A New Mexico woman decided to put a local Burger King drive-thru worker to the test by ordering in her native Navajo language. What happened next left her pleasantly surprised.
The Navajo language represents the most widely used Native American language used in the U.S. today, with language-learning software platform Babbel estimating it is spoken by nearly 170,000 people.
Deidra Castillo, from Albuquerque, is among them. Castillo is from Pueblo Pintado, a small community of less than 1,000 people on the Navajo reservation of northern New Mexico. Her first language is Navajo.
"I am full Navajo and speak my language fluently. I have been able to speak my language since I could learn to talk. My whole family speaks the language. Growing up my grandmother didn't speak English as she did not go to school. So, we had to communicate with her in Navajo," Castillo told Newsweek.
"When I got to preschool, the teacher would have to translate everything in Navajo for me. I eventually learned to speak my second language, English."
Castillo said that, in recent years, she has encountered fewer young people able to speak Navajo. "There are a lot of Navajos that don't understand or speak the language, especially the younger generations," she added. "I think the disconnect is in the home: parents are not speaking or teaching their children the language; that is the reason why the language is disappearing."
Castillo said the language should be "known and spoken across the Navajo reservation."
"We should be proud to speak it; it makes us who we are as indigenous people. My roots are important; it makes me unique, makes me strong and resilient," she added. "We as a tribe endured so much in the past and we continue to endure many struggles, but our roots make us resilient people. It helps us overcome the many obstacles that are on our path."
That's why Castillo has taken some heart from a recent encounter during a brief stop-off with her boyfriend at a branch of Burger King in Gallup, New Mexico. This is a border town situated right by the Navajo Nation. To her way of thinking, as a result of that proximity, she would expect to hear more of the Navajo language being spoken there than where she resides.
So, Castillo decided to put it to the test by ordering from the drive-thru in Navajo. It wasn't easy. "In the Navajo language, there is no special word for Coke or Pepsi; we just say soda in Navajo and describe the darker-colored one for Coke, Pepsi, or the light-colored one for Sprite or 7 Up," she said.
However, as the video Castillo later uploaded to TikTok under the handle @deedracastillo shows, the response she got was an unexpected one.
"These days, the younger generations don't understand or speak the language, so I was very surprised that the cashier at Burger King understood me," Castillo said.
"She did not respond back in Navajo, but I commend her on understanding me and getting my food order correct. I had ordered a number one, which was the Whopper Meal with a small darker-colored soda, any kind. The cashier knew exactly what I was referring to and got my order."
Castillo's video went viral, amassing over 1.3 million views. She said she hopes that those watching "see and hear the beauty" of the Navajo language and that it inspires people to use it. "I want other Native Americans that see the video to be proud of their language and that it's OK to learn it and to speak it," Castillo said. "Be proud!"
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