Native Tradition
Navajo Nation Fair means time to meet with relatives, friends

Bryan Sells, Kendrick Perry and Troy Stevens hang out on a platform overlooking the stock yard as they wait for the bullriding competition at the Navajo Nation Fairgrounds on Monday. Monday marked the opening day of the fair, which will run through Sunday of this week. [Photo by Brian Leddy/Independent]

By Karen Francis
For the Independent

WINDOW ROCK — More than 200,000 visitors are expected to attend the 61st Annual Navajo Nation Fair in Window Rock, Sept. 3-9.

Billed as “the largest American Indian fair and rodeo,” it attracts a large number of people from throughout the Navajo reservation as well as tourists from as far away as Germany and Ireland.

The most popular events continue to be the rodeo, the powwow, the parade on Saturday morning, and the Night Performance on Saturday, when different tribes perform dances and the new Miss Navajo Nation is crowned. The rodeo starts on Sept. 4 and ends Sept. 9. The powwow is Sept. 6-9.

However, for many of the Navajo people, the fair’s main attraction is the opportunity it gives them to meet with relatives and friends.

“My reason for going there is I love my relatives and I love my culture. Every time I go there, I think about them,” Joe Lee Yazzie of St. Michaels, Ariz., said.

Yazzie reminisced about 60 years ago when the fair officially began, and people came in from all over the reservation to camp out during the three or four days the fair was held.

“We used to go on the hill on the west side and park our wagon there and go down to see the activities,” he said. “We didn’t really pay anything. We would stay there two or three days.”

The most popular event historically and today is the rodeo.
“As a young kid I remember seeing the rodeo,” Yazzie said.

Another Navajo elder remembered riding in the rodeo but also remembered the tug of war games and the various races that were held. In addition to horse and wagon races, he said watermelon races were held where melons were cut into four pieces and placed at a distance for people to race to.

“They put a watermelon way out there,” John R. Willeto Sr. said pointing to the distance. “You got your hand tied behind you. You eat it. After you finish eating, you race back. That’s how you win ... It was real good.”

Willeto, 72, remembered traveling with family members from Sawmill to Window Rock by wagon to camp out for the duration of the fair.

“The performance they put on in the evening was real good,” he said. “They dance, they sing. Most of them stay around all night. They start singing Navajo songs and dance all night.”

And while more than 60 years have passed since the first fair, it continues to serve its original purpose which was to allow for the Navajo people to gather to share information with each other on such topics as horticulture, livestock care, soil conservation, and silversmith practices.

Angela Barney Nez was crowned Miss Navajo at the fair in 1975. She said that at that time agriculture was stressed, especially with the opening of the Navajo Agricultural Products Industry.

“They really went big that year with agriculture like the largest pumpkin, squash, all kinds of vegetables,” she said.

Winona House, the public information officer for the Navajo Fair Office, said that the fair still has many of the same features since the beginning when the Bureau of Indian Affairs handed over the responsibility of organizing the fair to the Navajo people.

“We still have our horticulture exhibit. We also have our arts and crafts exhibit and competition,” House said. “Those are to bring the different directions into one central place to share and see what our fellow Navajos are doing with their agriculture, art and jewelry.”

She added that the fair has become a family event.

“Lots of families come out here to enjoy themselves. They come here to meet their distant relatives from the other side of the reservation,” she said.

Barney Nez noted that the Navajo Nation Fair, as the largest Indian fair, brings out the best of the Navajo people.

“The biggest corn, the biggest squash, the biggest names coming out, the biggest purse for the rodeo — that was the scenario about the fair, that when the Navajo Nation Fair happens, this is the biggest and best put forth by the Navajo people,” she said.

“When you’re thinking about that, you know that the Navajo Nation Fair was to put forth the best of the people ... I thought that my grandmother and grandfather and their friends went to the fair for that. Up to today, I think people still feel the same way,” Barney Nez said.

The biggest difference, say some elders, is that the fair in the past was almost entirely free.

“It was a lot different back then. Nowadays you have to pay a lot to go in,” Willeto said.

Yazzie also said that 60 years ago, “you didn’t think about paying anything going there.”

A group of four women at the St. Michaels Senior Center remembered how attending the fair was free in the past.

“The very first time I attended the fair was in the 1940s when I was a newlywed,” one woman said. “We went over there and the rodeo was free. The parking was free.”

Those going this year should plan on shelling out money for admission — $5 for adults and $3 for seniors/children — and parking — $5. The rodeo tickets range in price from $3 to $12 depending on day and age. The Night Performance on Saturday is $3 per person.

This year, camping will only be allowed in designated areas, and no vending will be allowed along side the road during the parade due to safety concerns. Also for safety reason, the speed limit is 25 miles per hour. Heavy traffic is expected during the peak days of the fair.

Other events held during the fair include the Navajo Song and Dance on Saturday and Sunday, the Frybread Contest on the 6th through the 9th, livestock shows and the fine arts and crafts exhibit.

Thursday Sept. 6 is Ashkii Happy Kid’s Day, a day which the President of the Navajo Nation particularly enjoys.

“He loves the Ashkii Happy Youth Day because it draws the kids and he’s able to give away stuff like school supplies, toys, and a couple of bikes. He also gets a kick out of how the older kids know who he is and whisper, ‘Joe Shirley, Joe Shirley ... ,’” said George Hardeen, Shirley’s spokesman.

Also being held on Kid’s Day is the 3rd Annual Exceptional Children’s Rodeo, which is targeted to mentally and physically challenged children in grades kindergarten through eighth.

“The Exceptional Children’s Rodeo completes the circle,” George Arthur, a founding member of the event, said. “This event offers our people the chance to join together to recognize our Navajos with disabilities and give them the chance to shine at our nation’s fair.”

The fairgrounds are located in the heart of Window Rock, which is near the Arizona-New Mexico border on Arizona Highway 264. Directions and other information can be found on the Navajo Nation Fair Web site.