Jackie and Charlie had had a talk with Naainish about Ajie and me. And after that, we'd talked about a few of the things that Naainish had told them, but I don’t think they revealed everything that Naainish told them.

Then we talked about Charlie getting the job and Jackie’s scholarship. We told Charlie the truth or most of it. And we lied to Jackie, which bothered both Ajie and me.

On Sunday Jackie, Charlie, Ajie, and I had gone with Uncle Paul to the storage barn, and Uncle Paul had sold Jackie and Charlie some furniture for an excellent price.

Then we’d gone to the meeting room in the hotel, and as we walked into the meeting room, I froze. I couldn’t believe the people who were sitting around the table. Some of the people that I’d expected were there, Chief Kinlicheeny, Naainish, my Uncle Gaagii, my Aunt Ginny, and of course my Aunt Ruth. I was pleasantly surprised to see Mr. Bylilly there. He is Dibe’s father and the assistant editor of the Navajo Times. But there were four other men there. They were natives. Two of them, by their dress, I figured for Navajo. But the other two. Who are they?

Chief Kinlicheeny looked at us and said, “Yá'át'ééh t'áá ájíltso. Nizhonigó íiná aadóó hozhónahasdlíí.” (Hello everyone. It is good, and all is harmony around us.)

I looked at everyone that was there and repeated what Chief Kinlicheeny had said, “Yá'át'ééh t'áá ájíltso. Nizhonigó íiná aadóó hozhónahasdlíí.”

I heard Ajie whisper to Charlie and Jackie and told them what was said.

Then I said, “I know most of you, but there are four who I don’t know.”

Chief Kinlicheeny then said, “Kai Nez. Ajie Nez. Yiska Biakeddy. The two men on my right are Sicheii Uskilith who is the Speaker of the Navajo Nation Council, and Hashkeh Naabah Descheenie who is the Vice-President of the Navajo Nation. And on my left are Tribal Governor Cochiti of the Taos Pueblo, and Chief Sháhita of the Pueblo of Zuni. Chief Jlin-Litzoque of the Mescalero Apache sends his apologies for not being able to be here, but he will support whatever we decide.”

I stood there dumbfounded for a few seconds, then said, “I’m amazed and pleased to see all of you here.”

“Kai Nez, you are important to us.”, Sicheii Uskilith, Speaker of the Navajo Nation Council, said. “Your name is spoken of in the Council meetings of many tribes. And we came to help.”

“Thank you, Mr. Uskilith. Now, I’d like to introduce my two friends. Jackie and Charlie Hamilton, they’re here because they are part of this. For their sake and so everyone knows who’s here I’d like to go around the room and have everyone introduce themselves and tell us their position. Chief Kinlicheeny would you please start.”

We did go around the table with everyone introducing themselves. I had one pleasant surprise. I learned that Mr. Bylilly was now the editor of the Navajo Times. And one interesting fact, that Chief Kinlicheeny along with being the Chief of the Navajo Nation was also it’s President. I guess it makes sense that he’s both.

Ajie, my uncle, and I sat at the table, and Charlie pulled up chairs for himself and Jackie, and they sat behind us.

Chief Kinlicheeny then said, “Naainish, would you start us with a prayer.”

Naainish said a short prayer.

Then Chief Kinlicheeny said, “For those of you that don’t know, and I don’t think that there is anyone here that doesn’t know, Kai Nez is a two spirit person, or to the Navajo, she is a Nádleeh. And as she likes to say, to the people that she wants to know, she has the body of a boy and the spirit of a girl.

“She is a special person and very special to her people.”

Then looking at me, the Chief said, “Kai Nez, I hope I haven’t said too much. Now would you like to tell us why we're here?”

I stood up, and said, “Thank you, Chief Kinlicheeny. And, no Chief you didn’t say too much.

“And, yes, I am a two spirit person, a Nádleeh. I have the body of a boy and the spirits of a girl and a boy. And, here in New Mexico, close to the spirits of my Navajo ancestors, my female spirit is very strong, so I am that girl. And, I dress as that girl. Does that make me bad? No. I feel that it makes me a better, stronger, person.

“The reason that we’re here is that I may need your help in protecting my name and identification.”

I looked around the table, and I saw some heads nodding yes, and a few people looking at me smiling.

I continued with, “A week or so ago my friend, Charlie Hamilton, came to me and told me of overhearing a discussion in the University of New Mexico’s offices about the Board of Regents receiving a letter, an unsigned letter, about someone teaching in the electrical engineering program that shouldn’t be. That they weren’t what they appeared to be, and that they were a boy dressed as a girl.

“After some investigation by friends at the University, we determined that the person, as I’d figured, was me. Those friends, a lawyer, Ajie, and I had a sit-down discussion on how to handle this. And it was decided to fight fire with fire.

“The lawyer, my lawyer, Mary Harman, has had some dealings with the Board of Regents before and she told us that they have a habit of not getting all the facts straight before going after something. She also feels that some of the Regents have been in office too long and that they need to be replaced.

“We learned that the Regents have a way of having whoever their after come into a Board meeting for some lame reason, and then hitting them with what the Board sees as a problem without any warning.

“We decided, that when I’m “invited” to the Board of Regents meeting, that we, I, will confront them. First, we’re not going to let them know that we know what the trumped-up meeting is actually about. But, when it happens, we’ll go into the meeting with as many people as we can to overwhelm them with support.

“So, what we’re looking for is support from my people. The native people.”

“Kai Nez.”, Chief Kinlicheeny said. “Who at the University knows about this letter that the Board of Regents received?”

“About the letter and the pending meeting, Chief Tahoma Etsitty and his wife Vickie, he’s on the staff at the University, and she’s the Assistant Dean at the school of nursing. Dr. Joe Oshie, he’s the preceptor on my master’s degree, and his wife, Mary. And, they are Ojibwa. They were all at the original meeting with the lawyer. The lawyer is a friend of Vickie Etsitty.

“Some other people at the University also know the truth behind Kai.”

“Who might they be?”

“One is your friend Dr. Lingham, who’s the President of the University. Then there are three college deans besides Chief Etsitty’s wife, Vickie. There’s also my grad school advisor.

“The only dean I’m not sure of is Dean Miller, dean of the grad school. I get mixed feelings from him. Dean Milford of nursing school and Dean Rutherford of the engineering schooling I have good feelings about.

“But we don’t yet know how they all feel about this thing with the Board of Regents. The lawyer is going to feel them out. But we do know that Dr. Lingham and the Chairman of the Board of Regents don’t get along.

“One other thing. We decided that if they don’t ask about Kai’s two spirit status, we won’t tell them. But, if they ask, we’ll tell them the truth about Kai’s two spirits. And see what happens.”

I’d been noticing that every one of the people that had come with Chief Kinlicheeny had paid close attention, and most had been nodding yes while I’d talked.

“So that everyone knows.”, Naainish said. “Kai Nez, being a two spirit person, has the ability to know how people feel about her, both as a person and as a Navajo.”

“Kai Nez.”, Chief Kinlicheeny said, “I know how I feel about this. And I stand behind you one-hundred percent.

“Someone is attempting to undermine your position at the University which will hurt not only you, but also Ajie Nez. And it needs to be stopped. And we need to find out who is doing it.”

“I also stand behind Kai Nez.”, Naainish said. “I’ve known her longer than anyone here except for her aunts and uncles. She is an amazing person and to have someone try to hurt her this way is wrong, and can’t be allowed.”

Then Chief Kinlicheeny, looking at the people sitting next to him, asked, “Do we have any question for Kai Nez?”

There were fewer questions then I expected. Did I do that good of a job explaining things?

Chief Kinlicheeny looked at me, and said, “Can I see the hands of those who support Kai Nez in her attempt to protect her name.”

Without hesitation, every hand went up.

I smiled, and said, “I want to thank all of you for your support. It means a lot to me.

“We don’t know when this meeting with the Board of Regents will be. But, I’ll be sure that everyone knows as soon as we do. And I hope that you can all be there.”

“Kai Nez.”, Tribal Governor Cochiti said, “I have a medicine woman that would like to be there. Would you mind if I brought her to that meeting?”

“No, sir. I would be happy if you would bring her. I would like to meet her.”

“And, she you.”

Then just before we broke up Uncle Paul said, “Everyone. The restaurant is serving a buffet lunch. Please join us. It’s on me.”

As we got up to go to the restaurant, Mr. Bylilly walked to Ajie and me, and said, “Kai, I feel that you don’t want me to write about this.”

“Mr. Bylilly, first congratulations on becoming the editor the Navajo Times.”

“Thank you, Kai. Just find me more hours in the day to do the work.”

“You’ll find them. And, yes, I’d prefer it if you were in this as a friend rather than a reporter. But, if this goes wrong, then I’d say have at it.”

“Kai, I think that you have this well in hand. And know how to stop it before it goes too far.”

“I hope you’re right.”

As we walked towards the restaurant, I hadn’t noticed, but Jackie and Charlie held back. Ajie eventually noticed them missing, and said, “Kai, where are Jackie and Charlie?”

I looked around and didn’t see them either. Then I walked back toward the meeting room, and I saw Jackie and Charlie walking out the front door of the hotel. I ran after them, and when I caught up with them, I said, “Hey, guys. Where are you going?”

“I guess back to the house.”, Charlie said.

“Why?”

“We don’t belong with that group of people. They’re all very important people.”

“Whoa! You’re also very important.”

“No, we’re not. God, the Chief of the Navajo Nation is here. The editor of a newspaper is here. And all of the others. Who don’t you know.”

“Guys, you’re important to us. Ajie and me. You’re our friends. Some of those people we don’t know at all. Some we barely know. And yes one or two are friends. Ajie and I want you with us. You’re important to us.”

Just then Ajie walked up to us, and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“They don’t think they fit in.”, I replied.”

“Yeah.”, Jackie said. “We’re not important enough. We don’t feel comfortable around them.”

“And you think we do.”, Ajie said. “We put up a good front. I used to be as nervous as hell around Chief Kinlicheeny. And now there are the heads of two other Indian tribes here. If you’re not important enough, then neither are we. Let’s go to the house, and we’ll fix some lunch.”

“No, you need to go with those people.”

“No, we don’t. We need to be with the people that are important to us.”

“Yes, you do. You need their help.”

“Without Charlie, we wouldn’t even have known about this whole mess. And, we might have been blindsided. Please come with us.”

Jackie looked at Charlie, and asked, “Honey, what do you think?”

“I’m game if you are.”, Charlie replied.

“Okay, you two. Let’s go to the restaurant.”, I said.

The four of us started walking towards the restaurant, and I said, “Jackie and Charlie remember that all of these people are just like you. They eat, sleep, and breath just like you do.”

As we walked into the restaurant, my Aunt Ruth walked up to us, and said, “I was just about to come looking for the four of you.”

“We just needed to talk.”, I said.

“We’re in the private room. Get some food and join us.”

The four of us walked over to the buffet table and picked up our food. Then as we walked towards the private room, I said, “Jackie and Charlie, stick with us. And if it gets too uncomfortable, we’ll leave.”

When we walked into the private room, they had a long table set up, and they’d left four seats in the middle open. My Aunt Ginny walked over to me, and whispered, “We noticed that your friends were a little uneasy being around all of these people, so we figured that we’d set aside four places together for you.”

“Thanks, Aunt Ginny.”, I whispered back. “They were uncomfortable, but we’ll try to help them with that.”

The four of us sat, and over the next hour, we enjoyed some excellent food and pleasant conversation. Charlie was sitting next to Governor Cochiti, who is the Tribal Governor of the Taos Pueblo, and they had a nice chat.

After we’d finished lunch, and as we were saying so long to everyone, Ajie and I shook hands with all of them. And I overheard Governor Cochiti say to Charlie, “Now, don’t forget to come and see us.”

And, I heard Charlie say, “We sure will, Governor Cochiti.”

I smiled to myself.

After almost everyone had left, it was just my aunts, uncles, Chief Kinlicheeny, Naainish, Jackie, Charlie, and Ajie and me. And, Naainish asked, “Kai, how did you feel about everyone?”

“I felt nothing but good things from everyone.”

“That is good. And, Kai, I think that you will like Quah Ah.”

“Quah Ah?”

“The medicine woman from the Taos Pueblo.”

“Oh. I think that’ll be interesting.”

Then I looked at Charlie and said, “Charlie, you and Governor Cochiti sure had a nice chat.”

“Once I got to talking to him, he was really nice.”, Charlie said. “He even invited Jackie and me to come and visit the Pueblo, and he’d give us a tour.”

“See I told you that they were real people.”

“You’re right.”

“Can we go with you?”, Ajie asked. “The Governor will probably give you an excellent tour.”

“Of course you can.”

On our walk back to the house, I said, “Uncle Gaagii, I met an old friend of yours.”

“Who was that?”, Uncle Gaagii asked.

“He said to say hello to the sání jay-sho (old buzzard) for him.”

“Where did you see Bidziil?”

“He gave me my driving test.”

“He didn’t flunk you. Did he?”

“He was ready to fail me when I told him that you took me out driving without a learners permit.”

“He had better not of flunked you.”

“He didn’t.”

“Why did you tell him that I took you out driving?”

“I guess my driving and parking were too good for only having a learners permit for a short time, and I had to come up with a story.”

When we were at the house, we packed our things, said hágoónee' (see you later) to my aunts and uncles, and headed back towards Albuquerque.

As we drove, Jackie asked, “Kai, why did they use your full name?”

“I think it’s out of respect.”, I replied.

“So they respect you?”

“I guess.”

“Kai, you know they do.”, Ajie said.

“Kai.”, Charlie said. “I could feel the respect for you in that room as you talked. And it was interesting the way they all paid attention to you.”

“It was very interesting.”, Jackie added. “And, you were right, Kai.”

“You mean I was right about something?”, I said with a smile.

“Yes, you were. You told us that all of those important people were just like we are, and they are. The more we talked with them, the more I felt at ease. And, I think that Charlie has made a friend. He and Governor Cochiti hit it off.”

“He likes to do woodworking too.”, Charlie said.

“See.”, I said. “They’re real people.”

“Ajie.”, Jackie said. “Does being around Chief Kinlicheeny really bother you.”

“Not as much as it used to.”, Ajie replied. “I guess I’ve come to accept him as who he is. He may be the Chief of the Nation, but he’s still a person. And, someone that I can now talk to. Kai’s never had a problem talking with him.”

“Bet me.”, I said. “At first it was nervousness talking, and I guess he took it as me being confident. But, as I got to know him, it did change into confidence as I found that he was easy to talk to.”

“So he helped build your confidence?”, Jackie asked.

“He helped. Kai has always been more confident than Tom. Tom would have never talked to him.”

“So, Kai is more outgoing and confident?”

“Yes, and has become more so. I think it has to do with the strength of her spirits out here. I know her female spirit has become much stronger, but I think that her male spirit has also gotten stronger.”

That night in bed, Amy asked, “So you felt good about the meeting?”

“Yes, very good.”, I replied. “I think that I have the backing of all those people and hopefully some of the faculty.”

“I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.”

Amy cuddled up to me and was soon asleep. And, so was I.”

On Monday after I dropped Amy off at her classroom, I headed over to Dr. Joe’s office. As I walked in, Dr. Joe looked up, smiled, and asked, “So, how was the meeting?”

“It was perfect.”, I said. “There were leaders from the Taos Pueblo, the Pueblo of Zuni, and the big wheels of the Navajo Nation Council.”

“A big pow wow.”

“I guess you could say that.”

“Will they support you?”

“Yes. I think that I’ll have a lot of support when this comes to a head.”

“I’m glad. I don’t want to lose my research partner.”

“You mean Dr. Kai?”

“Go on, or you’ll be late for your class.”

“Okay. I’ll see you after my eleven o’clock.”

I taught my two classes and attended my grad-level class, then I headed to the lab, and Dr. Joe was already there. As I walked in the door, Dr. Joe said, “It’s about time Dr. Kai.”

I set my briefcase and purse down, put my hands on my hips, and said, “Yá’át’ééh, Naat'áanii Oshie.”

“What did you just call me?”

“I didn’t call you anything. I just said, ‘It is good, Chief Oshie.”

“Chief! I’m not a chief.”

“You’re not? You’re in charge of this project, so that makes you the chief. And, I’m not a doctor.”

“Get over here, and help me set this thing set up for testing.”

We spent the next hour setting up our bread-boarded circuit for testing. When we were ready for the test, Dr. Joe said, “Do the honors, Kai.”

I turned on the input, and we watched as the indicator lights came on, and the meters hooked to the outputs started to register. We gave it a little while to settle down, then wrote down the readings on the meters.

Then, since neither of us had had lunch, we went over to the faculty dining room. As we were eating three guys in suits walked in, got some coffee and sat at a table. At first, we ignored them. But then I heard one of them mention my name. Dr. Joe and I looked at each other, and we both started listening closer.

Then we heard one of them say, that I should get the letter on Friday and that the meeting would be next Wednesday at one in the Student Union. I looked at Dr. Joe and just smiled. Then whispered, “Talk about being forewarned.”

Dr. Joe returned the smile, and whispered, “If they only knew.”

“I’m glad they don’t.”

“Me too.”

We finished our lunch and headed back to the lab. We checked everything, and it was working just fine. We decided to allow it to continue to run overnight and Dr. Joe said that he’d check on it a couple of times before he went home. And he promised to call if anything happened. I told him that I was going to call the lawyer when I got home.

As I walked into the apartment, Amy was working on dinner. I ran upstairs to change out of my teaching clothes, and when I came back down, I said, “You’ll never believe what happened?”

“Your project blew up.”, Amy said.

“That’s not even funny.”

“Sorry. What happened.”

“I’m not telling.”

“Oh come on.”

“Dr. Joe and I were having lunch in the faculty dining room, and these three guys in suits walk in.”

“Is this a joke?”

“No. Now, will you let me finish? The three guys got coffee and sat at a table that was close to ours. Then I heard my name.”

“Your name. You’re kidding?”

“Nope, then one guy says that I’d be getting the letter on Friday, and the meeting was set up for the following Wednesday at one.”

“Talk about letting the cat out of the bag. Are you going to call the lawyer?”

“As soon as I kiss you.” Which I did.

Then I got my wallet out of my purse, and found Mary Harman’s business card, picked up the phone, and dialed her number. A receptionist answered the phone, and I told her who I was and that I'd like to speak to Mrs. Harman. A minute later I heard, “Hello Kai. How are you?”

“I’m fine, Mrs. Harman. How are you.”

“I’m fine. So did you get that letter yet?”

“No, but we may have gotten something better.” And, I went on to tell her what had happened.

When I finished, Mrs. Harmon laughed, and said, “Those old fools.”

“So, what do we want to do.”

“I think let everyone know what the tentative day is. And then I’d like to get together with you once, maybe twice, before then.”

“Okay. What have you found out about the people from the University that we talked about?”

“Believe it or not, Dr. Lingham remembers meeting you, and that he was impressed by you. And I think he might be there. Of the three deans, we’re going to stay away from Dean Miller. I’m not sure about him. But, all of the others appear to be good. What did you find out about your Indian friends?”

“We had a meeting yesterday, and I think that we should have people from the Navajo Nation, the Taos Pueblo, Pueblo of Zuni, and the Mescalero Apache. Also, Mr. Bylilly, the editor of the Navajo Times will be there. Then if you count my aunts and uncles, we should have a good showing.”

“Who will be coming from the various tribes?”

“To start with the tribal Chiefs. The Navajo are also bringing the Vice-President of the Navajo Nation, and the Speaker of the Navajo Nation Council. The Taos Pueblo people are going to bring a medicine woman. And who knows who else.”

“A medicine woman, that will be different. I think that whoever decided to pick on you, picked on the wrong person.”

“You think?”

“Yes, I do. We’ll talk later, and firm up our plans.”

I called my Aunt Ruth and told her that we thought that the meeting with the Board of Regents would probably be at one on Wednesday the eighteenth. Aunt Ruth said she’d get the word passed around.

As we ate dinner, Amy said, “I talked with Vickie today.”

“About what?”, I asked.

“Jackie being in my class.”

“Oh. And.”

“She thinks it would be best if Jackie switched to a section that I’m not teaching.”

“Have you told Jackie yet?”

“No.”

“Don’t want to. Do you?”

“No. But, it would be for the best if she did.”

“You’d better tell her as soon as you can.”

“Your right.”

“After dinner.”

“I guess.”