The Four Day Kinaalda

What is the specific teaching of the four day ceremony for puberty also known as the kinaalda in Navajo? When I was a little girl I did not have my own kinaalda, but I took part in it when I was young for my older sister had hers done. I never understood the full meaning of what the ceremony meant for a girl to transition into a lady. A kinaalda is when a girl takes part of the Navajo blessing way ceremony (Amrani. 1988. Web). The kinaalda translated into the “Puberty Ceremony” is considered interchangeable with both the girl and the ceremony (Amrani. 1988. Web). At this time, the young lady is not a child anymore. In the Navajo myth, changing women, who is identified as all living things on the earth’s surface, is the face for many women. She is used as a figure during the rite of passage when a girl turn into a lady (Amrani. 1988. Web). Even though it is a good way to bring everyone together and relive our tradition, there is more to a puberty ceremony than just changing into an adult, because there is a lot that goes on in the four day ceremony. It is in our tradition, and there is a meaning to why we change from adolescence to adulthood.

12. Web). Most people think that Native Americans are in a small group yet, they take a number in the United States. The Navajo Times on the 7th of July 2011 had information, that there were 300,048 people who declared themselves as Navajo (Mislav. 12. Web). Some people get mixed up with Navajo, Zuni, Sioux and many more tribes because we are in one category. Most people call us Native Americans, but we are individually called Navajo, Zuni, Sioux, and my more. Many tribes have their own way of doing a puberty ceremony because not all tribes are the