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FARMINGTON — The “Hero Twins in Modern Navajo Society” workshop is continuing its goal of teaching Navajo tradition and culture to Navajo boys and young men.

The workshop’s name is based on the Navajo creation story about the Hero Twins, sons of Changing Woman, who eliminated the monsters that plagued the Diné.

This is the fifth year the event is being sponsored by the Miss Navajo Council Inc., a nonprofit organization whose membership includes former Miss Navajos from 1952 to present.

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Geri Gamble, the council’s treasurer, said the conference is a way for the former Miss Navajos to continue “enforcing the language, culture and traditions” many of them focused on during their reigns.

“We want to give students the opportunity to pick up a piece of the culture,” said Gamble, the Miss Navajo titleholder from 1989 to 1990.

Although the five workshops, happening on Saturday at the San Juan College Henderson Fine Arts Center, are geared towards Navajo boys and young men, from kindergarten to 12th grades, it is open to everyone, she said.

The five sessions will focus on fire making, traditional Navajo horsemanship, Twin Heroes storytelling, Navajo bow guard making, and multi-media storytelling.

Boyd Brodie, a horse trainer from Pinedale Chapter, is conducting the traditional horsemanship workshop, where he will talk about the responsibilities of being a horse owner and explain the role horses continue to have in Navajo culture.

The fire making workshop will center on creating fire and how it is one of the central elements to Navajo culture.

One of the hands-on activities is making a Navajo bow guard, which was used to protect the wrist from the snapping of a bowstring. The workshop will be presented by Matthew Tafoya.

Navajo Nation Poet Laureate Luci Tapahonso will deliver the keynote speech.

Also speaking at the event are local high school students, Ariana Young of Farmington High School and Adriano Tsinigine of Navajo Preparatory School.

Last year the council hosted the Diné Iiná dóó Naataanii (Leadership) Academy in Tuba City, Ariz., where 36 students attended. Young and Tsinigine were selected from that event to give a speech at Saturday’s event, Gamble said.

Noel Lyn Smith covers the Navajo Nation for The Daily Times. She can be reached at 505-564-4636 and nsmith@daily-times.com. Follow her @nsmithdt on Twitter.

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