On the evening of April 2, viewers in Star Hall laughed and cheered as they watched the very building they were sitting in projected onto the big screen. Everyone was gathered to celebrate and view the film debut of Navajo Highways, supported by the Utah Film Commission, the Moab to Monument Valley Film Commission, and First Nations Experience.
Moab area folks may know Navajo Highways from its days as a live puppet show. Since its creation in 2022, the show has centered around characters moving through the Navajo Nation, sharing stories and culture, and preserving the Diné language.
Pete Sands is the writer and director for the show. He was born and raised on the Navajo Nation and is known as a Grand County School District parent and the frontman of Pete Sands and The Drifters. Sands was named Time Magazine 2020 Guardian of the Year for his work helping the Navajo Nation amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In the middle of Covid, I realized during my time on the Navajo Nation, that the Navajo language itself was and is dwindling,” Sands said. “And so I thought to myself, ‘How can I contribute to teaching the Navajo language? Or at least get the young people interested in the Navajo culture and language?”
The seed for Navajo Highways was planted in 2019, while Sands was working on the television series “Yellowstone.” He was in New York and was invited to visit the set of Sesame Street. It was then that he was inspired to create something of his own.
Sands created the touring puppet show in 2022, now a television series that follows Sadie, a young girl from Salt Lake City, during her summer spent staying with her Grandma Sally. The show takes place in the fictitious town of Mitten Creek on the Navajo Nation, but much of it is filmed in Moab, Castle Valley, Spanish Valley, and Bluff.
The audience, with Sadie, learns words in Diné. They also learn meaningful lessons with Sadie as she navigates life in Mitten Creek.
“Your word is your bond,” Uncle Al, a puppet character that is a world famous rodeo star, tells Sadie in one of the three episodes shared with attendees on Tuesday night.
Among the puppet personalities are human actors that help bring Mitten Creek and the story of Navajo Highways to life. One of the actors is Nicco Montaño, the first Native American to be a world champion UFC fighter.
“I feel like my time with UFC and fighting and doing all that was so I could have a mike in my hand at the end of it and really tell everyone where I got my strength, you know. That’s from my culture,” Montaño, who is Diné, said during the Q&A session. “[Acting] is a different form of art but it’s the same message…If I can do it, you can do it, and whatever you put your mind to.”
Many of the show’s cast and crew were present that evening, which included Libby Bailey, the Assistant Principal of Helen M Knight Elementary in Moab.
“I believe that what Navajo Highways will do for schools, both on the Reservation or here in Grand County, will put kids that look like them on the screen, evelate culture and language, identify sameness and differences,” Bailey said during the Q & A. “I think we need to build upon sameness and differences as well as find common ground, but also just laugh and cackle together…”
Sands described his vision of what folks can take away from the show, saying, “I think what I hope that people take away from Navajo Highways is that we truly are a melting pot. And that Moab and the surrounding areas are Indigenous lands that were inhabited by Indigenous peoples long before it was settled by the pioneers. There is such a rich culture that resides within Grand County and San Juan County that cannot be ignored. We all live here and we all have to learn how to live together. And I hope that the TV show can make it easier for all of us to learn, live, and laugh together.”
In the crowd was Sand’s wife, Kristen, and their three children. The youngest was wearing the jacket that Sadie wears in the show. Their middle daughter was celebrating her birthday. A feeling of community and connection anchored the event.
“Big thanks to the community,” said Executive Producer Linda Miller. “You supported us, you fed us, you housed us, you put up with us. I’m really grateful and so happy to be in a really magical, beautiful place.”
The debut of Navajo Highways will continue to Salt Lake City, Albuquerque, NM, and Phoenix AZ. All six episodes of the first season will be available to the public in May on a free streaming service called FNX, short for First Nations Experience, which is a PBS Affiliate Station.
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