Here Before, Hear Now

Jeffrey Lazos-Fern is the marketing consultant for Arizona American Indian Tourism Association. This year he's had a major hand in putting together the Arizona Indigenous Food Symposium taking place in Old Town Scottsdale mid November. There will be a heavy focus on food sovereignty, environmental justice, as well as preserving cultural food practices. He shares how the indigenous culinary scene has grown in recent years. 

Alana Yazzie, aka The Fancy Navajo, is a Diné chef. She started posting recipes online about a decade ago and has cultivated a huge following on social media. Her first cookbook "The Modern Navajo Kitchen" will be released on October 8th. She shares recipes that highlight her Navajo culture.  

Dr. Two Bears is from the Navajo Nation. She brings a native perspective to archaeology, most recently recovering and recording information on federal Indian boarding schools. Her most recent work profiles the tribal response to the boarding Indian schools with its own community schools that heavily promote and teach Navajo language and culture.

Patty Talahongva is a Hopi journalist whose made her career in the television news industry. She’s currently working on a book focusing on Indian Boarding Schools using her first-hand experience at the Phoenix Indian School.

Chelsea Curtis is a Navajo journalist currently working for AZ Luminaria. She is currently focusing her reporting on the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, Two-Spirit and Transgender People crisis through a new grant. Chelsea is currently building a database of these cases and profiling victims, their families and advocates. She hopes data will spur change.

Logan Tsinigine details his great-great grandfather Hastin Taadidiin’s life story in the new documentary Bad Indian. It focuses on Taadiiin’s story of survival amid the forced relocation of Navajo people during the “Long Walk” by hiding in Antelope Canyon on the Navajo Nation. Tsinigine details Taadidiin’s story and also shares how his legacy in the canyon lives on to this day with Taadidiin Tours.

Arlyssa is a member of the Navajo Nation. She’s the breaking news editor and indigenous affairs reporter for The Arizona Republic. She has over a decade of experience covering Navajo Nation. She talks to Colton about her journey into journalism and about her reporting process. 

A member of the Navajo Nation, Connor Chee is a classically-trained pianist and composer. He blends his skills on the piano with his cultural heritage. He made his Carnegie Hall debut at 12 years old, and he currently has four studio albums out. 

Dr. Yvette Brown-Shirley is a member of the Navajo Nation who is a sports neurologist at Barrow Neurological Institute. Her passion is building relationships with Native American communities to address neurologic health inequities.

Natalie Benally is a Native artist who has graced the small and silver screen. She's currently based in Santa Fe, New Mexico with several projects under her belt and more in the works.