{"id":16491,"date":"2025-09-17T22:22:24","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T04:22:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/utah-tornado-brings-destruction-dine-leaders-point-to-a-deeper-message\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T21:58:39","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:58:39","slug":"utah-tornado-brings-destruction-dine-leaders-point-to-a-deeper-message","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/utah-tornado-brings-destruction-dine-leaders-point-to-a-deeper-message\/","title":{"rendered":"Utah tornado brings destruction; Din\u00e9 leaders point to a deeper message"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"A
A tornado touched down north of Montezuma Creek, Utah, near Highway 262, on Sept. 13, damaging several families\u2019 homes. (Navajo Nation Office of the President Facebook)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The Din\u00e9 Hataa\u0142ii Association, which strives to protect Din\u00e9 traditional ceremonies, said Monday that a tornado that touched down this weekend north of Montezuma Creek, Utah, was a warning about the state of the Navajo Nation.<\/p>\n

The rare tornado destroyed several homes and displaced families and livestock near Utah Highway 262 on Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn our traditional understanding per oral teachings, it is a warning that we receive from our deities about the state of our people and nation,\u201d the Din\u00e9 Hataa\u0142ii Association said in a news release. \u201cThough it is mostly due to drifting from our traditional beliefs, culture, and values, it is not too late.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A
A tornado north of Montezuma Creek, Utah, devastated the properties of families on Sept. 13 that were visited by the Navajo Department of Emergency Management on Monday. (Navajo Nation Office of the President Facebook)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The Navajo Department of Emergency Management reported the storm Saturday at 1:37 p.m. as slow-moving and traveling northward.<\/p>\n

On Friday, Sept. 12, Emergency Management announced that a funnel cloud had been observed in the Window Rock area at 10:50 a.m. but had not touched down.<\/p>\n

\u201cRotation has since dissipated, and the system has transitioned into heavy rain headed north with no current tornado threat to the Window Rock area,\u201d the department said.<\/p>\n

\"A
A fence post is twisted and out of place due to a tornado that touched down north of Montezuma Creek, Utah on Sept. 13. (Navajo Nation Office of the President Facebook)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

On Monday, Emergency Management organized a site visit in Aneth, Utah, with support from the Office of the President and Vice President, Navajo Housing Authority, American Red Cross, Utah Commission on Emergency Management, and Aneth Chapter leadership.<\/p>\n

Displaced families took shelter at the Montezuma Creek Elementary School gym, and immediate relief efforts were underway. An emergency declaration is being reviewed by the Commission on Emergency Management, which could open the door to FEMA Individual Assistance, according to the department.<\/p>\n

Requests for donations include plywood, lumber, window replacements, building materials, prepared food, wheelbarrows, horse trailers, cattle squeezer, dog houses and dog food. Deliveries can be made at the Aneth Chapter House warehouse.<\/p>\n

The Din\u00e9 Hataa\u0142ii Association advised tribal members to make Earth offerings, offerings to the site of the tornado\u2019s path, and conduct ceremonial cleansing for those who live in the path and those in leadership.<\/p>\n

\"On
On Friday, Sept. 12, the Navajo Department of Emergency Management reported a funnel cloud that was observed forming within the Window Rock area at 10:50 a.m. but it did not make ground contact. (Navajo Nation Office of the President Facebook)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cThe powerful deities, like the tornado, understand that they have their paths in as much that we have our paths,\u201d the association said. \u201cWe as five-fingered earth-surface people must stay on our path and continue to educate our people about abiding by our fundamental laws.\u201d<\/p>\n

The association encouraged corrective ceremonies, noting that oral traditions explain why such mishaps begin to occur.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow is not the time for placing fear in people, pointing fingers on why it happened nor is it the time to begin a swarm of diagnosis ceremonies,\u201d the association said. \u201cThe DHA Inc. informs all of the chanters, herbalists, diagnosticians, counselors, educators, etc. to help in this initiative.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Din\u00e9 Hataa\u0142ii recognizes weather as a warning <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16492,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1240,1222,155,799,28,1241,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-16491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-aztec","tag-bloomfield","tag-education","tag-farmington","tag-headlines","tag-kirtland","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16491"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16491\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20232,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16491\/revisions\/20232"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16491"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=16491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}