Navajo Fair

NAVAJO FAIR September 20, 21, 22

Ready for the Show The Navajo Fair at Window Rock, Arizona, to be held the latter part of September, is planned and staged for the entertainment and instruction of the thousands of Navajos on the reservation. White visitors are merely incidental. It's an Indian show, but the white visitor will find much to instruct and amuse him.

In September of each year the Navajo tribesmen gather from all parts of northeastern Ari-zona and northwestern New Mexico to celebrate at their annual fair. The third annual Navajo Tribal fair will be held September 20, 21 and 22 at the fair grounds of the Navajo Capital at Win-dow Rock, Arizona.

The Navajo Fair is an utterly delightful event. The long summer is over, and September is a month of harvest and thanksgiving for 50,000 Navajo In-dians. Navajos who have spent the summer far out in Navajoland gather at the Fair for a period of celebration and entertainment. The event bristles with excitement, color, gaiety and action. Visitors are welcome, and for them the exhibits of Indian arts and crafts will hold interest. But while the Fair is open for visitors, it is essentially an Indian affair, and for that reason will be of greater interest to those travelers following the trails westward during September.

Mothers, fathers, sons and daughters of the nation's largest Indian tribe are already looking forward to the Fair and preparing to enter their finest livestock, agriculture, their famous Navajo blan-kets and turquoise and silver jewelry in the various exhibit buildings for rich cash prizes. The weaver of the finest Navajo blanket is honored each year by her people and her blanket is displayed and she is awarded a prize before the assembled throng.

A feature of the 1940 Fair will be the presentation of a pageant of Navajo history in which one thousand Navajos will participate. The entire dialogue will be in the Navajo language. Brief English interpretations will inform nonNavajo spectators. It will be the first time in the history of the tribe that dramatics have been attempted and ethnologists and others interested in the Nανajos have shown keen interest in the production which will be given each night with the assistance of colorful lighting effects.

The rodeo is one of the big features of the Navajo Fair. Navajos, some of the best horsemen in the world, give daring exhibitions of speed, skill and courage in vying with their fellows for prizes and the acclaim of the Navajo Nation. To excel in horsemanship is the ambition of every Navajo.

Color at the Fair

The Navajo Fair in September is a colorful gathering of Indians who have been far in Navajoland all summer and gather together for holiday fun. Afternoon activities will center around the one-half mile race track where horse-racing, the delight of the Indian, will attract more than 10,000 Navajos to the huge grandstand which has been carved from a natural hillside. Other events will be the run of the rodeo including fast bucking and roping exclusively by the Navajos.

The Navajos jealously regard the Fair as their own and no other Indians are invited to participate, although they are all welcome as spectators.

At the Market Place

The Navajo Market at Window Rock is a busy place during the fair. Here Navajos gather from all over the reservation, engage in the social amenities, and shop and bargain by the hour.