Shiprock school celebrates Native American Week

By Brian Hassler
Staff Writer

SHIPROCK — It all started with a comment that was made last fall and now it has grown into Native American Week at Tse' Bit' Ai' Middle School in Shiprock.

Principal Franklin made the comment to school librarian Sue Gnas and was soon informed that a meeting had been scheduled and the discussions concerning what activities would take place had begun.

"It's been a long time since we've had a Native American Week and we looked for something for the kids that would not only be educational but also interesting," said Franklin. "We want them learning about their own identities. One day I came in and talked to sue and said it would be neat if we had a Native American Week and before I knew it she had already scheduled a meeting and it just went from there. It went from an informal discussion to what we have now."

Gnas was soon made the chairman of Native American Week and began preparing for the variety of activities that would educate students.

Among those activities are presentations from Navajo Code Talker, Wilfred Billie, artists Orland Joe, Tim Washburn and Blackhorse Mitchell as well as performances by the Zuni dancers, Sunny Dooley and renowned performer Vincent Craig.

In addition to presentations and performances, the community will have the opportunity to purchase Robert Maryboy's book on the history of Dineh. The book features Maryboy's paintings and is a great way to collect all of his paintings, said Gnas.

"I hadn't realized how nationally known some of these people are," said Gnas. "One of the neat things that we'll be able to see is that the guest artists are nationally known. I bought Maryboy's book and it has all of his paintings in the back of the book, it's just fabulous. He's bringing his books to sell. There's many things that are highlights and the artists stand out for me."

The week will also serve as a reward for the students completing its most recent testing week and will give the students to be educated and entertained by artists that happen to be their favorites.

"I think it's a fantastic lineup," said Franklin. "A lot of people knew the different artists and I knew a lot people from the community. It helped us knowing who they are and the fact that they are willing to come to the school and be a part of the program like this. We've happy and we're anxious to see how it will turn out at the end. Come (today) I think the students will enjoy this. One reason to have it this week is to have a relaxed atmosphere that is still educational, I think it will go really well."

For those interested in attending, contact Gnas at 368-4741. There are 450 tickets available for Craig's Friday evening performance.