Navajo Navigator Information Technology For The Navajo Nation

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Navajo NavigatorInformation Technology For The
Navajo Nation
Andrea Chen Cursha Pierce Gerald Yu
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Meet The Users
Karletta, 80 Little Water, AZ -Interest family,
sheep herding -Worried about the future of Navajo
ways -Speaks Navajo only -Has diabetes -Live on
secluded 20 acres -No running water -No
electricity -No telephone
Teshina, 17 Window Rock, AZ, Capital of Navajo
Nation -Interests family, school,
dancing -Wants to learn more about Navajo
traditions -Speaks English and a little
Navajo -Parents work for Navajo Nation government
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The Navajo Navigator

• Teshinas Device
• Built in the form of a pager
• Voice controlled
• Visual menu
• Powered by rechargeable batteries
• Translates Navajo and English
• Can connect to Navajo Network
• Panic button

Karlettas Device -Built in the form of a
traditional bracelet -Completely voice
controlled -Powered by solar cells -Translates
Navajo and English -Can connect to Navajo
Network -Panic button
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Text Messaging
Teshina is at school and decides to check her
messages during her lunch break. She turns on the
device and hears a distinctive beep, letting her
know that she has a text message.
It is a message from another girl in her dance
troupe, letting her know that they will have to
perform a dance for a Navajo Kinalta ceremony.
This is very exciting, but she will need more
information about the ceremony.
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Accessing Navajo Network
After school, Teshina spends some time
searching The Navajo database for more
information about this ceremony.
She finds some important facts, but would like
more details. Her grandmother, Karletta, who
lives in Little Water, AZ, is very knowledgeable
about ceremonies. Teshina decides to talk to her.
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Translator, English-to-Navajo
Though Teshina is not very familiar with Navajo,
and her grandmother does not understand English,
Teshina still manages to leave a message for her
grandmother in Navajo.
She puts on her ear piece, presses the
Translate button and speaks a phrase in
English into the microphone.
The device speaks back to her in Navajo, and this
is what she repeats. She records what she
says, and then sends the voice message to her
grandmother.
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Voicemail
Teshinas grandmother, who always leaves her
device on, hears the device say in Navajo, You
have a new message, Karletta, which alerts her
of a new voicemail. She uses only voicemail
because she cannot read or write.
She listens to her message, and hears her
granddaughters voice. She is very happy to hear
from Teshina, because they live very far apart,
and rarely get to see each other.
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Cultural Preservation
Karletta is one of the many elders who
contributes to the cultural aspect of the
database, by adding facts and stories of
traditional Navajo life. She tells a story about
her Kinalta ceremony
and sends it to the Navajo database for Teshina
to listen to later on.
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Panic Button With GPS
Karletta wants to tell Teshina the story is on
the database for her, she presses the translate
button, and speaks into the device. Karletta
begins to leave a message, but suddenly feels a
chest pain.
She cannot move, but is able to quickly activates
the panic button by pulling and turning a little
knob on her bracelet.
This alerts the nearest hospital of her
location and soon an emergency team turns up to
check on Karletta. She is taken to the hospital.
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Contact List Features(This Example Panic Button
Notification)
Teshina begins to wonder about her grandmother
since she hasnt heard from her. The device
suddenly beeps to let her know that someone on
her contact list has activated the panic button.
She checks and sees that it was her
grandmother. Teshina looks up information on the
Navajo Database to find the hospital closest to
her grandmother, and calls to see if she is okay.
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Translator, Navajo-to-English
At the hospital, Karletta has been treated and is
resting in the recovery ward. Not wanting to
unduly worry her granddaughter, Karletta tells
the device that she wants to leave a message
for Teshina in Navajo to tell her that she Is
okay.
The device converts the message to English
audio so Teshina can understand. Teshina is
relieved to hear that her grandmother is okay
and they will talk soon about her dance
performance.
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Conclusion
Benefits of this device ?Cultural
preservation ?Keeps people connected to their
loved ones ?Helps the younger generation keep in
touch with their Navajo roots ?Bridges the gap
between the older and younger generation ?Helps
overcome language barriers
The Future ?Complete handover of network to
Navajo Nation ?Opening network to outside
organizations for Scholarship Documentaries En
tertainment (music, stories, etc.) ?E-commerce
through the network ?Extended network
usage Streaming audio,video Network radio