It's probably safe to say that the Miss Navajo pageant is the only contest for young women in which—as one former crown-holder puts it—“a lady needs to know how to butcher a sheep.” Inaugurated in 1952, the Miss Navajo pageant features a number of interesting competitive categories related to Navajo culture in the areas of tribal history, traditional arts (such as singing or drumming), domestic skills (fry-bread making, rug weaving, etc.), native language proficiency, and the aforementioned sheep butchering (swimsuits and baton twirling are notably absent here). Billy Luther's engaging Sundance-aired documentary interweaves interview clips of former Miss Navajo winners with fly-on-the-wall footage shot during the three-day 2005 competition, focusing in particular on 21-year-old Crystal Frazier, a somewhat shy, intelligent, and well-spoken (at least in English; her Navajo is a bit rusty) hopeful who the camera follows from her decision to enter the contest, up through the awards ceremony itself (as well as a brief one-year-later coda). Along the way, viewers will hear inspiring stories about the amazing resiliency of Navajo culture from earlier winners, who recall the miseries of being forcibly assimilated into mainstream American culture (Native American children once routinely had their mouths washed out with soap for speaking their own languages in the classroom), yet also proudly point to the survival of a vibrant traditional culture and cherish their roles as goodwill ambassadors for their people. An interesting portrait of a decidedly different pageant—plus-sized women compete right alongside the petite (and, frankly, bigger biceps are an advantage in sheep wrangling)—Miss Navajo is recommended. Aud: C, P. (R. Pitman)
Miss Navajo
(2006) 60 min. DVD: $99.95: public libraries; $295: colleges & universities. The Cinema Guild. PPR. ISBN: 0-7815-1243-3 (dvd). Volume 23, Issue 4
Miss Navajo
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