Navajo Skies
Tonight, we will be hosting a special event. The meeting will start with the planetarium show "Navajo Skies" followed by a short presentation from the Creators of the show, Dr Nancy Maryboy and Dr David Begay. It will be a privilege to learn about the traditional perspective of the Navajo people on the night sky from such honored experts. Please see the official description and the profiles of Dr Maryboy and Dr Begay below for more details.
Watch and listen to a Navajo Indian family teach their children and grandchildren about the Navajo night skies, through story and music, in a traditional Navajo Hogan (home). Learn how Coyote tossed up a blanket full of crystals, creating stars and chaos in the Universe. NAVAJO SKIES is a full-dome animated star show featuring authentic Navajo astronomy stories told in Navajo and English, with traditional Navajo songs and Native American flute music. The show was created and recorded in the Navajo Nation. (35 minutes)
Created by the Indigenous Education Institute
Navajo Nation, UT, and San Juan Islands, WA
Flute music by Tommy Wildcat.
Voices by Navajos from Bluff UT and Navajo Nation
About Dr. Nancy Maryboy
Dr. Nancy C. Maryboy is the Founding President and Executive Director of the Indigenous Education Institute, (IEI) located in the San Juan Islands, in Washington, and on the Navajo Nation. IEI is an all Indigenous institution with a mission to preserve, protect and apply traditional Indigenous knowledge in contemporary settings. She is an Affiliate Professor at the University of Washington, in the School of Environmental Sciences and Forestry. She has been a Principal Investigator for National Science Foundation funded projects including the Cosmic Serpent, IWISE and Native Universe and is currently PI for IEI’s LIFEways: Learning In and From the Environment Through Multiple Ways of Knowing. Dr. Maryboy is a PI for IEI’s NASA HEAT. She works with the University of New Mexico Superfund program. She is the President of Whiteswan Environmental, a Coast Salish organization located in WA. She has written several books and numerous articles on collaboration between Indigenous communities and science centers, with a focus on Navajo astronomy. She was an advisor to the `Imiloa Science Center’s Full dome planetarium show, One Sky, a new award-winning show, She works with Indigenous schools around the world.. Dr. Maryboy is the administrator of two Makerplace projects from JHAPL NASA missions– EZIE and Parker Probe. She was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries and Museums. Dr. Maryboy is Navajo and Cherokee. She comes from a family of traditional and medical healers, on the Navajo Nation and in the Pacific Northwest.
About Dr. David Begay
David Begay, Ph.D. is currently an Associate Research Professor with the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, in the College of Pharmacy, Community Environmental Health Program working with several federal health research projects, including NIH, Environmental Health Disparities, among others. David is a former part-time faculty at Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, in the Department of Physics and Astronomy for 20 years. He is also a former professor and academic dean for Dine’ (Navajo Nation) College. He is currently VP for the Indigenous Education Institute, Friday Harbor, Washington. He has also worked with NSF and other federal projects including NASA for 20 plus years, Jet Propulsion Lavatory, and Goddard Space Flight Center on space science and heliophysics educational outreach. David is considered a tribal elder and provides cultural consultant services to many organizations and corporations both in the United States and internationally.