Welcome to great mathematics in the Diné Bikéyah

Our 2024 Math Camp took place June 17 – 27 at Coconino County Community College in Page, AZ. You can watch the video and see our activities on the The 2024 Camp Webpage. The 2025 Summer Math Camp will take place at the Navajo Museum in Window Rock. The dates for this camp are June 18 – July 1, 2025.

Navajo Nation Math Circles Project: Bringing the highest quality mathematical outreach to students and teachers in the Navajo Nation.

Who are we? We are the Navajo Nation Math Circles (NNMC) for students and teachers of the Navajo Nation. Our goal is to share fun and rewarding mathematics with everyone. We partner with over 40 mathematicians across the United States to develop amazing mathematics and amazing mathematicians.

Who are you? We want “I do mathematics” to be a part of everyone’s answer to “Who are you?” That’s why the NNMC is different from any other Math Circle we know of–we honor the language, culture, and history of the Diné as part of the important work we do. We want to hear our participant’s pride in saying, “I am Diné and I love mathematics.” Both together is truly baa hózhó mathematics.

Who are we? The NNMC is many many people. We are a community of students, teachers, facilitators, professors, consultants… The NNMC is co-directed by:

  • Dr. David Auckly, Mathematics, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS.
  • Dr. Henry Fowler, Mathematics, Navajo Technical University, Crownpoint, NM.

To contact the NNMC, send an email to navajomath@gmail.com and it will forward to the appropriate person.

How do we do it? Sharing great mathematics means that we:

  • Bring mathematicians to schools in the Navajo Nation to facilitate awesome mathematics with students during the school day.
  • Bring mathematicians to facilitate high-quality content-based professional development with K-12 teachers from Navajo schools.
  • Operate the Baa Hózhó Summer Camp–a two-week non-residential camp at Navajo Technical University for kids in grades 6-12.
  • Hold an annual Math Festival for any kid (and the many kids-at-heart who bring them).
  • Provide mentorship to students and teachers trying to do the work of engaging students in good mathematics.
  • Provide “scripts” for teacher use so that they can share some of this same inspiring mathematics whenever they choose. This is NOT textbook math! Scripts are the cool kinds of problems that get under your skin and ask for playfulness and persistence.

Videos (Courtesy of Zala Films)

  • What is the Navajo Nation Math Circles Project?
  • What is a Math Wrangle (a fun and friendly competition at our Summer Camps)?

Who supports our work? We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the National Science Foundation, the National Security Administration for major funding during our first decade. Math for America is now providing major funding for the NNMC. Over the years Diné College, Navajo Technical University, Coconino County Community College, Ft Lewis College, San Juan College, Navajo Transitional Energy Corporation, American Institute of Mathematics, Mathematics Science Research Institute, Ohio University, San Jose State University, Kansas State University, Arizona State University, the University of Washington, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Mathematical Association of America, the American Mathematical Society, Educational Advancement Foundation, Desjardins/Blachman Foundation, IDEA Math, American Indian Science & Engineering Society (AISES), Page Unified School District, and many others have supported this work financially or otherwise.