Navajo performer keeps traditions, culture alive through song and dance

Posted by Nick Wicksman | Dec 3, 2015 | Culture |

Special to the Times | Nick Wicksman
Jay Begaye, a horse trainer by trade, is also a Diné singer, songwriter, painter and sculptor, performed at the Fountain Hills Branch Library on Nov. 21. Begaye, who brought his two sons Jayven and Sonsiila, performed traditional Navajo prayer songs and hoop dances in an attempt to inform the audience of the Navajo lifestyle and traditions.

FOUNTAIN HILLS, Ariz.

Special to the Times | Nick Wicksman
One of two sons of Jay Begaye performs a hoop dance during the “It Makes You Well” event, which celebrated Native American Heritage

Outside a local library in Fountain Hills, Ariz., a message for dozens of people in the form of song and dance – Jay Begaye, a traditional Navajo performer, brought back what he calls dwindling traditions on Nov. 21.

Begaye, a horse trainer by trade, is also a Diné singer, songwriter, painter and sculptor who prides himself on keeping with his Native traditions and bringing those traditions alive through song and dance.

Begaye brought his two sons, Jayven and Sonsiila, to the Fountain Hills Branch Library Saturday afternoon to perform traditional Navajo prayer-songs and hoop dances in an attempt to inform the audience of the Navajo lifestyle and traditions.

But for Begaye, it was much more than just performing and informing.

“I come to give blessings,” he said. “You don’t know what position people are at; some are sick or lonely.”