blessing way
n.— «During pregnancy, one cares for the child by eating right and, to appease the supernaturals, by avoiding prohibited behavior such as tying knots. In addition, one participates in proper rituals, including the Blessing Way, to assure an easy delivery, promote healing, and hasten the return to harmony.» —“Cultural Interpretations and Intracultural Variability in Navajo Beliefs about Breastfeeding” by Anne L. Wright, Mark Bauer, Clarina Clark, Frank Morgan, Kenneth Begishe American Ethnologist Nov., 1993. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
The new book Bye Bye I Love You: The Story of Our First and Last Words (Bookshop|Amazon) by linguist Michael Erard is a deeply researched, often intensely personal exploration of the ways people communicate at both the beginning and end of life...
Elia lives in northern Arizona, alongside the Navajo Nation. He grew up in France and learned English as a second language, but he knows very little Navajo. When he overhears Navajo being spoken, he has a hard time picking up any emotional tones at...