For over two decades, Duane “Chili” Yazzie has been an activist for Native American rights. Of the Navajo tribe, Chili has spent his life on the reservation in Shiprock, New Mexico, following tribal traditions and questioning the relationship between Native Peoples and Anglo-Americans. As a young man, he became a member of the influential Native American rock band, XIT, playing at political rallies across the United States. Chili would later become involved in Navajo politics, being sworn into the administration of the Shiprock Chapter House, where he now serves as president.

Everything Is Stories is launching their new podcast season this Fall and as a precursor to that release we are teaming up to premiere a new episode following Chili’s story. Over the course of this episode, he shares the principles of the Diné people, while also recalling his experiences of the United States Indian Affairs relocation program, armed takeovers of corporate factories, political riots in the Navajo Capital, and an assassination attempt by a local white man to take Chili’s life. A LINE DRAWN IN THE REZ DIRT gives a glimpse into the struggle of Native Americans transitioning into a modern day America that has renounced the traditions of its past.

BIO 

Duane “Chili” Yazzie has been an activist for Native American rights. Of the Navajo tribe, Chili has spent his life on the reservation in Shiprock, New Mexico, following tribal traditions and questioning the relationship between Native Peoples and Anglo-Americans. As a young man, he became a member of the influential Native American rock band, XIT, playing at political rallies across the United States. Chili would later become involved in Navajo politics, being sworn into the administration of the Shiprock Chapter House, where he now serves as president.

Teresa Montoya (Diné) is pursuing her PhD in Anthropology at New York University where she also trained in documentary film making in the Culture and Media Program. In 2013, Montoya produced her first film titled Doing the Sheep Good, tracing the return of iconic Navajo-made films, produced in the 1960s visual anthropology experiment Through Navajo Eyes, to their community of origin. Currently, Montoya is working on her second short film, The Day Our River Ran Yellow/ Tó ?itso, with Duane “Chili” Yazzie that presents a Diné centered perspective on the land and waterscapes affected by the Gold King Mine spill of August 2015. Themes of environmental toxicity and regulatory politics raised in this film are central to her dissertation project on alternative political formations within and beyond the Navajo Nation.

Everything Is Stories is a podcast produced by Garrett Crowe, Mike Martinez, and Tyler Wray. Created in 2014, the series explores unconventional narratives of the past and present to preserve tales from the underdog, the outlaw, and the outcast. EIS has been critically acclaimed by outlets such as Wired, Buzzfeed, and Brooklyn Mag. “Everything Is Stories is an audio high-wire act which dazzles with its relative austerity of production and narration.” – The A.V. Club