that creation, it would be a great offence to irrevocably disturb that equilibrium. Our irrational dreams of immortality often have us lamenting to find new ways to delay or evade the natural cycle of life. Some labor at great pains to apply the vast potential of our intelligence, science and resources to vainly chase that perpetuity. However, common sense and logic should lead us to understand that there is no need to go to the moon for the purpose of leaving human remains and in the process, desecrating a symbol of and giver of life to us all.
There is no need for human remains on the moon. The moon is a beautiful, pure, and clean environment. We implore that others refrain from contaminating the moon with human flesh. In Navajo culture, our remains are replanted on the earth. All peoples have their own way of returning their deceased relatives, some burn the remains while others bury the remains. Whatever your tradition is, we are certain it has nothing to do with contaminating the moon. It may be time for those interested in being interred on the moon to rethink their motivations. At the very least we should pause and counter hubris with a more wholistic perspective.
We the Board Members of DHA realize that our 21st century life is complex and there is often great barriers between the way we once lived and how we live today. This problem is especially challenging for people that are disconnected from their ancestors’ way of doing things. That said, we at the DHA represent a body of people with ancestral knowledge about ceremonies and indigenous protocols. We strive to uphold these practices today in an ever challenging environment. We feel a responsibility to remind the world that ceremonial lifeways and perspectives are becoming scarcer with each passing year. Desecration of the moon only furthers to harm future generations of not only the Dine people, but also those of other groups of people around the world struggling to maintain the continuity of sacredness for the Earth and our moon. The perspective of following the the sun, moon, and star cycles and motion of the universe is a common thread to all of our ancestors. Our achievements in science should help us to understand creation more intimately and not put us in a position to continue tired dreams of taming nature or having dominion over it.
The act of placing human remains on a celestial body may seem inconsequential to most, but it is troubling to those who continue to recognize the moon as a matriarchal member of our family, including DHA members. Other indigenous peoples have varying perspectives from their own cultural understanding, but we stand in solidarity with them in opposing turning the moon into a graveyard. In the Navajo way, it is not permitted to allow for human remains to be in certain places such as the home or in proximity to where food can be consumed. Obviously, Navajo people have never had the opportunity to place human remains on a celestial body. Due to the nature of remains and the understanding we have of the celestial bodies, it is difficult to condone mixing these two entities as being in one place. Human remains were specifically not meant to be in proximity to our living spaces. When a human life is extinguished, it can be due to illness. Physical illness can be understood by all, however spiritual illness may be more complicated to explain or comprehend. Injury can occur in this manner. In the Navajo way, there is no reason to keep the remnants of a person, and more importantly their illness, close to home. In the Diné (Navajo) way, a person with a broken heart is not something
you wish to invite to your own home by keeping human remains nearby. This is one reason to refrain from placing human remains on the moon.
Another reason to keep human remains away from the moon is due to our human condition. We are so imperfect. Humans constantly make mistakes which leads us into sickness that we bring upon ourselves. We consume too much, then we agonize over the many problems that come with living out of balance. If there were places on earth that were perfect, it would be because no humans were in these places to mess things up. The moon is just such a place. There have not been living humans to fight and cause war on the moon. There have not been a need to have cemeteries on the moon, so this is a second reason to refrain from placing remains on the moon. It is already a perfect place absent of human mistakes and we wish to keep the moon free from human error. Let us keep the moon as pure as the day of creation.
Today, in Navajo society, it is a practice by those with evil intentions to secure human remains for the purposes of creating chaos. Our living existence can be contaminated with poison from human remains. Evil minded people will place human remains into our ceremonial items to make our medicine ineffective. Placing remains on the moon feels like placing evil into our ceremonies and our medicine. Our songs and prayers factor in the monthly cycles and our birth rights. The whole universe of beliefs within our indigenous culture(s) are tied to our reverence for the moon. We do not accuse those that would wish to be interred on the moon to be trying to carry out harm intentionally. Rather, we share our concerns so as to bring people to a common understanding. Placing remains on the moon is highly inconsiderate. Placing remains on the moon is something that grossly over emphasizes the privilege of those with the resources to be placed there. Our privilege comes from our understanding, as DHA members, of a delicate balance that many can afford to ignore.
People use the universe as a tool to keep balance and unity within prayers. Our blessings help ourselves through our languages. The celestial bodies and stars have names that are used to address the outer space. We are a culture of sky watchers. The universe is in a perfect form and we do not wish to intrude upon it. So far, we humans have contaminated everything we touch. We should learn from our own history and refrain from contaminating the moon to the best of our abilities in our search for new understandings. We were placed here to live on earth as stewards, not to intrude in places that govern over our existence.
In the Diné way, we have symbols of the sun, moon as well as stars and we use these symbols in the healing arts. As a Hataałii (Traditional Practitioner), I utilize songs that are in alignment as a whole with the universe including the moon. We are at the center of all space and in tune for our well-being. We are the traditional medicine men and women that carry the ceremonial bundles from thousands of years ago. Through our oral history, we know the tale of destruction of the previous worlds that happened due human mistakes. This history that I write of, happened long before those explores who came to our traditional homelands outside of their own in search of glory and gold. I write of the destruction and re-creation of our four worlds in Diné Bahane which serves as a reminder that we must be careful not to repeat the same mistakes that have brought us to our present day tribulations. The lessons of contamination are not solely focused on colonization or new worlds, but also of the Earth, mother to us all. We can destroy our world if we are not wise, we have the lessons from which to draw on, but will we listen?
Sincerely,
Dr. Avery Denny, President of the Dine Hataałii Association, Inc “Of the star people, international affairs people, and moon peoples’ concern”