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Courtesy of the Deschene 2014 campaign

Chris Deschene says he's a product of cultural destruction. That's why his Navajo speaking skills are limited. But he continues to practice.

Navajo voters will decide on July 21 whether candidates for president and vice president should speak the tribe’s language well enough to hold office. Currently they must speak and write Navajo fluently.

UPDATE: Navajos Votes To Relax Language Law

The language issue came to a head when Navajo Nation presidential candidate Chris Deschene was disqualified from the race last year. 

"Is there a few words I haven’t picked up? Yes, but I wouldn’t need a translator," Deschene said in a 2014 interview.

Deschene refused to take a test to prove his language proficiency. He said he, like many Navajo, was the product of cultural destruction.

Up until the 1960s thousands of Native Americans, including Deschene’s mother, attended boarding schools, where the federal government tried to eliminate their language and culture. As a result only about half of the Navajo tribe speak Dine.

Many Navajo people say English is the only language they need, because they have to go off the reservation to find jobs. 

Theresa Hatathlie, who works with Navajo youth, said the language is critical to the tribe’s sovereignty. 

"Yes, our grandparents and yes, our parents told us to go learn western education and the white man’s language," Hatathlie said. "They never once told us to be a white man."

President Russell Begaye agreed. Begaye said the referendum is part of a “brainwashing agenda” to have Navajo people assimilate into western society.

If voters approve, the referendum would essentially erase the fluency requirement starting with the 2018 election.