Miss Navajo...the plight of the Native American Indian!

A short while ago, I attended a screening of "Miss Navajo", sponsored by the local organization named Project: Involve.

In fact, "Project: Involve", has showcased a handful of films crafted by talented filmmakers of color at various festivals over the past year.

In the documentary film - "Miss Navajo" - filmmaker Billy Luther follows a Native American Indian woman as she prepares to compete for a pageant that was first created in 1952 by the tribe as part of a "modernization" process.

Unlike the USA pageant - where glitz and glamour is the order of the day - the judges & contestants alike met for their annual event in humble environs at the local Days Inn not far from the reservation.

For a Navajo teen, the title of Miss Navajo is an honor.

As a one of the contestants noted, the winner will essentially be an Ambassador for the Navajo Nation, enlightening the masses around the globe about their matriarchal society, where home and family are key.

"With this film we look at what is beauty, and what beauty means to the Navajo people, and we do that in a pretty fun way through the beauty pageant," Luther said.

While a Miss America contestant may have to model a bathing suit - or exhibit some talent, like singing or public speaking - the contestants here face a rigorous test in homemaking skills such as cooking.

In addition, the young ladies must establish to the elders that they have the ability to not only converse in the Navajo language, but - more shocking (and disgusting) perhaps - demonstrate an ability to butcher a sheep!

Whoa!

That was a tough one to watch.

In one touching scene, the young native women struggle to converse with the panel of Judges in their native tongue.

At this juncture the documentary takes a heart-wrenching turn.

The director reveals archival photos of young children of the tribe who were once housed in Boarding Schools on the reservation where they were forced to speak English. If any young one spoke their native tongue, their mouths were washed out with soap, or they were forced to scrub the floors with their toothbrushes.

A former Miss Navajo noted that if a language disappears in a twenty-year period, the culture itself may vanish shortly thereafter.

The documentary then switched gears to focus on the efforts of the tribal leaders to preserve their language and culture in the modern day.

I was captivated when one young lady spoke of some of their legends; in particular, the one about a Lady Prophet who cast a handful of sunbeams and moonlight which magically painted the landscape and bestowed all the wonders of nature on the Navajo people.

Billy Luther, a Native American Indian himself (his mother was a former Miss Navajo) has weaved a beautiful narrative, utilizing haunting music and dynamic images of the great desert expanse to its greatest effect.

The short documentary is a must-see.