Source: Independent Lens: "Miss Navajo"
Funding for the VITAL/Ready to Teach collection was secured through the United States Department of Education under the Ready to Teach Program.
This video segment from Independent Lens documents a young woman’s experiences as she competes in the Miss Navajo Nation beauty pageant. This pageant is unique because instead of concentrating on a young woman’s outer beauty, the focus is on her knowledge and understanding of the Navajo culture and her ability to spread this culture as an ambassador of the Navajo Nation. One of the main requirements to become Miss Navajo is the ability to speak and understand Navajo, a language spoken by less than 200,000 people. In this portion of the competition, contestants respond to questions that are asked, and must be answered, in Navajo.
Download and ShareThe following Frame, Focus and Follow-up suggestions are best suited for middle school students using this video in an English language arts or social studies lesson. Be sure to modify the questions to meet your students' instructional needs.
What is Frame, Focus and Follow-up?
Frame (ELA) What is the traditional purpose of beauty pageants? Based on your background knowledge, what criteria would you assume is used to select the winner of the Miss Navajo Nation beauty pageant?
Focus (ELA) As you watch the video, try to determine the reason why speaking Navajo is a requirement for the contestants of this beauty pageant.
Follow Up (ELA) What is one of the main responsibilities of the winner of the Miss Navajo Nation beauty contest? Is “beauty contest” an accurate name for this competition? Why or why not? What could it be called instead? How did you come to this conclusion?
Frame (SS) In what area of the United States does the Navajo Nation reside? What is your first or native language? Do you speak a language other than English? How did you or your family members learn another language?
Focus (SS) As Navajo children were forced to attend schools run by missionaries and the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, what happened to the Navajo language? How and why did this occur?
Follow Up (SS) How can this competition benefit the Navajo culture as a whole?
SUNNY DOOLEY: I probably was one of the first Miss Navajos to have a press conference on Sunday and say the platform of my year as Miss Navajo is going to be to retain our language. And I say that sincerely because I almost lost my own language in being educated.
SARAH JOHNSON LUTHER: When I went away to boarding school, a different belief was forced upon me and not only the language but also religion and those two key areas I was told to forget. You feel like you’re being stripped and then you’re almost told that you should be ashamed of yourself for who you are.
DOLLY MANSON: My grandmother did want me going to school. Going to school in the dominant society wasn’t so valuable to her in those days and not only her but some other mothers and grandmother in those days. So, finally the Bureau of Indian Affairs told her look, it’s the law, your granddaughter has to go to school.
DOLLY MANSON: I was brought into the boarding school by my grandmother. She left me and I know she was really crying…when she left the building she was crying. Perhaps maybe she thought she was loosing her granddaughter.
MARILYN HELP HOOD: They told us they said, “You can’t speak the Navajo language. You only have to talk English and if we were caught talking Navajo, they would actually make us wash our mouths out with soap, or they would do it or sometimes we’d have to scrub the floor with a toothbrush. A lot of it has to do with the boarding school where our traditional teachings were taken away.
MARILYN HELP HOOD: There are a lot of our people that do not want to teach their children because for fear that they might be punished for it too. Linguists say that a language can be lost within twenty years. If a language is lost, a culture will be lost.
(The Judge 1 asks contestants a question in Navajo.)
MICHELLE DESCHEENIE (CONTESTANT 1): I think it would be better if I explained it in English only because my thoughts will go clearer.
ROBERTA JAMES (CONTESTANT 2) : Well, I’m going to apologize to you guys because my Navajo is not that great. I’m going to admit that now.
JUDGE 1: It’s good to be honest and my question was, “Can you give us directions to your home?”
RACHELLE JAMES (CONTESTANT 3): (In Navajo) My home is right here and next to it a shade house by the side of the road. And that’s where I live.
CRYSTAL FRAZIER (CONTESTANT 4): Could you repeat that question in Navajo, or English please?
JUDGE 2: (In Navajo) I am going to ask in Navajo and I want you to answer in Navajo
MICHELLE DESCHEENIE( CONTESTANT 1): (In Navajo) Uh, when I was a little girl I wanted to run for Miss Navajo.
JUDGE 3: Did you understand the question?
CRYSTAL FRAZIER (CONTESTANT 4): (In Navajo) Well…speaking in Navajo is difficult for me. So I will respond in English.
CRYSTAL FRAZIER CONT: (In English) The reason why I want to run for Miss Navajo Nation is I think it’s a great opportunity to fulfill some goals in my life. I grew up in a family where my parents raised us as siblings to where we always need to be improving ourselves. You know, whether it’s physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally – be a better person tomorrow than you are today and I think this would be a great opportunity for me to continue that kind of mission statement in my life. You stand as the goodwill ambassador for the Navajo Nation and I’d be excited to be place in that kind of opportunity.
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