Cradle of Culture: How Do Babies Learn Navajo?

Episode #6

A baby’s first words are an exciting milestone, but how does the language the child is learning play a role in what sounds and words they learn first? Linguists have long studied these topics in majority languages, but few studies have explored Navajo and other indigenous languages. Dr. Melvatha Chee, director of the UNM Indigenous Child Language Research Center, is working to change that while empowering indigenous groups to conduct their own language work. This episode also features Saad K’idilyé, a Navajo language nest located in Albuquerque working to provide Navajo families with a place where their babies can be cared for and immersed in the Navajo language all day long.

Topics discussed in this episode:

Learn more about the UNM Indigenous Child Language Research Center.

Learn more about the Navajo Language Program at UNM.

Learn more about Dr.Melvatha R. Chee.

Learn more about Saad K’idilyé.

Find It’s (Probably) Not Rocket Science on X, Instagram, TikTok and podcast.unm.edu.

About Our Guest(s)

Melvatha R. Chee

Melvatha R. Chee is Tsé Nahabiłnii, Kin Łichíi’nii, Hooghan Łání and Áshįįhí, originally from Lake Valley, New Mexico. As a Diné speaker, she has over 20 years of experience working with her heritage language in a professional capacity. Chee’s research focuses on the linguistic analysis of Navajo child language and child-directed speech. Through the analysis of child speech, Chee studies how children package information into a single word, identifying patterns of usage at different stages of linguistic development, and compares child speech findings to linguistic input.

Chee’s interest includes discovering how children begin to learn Navajo and studying how exposure to one’s heritage language affects well-being. She is also interested in finding ways to use her findings to support the Navajo language classroom. Her research interests include exploring the intersection between Navajo culture and Navajo linguistics and building a Navajo language database consisting of Navajo language literature, conversations, narratives, and child speech for linguistic research. Chee is a United States Marine Corps Veteran and she maintains a connection to her culture to enrich her Navajo language skills, Diné knowledge, and holistic wellbeing. She is an Assistant Professor of Linguistics, Director of the Navajo Language Program, and PI of the Indigenous Child Language Research Center at the University of New Mexico.

Alec Goldberg

Alec Goldberg is pursuing a Master of Arts in Linguistics at The University of New Mexico. His research interests are in the morphosyntax and semantics of the Navajo language. He is honored to work for the Indigenous Child Language Research Center as a research assistant during his studies. As an undergraduate, he earned a BA in linguistics from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a BFA summa cum laude in art studio from UNM. He is originally from the Monterey Peninsula area of California.”

Kayleigh Russell

Kayleigh Russell is an undergraduate student in the Signed Language Interpreting program with a minor in Navajo at the University of New Mexico. She is grateful for the opportunity to work as a research assistant for the Indigenous Child Research Center and the Lobo Language Acquisition Lab. Her interests are on Indigenous forms of signing, specifically Hand Talk. Kayleigh grew up in Kayenta, AZ and her clans are: Kinłichiinii nilį́, Bisaan éí yáshichíín, Tabąąhá éí dabicheii, Dideschiin éí dabinálí. She is Navajo and Chiricahua Apache.

Hosted by UCAM’s Carly Bowling

Long-time listener, first-time podcaster, Carly Bowling, is a university communication representative in The University of New Mexico’s University Communication and Marketing team (UCAM). She is thrilled to help shed light on the outstanding research work being done at UNM, New Mexico’s only R1 university. In addition to producing IPNRS, she contributes stories and videos to the UNM Newsroom, the University’s official communications platform.

Bowling is a graduate of the Arizona State University Walter Cronkite School of Journalism (’19). Her background includes multimedia journalism, documentary filmmaking, photography and writing. She is passionate about science communication and making academic topics and research accessible and interesting to people from all backgrounds and she hopes you’ll consider subscribing to the show!