The Navajo Highways puppet show will reappear at Montezuma-Cortez High School on Saturday, April 5, from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., led by Time Magazine’s 2021 Guardian of the Year Pete Sands.
Sands created the show to educate attendees about the Navajo language. The idea came after Sands heard of a first-grade teacher who maintained her students’ attention using a hand puppet. In 2019, Sands visited the Sesame Street Headquarters in Manhattan to learn the art from the puppeteers.
Sands, a singer and actor, was named Time Magazine’s Guardian of the Year in 2021 for his work in the Navajo Nation during COVID-19. His article, “How the Coronavirus Crisis is Affecting Utah’s Navajo Nation,” was featured in Time Magazine.
Navajo Highways is set to become a TV show, with sneak peeks during the performance at MCHS. “It’ll be a mix of live skits and film skits, and a couple sneak peeks into the first season of Navajo Highway the TV show,” Sands told The Journal on Wednesday. “So people will have the chance to see how incredible the TV show looks, sounds, and feels.”
The event is free, but donations to the Native Parent Advisory Committee are welcome. MCSD Director of Native American Services Olivia Lansing shared that all proceeds will go toward the Native Parent Advisory Committee Scholarship, which helps send Indigenous students from MCHS to college.
Before his 2023 performance, Sands shared that his favorite part of the show is seeing the children’s eyes light up as they watch the puppets. Through the puppets and their story, children learn without realizing they’re learning, something Sands referred to as “magic.”
“It’s revitalizing culture and language,” Sands said. “Sometimes it takes getting outside the box. Educating people doesn’t have to be boring.”
