Elder of the year puts up fight to end elder abuse
Navajo Times | Donovan Quintero Navajo Nation Area Agency on Aging Elder of the Year Franklin Sandman from Sheep Springs, N.M., waves to the crowd Saturday morning during the 104th annual Northern Navajo Fair parade in Shiprock.
Navajo Times | Donovan Quintero
Navajo Nation Area Agency on Aging Elder of the Year Franklin Sandman from Sheep Springs, N.M., waves to the crowd Saturday morning during the 104th annual Northern Navajo Fair parade in Shiprock.
SHIPROCK, N.M.
When Franklin Sandman dons his leather crown, he knows he’s representing all the elders on the Navajo Nation.
For the last four years, Sandman, 80, has held the title of Elder of the Year, an honor bestowed by the Navajo Area Agency on Aging. As king, Sandman wears a handcrafted leather crown on the brim of his cowboy hat. He visits elders throughout the Southwest, advocates for elder rights at local and state levels and serves as a beacon of light for elders in every community.
That’s what Sandman, of Sheep Springs, was doing Saturday at the Northern Navajo Fair when he kicked up his heels at the Song and Dance Arena, the leather crown bobbing with the beat.
“As Elder of the Year, I’m visible,” he said. “I wear my leather crown so people know.”
The honor is not unlike the myriad princesses crowned on the Navajo Nation every year. Young women across the reservation and in border towns endure sometimes grueling competitions that test their modern and traditional talents, language skills and even sheep-butchering abilities.
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