“Dignity sits quiet by the fire,
held in how we listen, and how we stand our ground.”
Prototype Language
World Languages
Cultural Languages
Nordic Languages
Northeastern Languages
Balkan / Oriental Languages
Languages Neighboring German
Non-European Cultural Languages
At last we learn,
to see, everywhere,
how community
rises from the circle,
shapes who we are,
and yet leaves each person
with a precious thing
carried inside:
dignity.
Nihá’ádaah.
Nahasdzáán éí
níłch’i yáhoot’ééł.
K’é éí
náhást’éí bits’ą́ą́’
náádą́ą́’ yáhoot’ééł.
Nihí
t’áá ákót’éego
hózhǫ́.
Dignity
People come to know one another
by the way they stand
within the circle.
It lives
in knowing one’s place,
and in not crossing
what is not given.
The land remembers.
So does dignity.
It carries on
through seasons,
through footsteps,
through silence.
Still, many carry
the heavy thought
of not being enough,
of standing outside the circle.
When leaving comes,
it is understood
what truly mattered —
not what was taken,
not what was claimed.
Dignity moves farther
than a single lifetime.
It passes hand to hand,
story to story.
It deepens
through what is endured,
through what is carried
without being spoken —
unless the weight breaks
what should have been held.
Loss can cloud it.
Disrespect can bury it.
Yet the ground does not forget.
Where care returns,
where the circle is restored,
suffering loosens its grip.
Then dignity
stands again —
rooted,
unclaimed,
still present.
