Click this link to listen to Season 3 Episode 6 featuring Dr. Christine Ami.
‘Aa awołí bee anit’į—it’s just like when my grandma and grandfather used to say that. It’s their way of saying that there’s going to be a time if you don’t learn and you don’t push yourself hard now, we won’t be here forever and there won’t be anybody around to reinforce this in you anymore except yourself.
Teddy Draper Jr. cited on page 232 in Christine Ami’s chapter “Wołí Bee” (2024)
In this powerful conversation, Dr. Christine Ami shares her journey of navigating the cultural arts program and collaborating on the T’áá wołí bee exhibit at Diné College during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through the lens of Wołí Bee, a Diné concept of perseverance, she discusses how Indigenous cultural arts undergird resilience, community connection, and healing. Christine explores the challenges of maintaining educational programs, supporting students, and preserving cultural practices while facing personal grief and professional transitions during an unprecedented global crisis.
Dr. Christine Ami is a Diné scholar, weaver, and educator at Diné College, specializing in cultural arts and Indigenous studies. With expertise in grant management, curriculum development, and Indigenous animal studies, she has dedicated her career to preserving and promoting Indigenous cultural practices. Christine is an NEH award recipient and continues to research and teach about the intersections of Indigenous culture, education, and community resilience.
Resources:
Christine Marie Ami, “Wołí bee: Diné Cultural Arts Amid Pandemics,”
in COVID-19 in Indian Country: Native American Memories and Experiences of the Pandemic, eds. Farina King and Wade Davies (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024).
Christine M. Ami, “Meet Our Faculty,” School of Business and Social Science, Diné College website
Christine Ami, “Between the Loom and the Laptop: A Diné Sabbatical,” Tribal College Journal (Summer 2025), tribalcollegejournal.org/between-the-loom-and-the-laptop-a-tribal-college-faculty-sabbatical/.
Christine Ami, “‘When Waters Rise and Rocks Speak’: An Analysis of Indigenous Research Credential Theft by an Ally,” Wicazo Sa Review. 34, 2 (2022), muse.jhu.edu/issue/48824.
Christine Ami, “Politics of Distrust: The Navajo Nation’s use of propaganda devices to recruit participants for COVID-19 trial vaccine,” Indian Country Today (2020), https://ictnews.org/opinion/politics-of-distrust-the-navajo-nations-use-of-propaganda-devices-to-recruit-participants-for-covid-19-trial-vaccine/.
Christine Ami, “Review Essay: The Diné Reader: An Anthology of Navajo Literature (Esther G. Belin, Jeff Berglund, Connie A. Jacobs, Anthony Webster, and Sherwin Bitsui, eds.),” Transmotion 8, 1 (2022): 209-217, https://doi.org/10.22024/UniKent/03/tm.1064.
Christine Ami, “Playing Indian: Internal Colonization Seated at the Navajo Loom,”Navajo Cultural Arts Program Blog (2020), https://lib.dinecollege.edu/NCAP_Blog/02-2020.
“T’áá awołí bee: Best of Show Panel,” T’áá awołí bee: Navajo Contemporary Arts Conversation Series, Navajo Cultural Arts Program, YouTube video (posted April 25, 2021)
Dr. Christine Ami, “Navajo Cultural Arts Program,” Diné College YouTube short video (posted 2017)
“Navajo Food Research and Scholarships at Diné College Libraries by Dr. Christine Ami,” Diné College Kinyaa’áanii Library Special Collections Series, YouTube video (posted February 8, 2024)
Acknowledgments
Dr. Christine Ami expresses appreciation for the many artists, partners, and supporters who made the T’áá wołí bee (“Permanent”) Exhibit possible in the Ned Hatathli Culture Center at Diné College, including:
Aaron Begay’s “Daan”
Brent Toadlena’s “Traditional Diné Moccasins”
Brittany Greymountain’s “For My Children: Our Robot”
Bryan J. Roessel’s “Lightning”
Carlon P. Ami II’s “Ripples”
Christine Ami’s “Running with Mud”
Crystal Littleben’s “New Beginnings”
Delia Wauneka’s “Sterling Silver Set”
Ephraim Anderson’s “Cosmic Gate”
Francis Noble’s “Shik’is”
Ilene Naegle’s “Wool Sashbelt Plant Hanger”
Kevin Aspaas’ “Diné Silverware Set”
Nabahe Hill’s “Destruction of Thought”
Ryan Dodson’s “Tabacco Canteen”
Sue V. Begay’s “Beauty”
Tammera Martin’s “My Worlds”
Tavian Nutlouis’ “Ch’ééh Digháhii”
Valene Hatathlie’s “Lean on Me”
William J. Yazzie’s “Tufa Flower Bracelet”
Willis Tsosie’s “Ready to Dance”
She also shares acknowledgments on page 237 in her chapter, “Wołí bee” (2024):
“Though not all the exhibit images may have appeared in this chapter, their stories and pieces are proudly shown on the Diné College walls. To every one of those artists, I hear you. Thank you to each Diné College community member and visitor for pausing to hear these voices of wołí bee, either via this chapter or passing through the third floor exhibit.
To the Navajo Nation’s First Lady, Jasmine Blackwater-Nygren, your vision was a wołí bee chance. We thank you and your team for that self-determination opportunity.
To the Diné College staff, thank you for bringing this exhibit home to the Navajo Nation. To Tori Cody, thank you for your transcription of the T’áá awołí bee Conversation Series. To Lydia Fasthorse, shimá yázhí, thank you for reading this piece and aiding with the Navajo language orthography. To our brilliant Diné artist mentors, t’aa iiyisii ahé’hee’. There is no exhibit that could truly encapsulate what you have taught our students. But this is a humble try. To the Diné College Library team, specifically Rhiannon Sorrell, you certainly outdid yourselves creating a permanent archive for not only the T’áá awołí bee Conversation Series, but all the NCAP community outreach virtual programming.
For anyone that I may have missed and those who have requested to remain nameless, I hope you forgive me for any lapse in memory at the time of this publishing. Know that you are remembered within the exhibit and without.”
Also, special thanks to photographer Matthew Bollinger for the photos used in the chapter.
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