ST. GEORGE — Building healthy relationships and bringing older generations of Navajos together with the youth are the goals of a new TV show.
‘Navajo Highways’ is a new series on YouTube and has a small group of Native Americans creating it. The creators are from Montezuma Creek, Utah, on the Navajo Nation Reservation.
“Navajos are very visual learners. The show is very meaningful to me because I see there’s kind of a gap between our youth and the elders,” Dachuneeh Martin, lead puppeteer, said. “And I believe that this puppet show builds a bridge between us.”
Martin is 18 years old and of Navajo and Omaha tribal descent. She graduated from White Horse High School. The creator and writer of the program, Pete Sands, asked her to perform the character of 8-year-old Sadie in the show. Sands is a member of the Navajo tribe.
“I have picked up a few Navajo words while doing the puppets. It’s very important to me because I’ve been trying to learn Navajo,” Martin said.
Sands and his cast teach children Navajo through puppets named Ash, Sadie and their family. ‘Navajo Highway’ episodes will feature life in the Navajo Nation and are aimed at all ages.
During Martin’s childhood, she watched TV shows like Dora The Explorer. She still remembers words in Spanish. But she is still learning her native Navajo.
Martin was excited when she first heard about the TV series. She assumed that Sands would have professional actors or puppeteers to perform the parts of the characters. To her surprise, Sands told her he wanted the roles played by Native Americans.
“I play the character of Sadie. She’s a young eight-year-old girl that’s learning how to speak Navajo. And it is a very interesting thing to do because I’ve never done puppets before,” she said.
Martin said Sands writes the show and sometimes the cast ad-libs as well. The show is produced by Sands and staffed by volunteers. She noted that the feedback for the show has been very positive.
“People are very excited because there’s a lot of people in our community that don’t speak Navajo. Well, many in my generation don’t speak it, but they can understand it to a certain point,” Martin said. “On the Navajo Nation, we’re all kind of family together. The language ties people together, whether it’s the older generation or the younger generation. I think if we learn the language, we’ll be able to put people together.”
Sands agrees. “You can’t have a culture without the language.”
He hopes the TV series will be an example for other Native American communities. Sands remembers how watching Sesame Street was an entertainingly simplified language. Sands hopes the show will encourage young people to learn the language of their ancestors known as Dine Bizaad.
“The last study that I read was a little over 20% of Navajo was spoken in the home, and that’s four years ago,” Sands said.
He is fluent in Navajo and wants to keep the tradition alive. Sands uses toys and storytelling to engage the audience. He foresees children will start the conversation and parents will keep it going at home. Sands said it’s not about perfection but learning about their ancestors and preserving their language.
“When you pray in that indigenous language, you sing songs in that language; what good is it if you don’t know what those words mean?” Sands said.
Like with most Indigenous languages in North America, the number of those who speak the Navajo language has declined. Sands said it is absolutely vital that they find a way to preserve their language and culture.
“I created four Navajo muppet characters to start a children’s TV show that follows these muppets as they travel across the Navajo Nation learning the language and culture. The two main characters are two child puppets named “Ash & Sadie” who are cousins. Then there is “Uncle Al” and “Grandma Sally.”
His ultimate goal for the show is to interest media companies like PBS to pick it up to reach more people and make a significant impact. A Go-Fund-Me account has been set up to help with ‘Navajo Highways’.
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