Champions of yesteryear: Native American Rodeo Historical Society to meet Saturday

WINDOW ROCK – The Native American Rodeo Historical Society will host a meeting for its members and the general public on Saturday at the Navajo Nation Quality Inn in Window Rock, starting at 9 a.m.

The nonprofit is looking to hit the reset button as the last meeting had only four members show up.

“Since Covid, we’ve had some meetings but it wasn’t like what we’ve had before,” said Fern Spencer, the vice-president of the association. “When we started in 2013, we were really gung-ho about it and then Covid hit.

“We all stayed home until things got better and we thought we could meet again, but that really didn’t happen,” she added.

Spencer said she got roped into joining the society because of her late father, Roy Spencer.

“I have a lot of my dad’s stuff when he was president of the AIRCA back in the late 50s and early 60s,” she said. “He kept rodeo posters and standings and other people have done the same too.”

Spencer said the NARHS is a respectable organization which caters to the cowboys, cowgirls, stock contractors and rodeo personnel of the yesteryears of Indian rodeo.

“We want to get to together and hopefully we can recognize these people,” she said. “We want to establish a hall of fame and recognize all the things they have done.”

Founding member Ken Peterson told the Navajo Times in a 2014 article the purpose of the organization was “to help preserve the history and background of Navajo Indian rodeo. It’s basically the rodeos that took place on the Navajo Reservation going back to the 1950s and so on.”

Peterson said the intent of the group was to help “educate the general public on the impact rodeo has had on the lives of Native people.”

Since the pandemic, Spencer said the nonprofit has met two separate times.

“When we got together in Holbrook we had eight members there, which was good,” she said.

At their recent meeting at Fire Rock Casino, Spencer said Peterson, Juan Martinez and Stanley Kedelty were the only members present.

“We really couldn’t do anything,” she said.

Spencer said the rodeo historical society got started in 2013 under the advisement of Peterson, who started the necessary paperwork to incorporate the organization as a nonprofit. They are certified by the state of New Mexico and the Navajo Nation.

Early in its inception the association had 26 full-time members that paid their membership dues.

“Our meetings varied from 25 to 30 people,” Spencer said of those early get-togethers. “You know, Eugene Charley was part of it, and he did the documentation to establish our articles of incorporation.

“Eugene started the IJRA and that’s been the building block to where all these cowboys and cowgirls started,” she added.

As for the hall of fame, Spencer said that’s going to take some time and money to get that going.

In the meantime, she’s hoping to get more people interested and involved with the association.

“We would appreciate if they would come to our Saturday meeting,” she said. “If they come, we’re asking them to bring in some old photos or other memorabilia to the meeting.”

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