Miss Navajo

www.missnavajocouncil.org

Phoebe, Clementine and I were quite excited to discover we were in the presence of Navajo royalty when we visited Navajoland last weekend. 

Miss Navajo 1963-1964: Anna Mae Begay Fowler!

Anna Fowler, who is married to The Rev. Jack Fowler, Rector Emeritus of All Saints Church in Farmington, N.M., was one of the most beautiful and gracious women any of us had ever met.

(In fact, we were quite smitten.)

Miss Navajo Nation is a pageant that has been held annually on the Navajo Nation since 1952. The name has changed over the years from Miss Navajo, to Miss Traditional Navajo and Miss Modern Navajo, back to Miss Navajo, to Miss Navajo Nation.

Currently, pageant contestants must be unmarried, over 18 years of age, be a high school graduate, and be able to speak the Navajo language. They compete in such activities such as answering questions about traditional and modern Navajo customs both in Navajo and English, sheep butchering, and performing a contemporary and Navajo cultural talent.

www.missnavajocouncil.org

The role of Miss Navajo Nation is to exemplify the essence and characters of First Woman, White Shell Woman and Changing Woman and to display leadership as the Goodwill Ambassador.

Miss Navajo Nation represents womanhood and fulfills the role of "grandmother, mother, aunt, and sister" to the Navajo people and therefore she can speak as a leader, teacher, counselor, adviser and friend.

www.missnavajocouncil.org

I was fascinated to learn more aboout Anna Fowler, according to the Miss Navajo Council website:

• Hometown: Black Mountain, AZ
• Age during reign: 20
• Education: Intermountain Indian school for Junior High School, Window Rock High School, B.S. in Elementary Education, minor in Early Childhood Education at Univ of New Mexico
• I am (Nishlí): Red Running into the Water Clan (Naasht’ezhi dine’e Tachii’nii)
• Born for (Báshíshchíín): Bitter Water Clan (Todich’ii’nii)
• My Maternal Grandparents are (Dashichei): Salt Clan (Ashiihi)
• My Paternal Grandparents are (Dashinálí): The Water Flow Together Clan (To’aheedliinii)

I was born Dec. 17, 1943, in Black Mountain, Arizona (Chinle). Herded sheep ‘til 8 years old. Then enrolled in Chinle Boarding School, where I continued ‘til sent to Intermountain Indian school (Brigham City, Utah) for Junior High School. After that, I attended high school at Window Rock High School living in the dormitory at Good Shepherd Mission, Fort Defiance, Arizona. It was from there that I competed for Miss Navajo 1963. Later on, I found my future husband at Fort Defiance and married following my reign. These years of our marriage we have raised five children, now all married and who have given us 13 grandchildren. My career as a graduate of UNM in Elementary education has spanned a variety of teachings and administrative positions. Sharing God’s love as a minister's wife has been a satisfying part of my career. My years as Miss Navajo Nation contributed richly in preparing me for my life’s work.

What do you feel were your significant accomplishments during your reign as Miss Navajo Nation? The public relations and goodwill that I accomplished for the Navajo Tribe through my visibility.

What do you feel are your accomplishments in your career? My graduation from University of New Mexico and the success I achieved with early childhood and pre-kindergarten children.

What is your greatest accomplishment? Motherhood and grandmotherhood which I am accomplishing.

What do you feel are your accomplishments in your life? Teaching for modern living and teaching the tradition of the Navajo people in school and outside the school setting. Understanding and accepting the two cultures that I live in that I can get along with the other culture and people. Using my god-given gifts as a mother and grandmother to help my children and grandchildren to cope in this world.

What are your fondest memories of your reign as Miss Navajo Nation? I was attendant to the Sun Bowl Queen in El Paso, Texas along with several other royalties. My Clearwater and St. Petersburg (Florida) trip when I received the key to the City of St. Petersburg from the Mayor and the pride that I felt in sharing information about my people.

What challenges did you face as Miss Navajo Nation? I was trying to finish high school at the same time during my reign, but made it with a lot of studying on my part.

What was your greatest learning experience during your reign as Miss Navajo Nation? That I can be a winner and believe in myself and that I can reach my life goals. Interacting with people different than myself helped improved my self-image.

What was required of you when you were running for Miss Navajo Nation? Commitment and persistence to improve my skills in both modern and traditional categories as I was the first to compete in both. In the traditional, the weaving, spinning and carding for a rug and sung a song, jokes. Modern; typing, sewing and public speaking.

What is your advice to future Miss Navajo Nations? To make sure full backing of family and friends first as well as a good sponsor. Even if you don’t win, the experience in worth it. Go for it!

I'll bet Phoebe's Momma won't get to meet the Queen of England while she's in Great Britain!

Take it easy

Phew, it will be a busy week telling you about our adventures in Navajoland and northeastern Arizona, but one of my geeky favorites was Winslow, Ariz.

You know, the small town mentioned in The Eagles 1972 hit song, "Take It Easy."

Well, I'm a standing on a corner
In Winslow, Arizona
And such a fine sight to see
It's a girl, my lord
In a flatbed Ford
Slowin' down to take a look at me

The city of Winslow erected a life-size bronze statue and mural in 1999 commemorating the song at the Standin' On The Corner Park.

The statue of a man holding a guitar stands near a lamp post, and a metal sign, crafted in the style of U.S. Route 66 shields, displays the words "Standin' On The Corner."

The trompe-l'œil mural on the wall behind the statue is that of a storefront, and what appears to be the reflection of a red flatbed Ford pickup truck driven by a blonde-haired woman. The second floor of the mural features an eagle perched in one of the windows.

(It is literally a wall. A fire destroyed the building in 2007. A grassy park now occupies the space behind the wall.)

If you ever make it to Winslow, make sure you go to the northwest corner of Second Street (Route 66) and Kinsley Avenue.

Fancy that

Oh boy, we got to attend a Gourd Dance tonight!

First we attended a banquet with many delicious foods, including traditional Navajo fry bread and mutton stew.

Then they danced!

The Gourd Dance is a Native American celebration dance and ceremony that originated with another tribe, not the Navajo.

The Master of Ceremonies tonight told us that four men went off to war, but one became ill so the others went for help. They heard an unusual sound coming from the other side of a hill, where they saw a red wolf singing and dancing on its hind legs. The wolf spoke to them and told them to take the songs and dances back to The People. A "howl" at the end of each Gourd Dance song is a tribute to the red wolf.

Veterans or their families traditionally do the gourd dance, but women can do the Shawl Dance around them. Most of the women were wearing plain street clothes, but their beautiful shawls reminded me of Kaya's Fancy Shawl Outfit of Today.

The women's Shawl Dance represents the opening of a cocoon when the butterfly emerges. The shawl is frequently the most extravagant piece of their wardrobe.

Fancy dance was originally created by Native Americans in the 1920s and 1930s in an attempt to preserve their culture. Fancy dance was considered appropriate to be performed for visitors to reservations and at "Wild West" shows. But today, fancy dancers can be seen at many powwows across the nation and even the world.

Navajo lullaby

We finally arrived in Farmingon, N.M. after a seven hour drive.

I don't know about Momma, but we need our beauty sleep!

I sleep in beauty
Yes I do, yes I do,
I lie in beauty
Yes I do, yes I do,
Just for you and only you
Hay ya ha na

The truth is out there

American  Girl

Phoebe, Clementine, and I are so excited we can hardly stand it.

(So is my big sister.)

We leave Friday for the Navajoland Convocation in Farmington, NM! 

Farmington was settled by the Anasazi Indians in the 7th Century with ruins still visible. The Navajos, Jicarilla Apaches, and Utes moved into the area when the Anasazi left, and part of the region is known in Navajo as "Totah," which means "where three rivers meet."

Although Spanish and American mineral prospecting happened in the area, there were few permanent settlements. In 1868, the Navajo Nation was created taking up the western half of San Juan County, NM.

In 1901 the town was incorporated and named Farmington with a population of 548. The population expanded significantly with construction of a developed road connecting Farmington to U.S. Route 66 and Albuquerque in the 1940s, but the development of Interstate 40 and the 1970s energy crisis resulted in an economic downturn. 

On March 18, 1950, Farmington was the site of a mass Unidentified Flying Object sighting when more than half the town's population reported seeing large objects in the sky flying at rapid speeds.

You can be sure I've got my telescope and binoculars packed!

I ♥ Mosi

Boy oh boy, I simply cannot wait for Mosi to arrive this summer after touring her homeland in the Navajo Nation!

What if you could change the world just by buying a doll? You can with the Hearts For Hearts Girls Mosi Doll.

This beautiful, realistic-looking doll is a girl that wants to make a difference in her life and Navajo community.

This poseable, 14-inch doll is super detailed with special touches like culturally-specific jewelry and a fashionable and current outfit specific to her community. Mosi wears a red wrap dress with white patterns, a blue belt with heart-shaped buckle, striped leggings, cowboy boots with embroidery, silvery dangle earrings and a blue hair feather. Her fully-rooted, ultra-silky hair is fun to comb, style and play with.

Mosi is an excellent, unique and diverse doll to add to your child's collection and is a great way to teach her a little about Navajo history and social studies too. This deluxe doll comes with a hair comb, a girl-sized heart charm bracelet and a mini storybook about her life.

She also comes with an online registration code that gives your daughter special access to the fun, child-safe hearts4heartsgirls website where she'll find stories, games, diaries, ideas and tons of activities that her and her doll can play.

The best part about bringing Mosi home with you? When you buy a Hearts For Hearts Girls doll, a portion of the purchase price is donated to children's causes in those countries through World Vision, a global humanitarian organization.

Change the world one heart at a time, with Hearts For Hearts Girls.

This is a gorgeous doll your child will truly treasure. Recommended for ages 6 and up.

That's the spirit!

Momma has collected ethnic dolls all her life and has many examples of Navajo dolls ... most of whom are in storage!

Tsk, tsk.

Specifically, the soft bodies dolls representing male and female Navajos in their native dress, NOT kachinas.

(Kachinas are traditionally Hopi spirits, not Navajo, and are represented in carved figures similar to Christian icons and statues. Kachinas are for education, not play. Some Navajo make kachinas for sale but it is not part of their culture. Momma does have some kachinas, but does not count them as part of her doll collection.)

According to Wikipedia, Navajo dolls wear a style of clothing that Navajo women copied from east coast American society in the 1860s. Women of that era wore full dresses made out of satin. President Lincoln's wife and friends wore full dresses made of satin. Navajo women copied the patterns but substituted velvet for the satin and made buttons out of nickels and dimes. These stylish skirts are still fashionable today, for Navajos and non-Navajos alike.

Momma found this awesome Smithsonian Institute PDF resource about five different Native American dolls which has photos and descriptions.

I hope you enjoy looking at it!

Steampunk Addie learns a lesson

When the Montoyas lose hundreds of sheep to a flood, they decide to use what wool they have to weave blankets, and then trade those for more sheep. A servant, Teresita, teaches Josefina how to weave on this small loom.

According to the Josefina learns a Lesson, Teresita was taken from her people, the Navajo, when she was nine. She taught Josefina and her family how to weave rugs in the Navajo style. 

 

Steampunk Addie Into Darkness

I flew my Faithful Dirigible (the Enterprise, of course) back from the Navajo Nation in time to join Momma for tonight's premier of the moving picture Star Trek Into Darkness.

 
When the crew of the Enterprise is called back home, they find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization has detonated the fleet and everything it stands for, leaving our world in a state of crisis. With a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction. As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew. 
 

Only eight days until Phoenix Comicon - and the arrival of My Dear Friend, Phoebe!

A "New Hope" tor the Navajo language

The Star Wars films have been translated into at least 50 languages, but this will be the first time a major movie, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope will be dubbed into a North American indigenous language. 
 The translation comes from a partnership between the Navajo Nation Museum, Navajo Parks and Recreation and Lucasfilm.

Manuelito Wheeler is the director of the Navajo Nation Museum and has been working to get the film translated for over three years. He hopes the movie will serve as a tool to preserve the language. "There are definitely star wars nerds out there that can repeat that movie verbatim and they speak no Navajo," says Wheeler. "So when they're watching this and it's in Navajo, it's them learning Navajo."

Wheeler says with the release, younger generations will be inspired to learn the language, while older generations will be able to see and understand the film for the first time.

So, you want to say "may the force be with you" in Navajo? Well, the script is under lock and key until the films theatrical release this July.

http://kunm.org/post/new-hope-navajo-nation-star-wars-gets-redub 

Yá'át'ééh!

My Big Sister is heading off today for her school's Senior Elementary Big Trip to the Navajo Nation - and I decided to tag along!

The Navajo were forced to walk at gunpoint from their lands, in what is now Arizona, to eastern New Mexico between 1864 and 1866. More than 300 Navajos died making the journey. 

After the Navajos' return from their imprisonment in New Mexico, the "Navajo Indian Reservation" was established according to the Treaty of 1868.

The Navajo Nation (Navajo: Naabeehó Bináhásdzo) is a semi-autonomous Native American-governed territory covering 27,425 square miles, occupying portions of northeastern Arizona, southeastern Utah, and northwestern New Mexico. It is the largest land area assigned primarily to a Native American jurisdiction within the United States.

While we are there we plan to see:

• Navajo Interactive Museum
• Navajo Code Talkers Museum
• Navajo Trading Post 
• Navajo Arts and Crafts Enterprises
• Monument Valley Tribal Park
• Canyon de Chelly National Monument
• Navajo Nation Council of Chambers National Historic Landmark
• Window Rock Monument and Veterans Memorial Park
• Navajo Nation Zoological and Botanical Park  

Doesn't this sound like fun?!

 

*Yá'át'ééh means "Hello" in Navajo.

 

Traveling the path of hope

Hearts for Hearts Girls

Momma and I were quite excited to see the new Hearts for Hearts Girls doll announced this week at the Toy Fair.

Meet Shola from Afghanistan!

One of my best friends is Momma's customized Sharbat Gula, so we look forward to adding Shola to our doll family sometime this year.

My Big Sister has Nahji from India and Momma wants both Tipi from Laos and Rahel from Ethiopia, as well as Mosi and Shola when they come out this summer.

Sadly, we did learn that while Mosi from Navajoland is finally scheduled for release in June, her horse Ahiga has been cancelled due to lack of interest.

(I hope Kaya will share Steps High!)

Changing the world one ♥ at a time

Living in Arizona, Momma has great respect for the Navajo Nation and its culture. So she was excited this morning to learn (belatedly) that Hearts for Hearts Girls is releasing a Navajo doll this fall.

Every Hearts For Hearts Girls doll represents a real girl from a real place around the world. (My Big Sister has Nahji from India and her cousin has Rahel from Ethiopia.) Each has her own story to tell, with ideas about how to make life better for her family, community, country, and the world around her.

Mosi lives on the Navajo reservation in Arizona, where she helps her mom and dad to keep the Navajo arts culture alive. Mosi is one who leads the way and though she struggles with challenges in school, she is working to overlook the differences among classmates and teach others the importance of standing up for what they believe in!

Mosi's horse Ahiga was captured by Mosi's dad because he had an injured leg. This fierce paint pony (his name means "he fights") is still a handful, but Mosi knows that they will be best friends someday.

Guess who will be joining our family this Fall?