The goal of the Navajo Oral History Project is to create a database of names and relationships of Navajo people. It is our hope that, as rising generations have a desire to more fully understand who they are, where they came from, and the experiences of their relatives and ancestors, they will be able to start their personal research with this database. When they enter the name of a known relative or ancestor, the database will suggest possible relatives that they can verify with their other records or familial knowledge as they create and expand their own family tree.

In communities that traditionally transmit cultural teachings and genealogical information orally, written records are rare and, when available, have often been compiled by people outside the community with goals other than family knowledge preservation – like government officials or census workers. Because of mistranslations, cultural bias, or other misunderstandings, many of these records are incomplete, misinterpreted, or otherwise inaccurate. 

The Gathering of Tribes Navajo Oral History Project seeks to create authentic, culturally sensitive records based on knowledge from the original knowledge-keepers: community elders. 

In cases where Navajo youth are not receiving their cultural information by oral tradition, our hope is to stop community knowledge loss by recording and preserving the knowledge of our elders. ​

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Join our team of Interviewers! We are seeking culturally sensitive, self-motivated Interviewers to join our team. If you are interested in being part of this exciting program, click below to complete the job application.