The author has been teaching at the Navajo Nation's Dine College for 22 years--five at one of two main campuses and 17 at a remote branch campus in Crownpoint, New Mexico, where he went following his retirement after 30 years as an English professor at Allegheny College. Throughout his academic career, he has made a point of teaching beginning composition in addition to leading upper-level literature courses and doing scholarly writing. So he welcomed the chance to join the faculty in a Navajo community and watch a diverse body of students learn to recognize and articulate ideas based on their unique tribal identity. This article describes how the author and his students explore a Navajo approach to language and literature. It presents five pedagogical strategies developed by the author during his years teaching on the reservation.