http://www.daily-times.com/news/ci_5286171

Young Navajo women to join Up With People tour

By Lindsay Whitehurst The Daily Times
Article Launched:02/23/2007 12:00:00 AM MST

FARMINGTON — There's at least one thing Autumn Martinez and Sharmarine
Light want to tell the world about the Navajo culture.

"We don't live in tepees!" Martinez, who is 18 and grew up outside Gallup,
said.

"A lot of people think we walk around wearing feathers," Light, 20, of
Farmington, said.

They'll soon get the chance to set the record straight when they travel the
world with Up with People, a student exchange and community service program
that came through Farmington and Kirtland earlier this month.

The two young women will leave July 7 for a six-month tour of the U.S.,
Europe and Asia. But before they leave, they'll need to raise about $11,800
in tuition. They're mainly counting on donations.

They will perform a traditional horse song about blue horse, one of several
Navajo horse songs, during the Up with People tour. The song was performed
by both young women during concerts in San Juan County in early February.

"It's about how you go out, and you have a special bond with your horse.
He's calling to you, calling your name, and you go out and pet him in the
morning, in the evening, and at dusk," Martinez said.

It's about the human connection with the animal — a feeling the
rodeo-loving Martinez knows well.

"It's just part of me," she said.

She sings the many cyclical verses with the subtle rise and fall that gives
the Navajo language its inherent melody.

In the show, Martinez wears a long, green silk and lace dress her
grandmother made with her United Tribe Club Princess sash and crown. Light
wears a knee-length, tan-and-red knit dress and her UTC Ambassador sash.
Both wear turquoise broaches, necklaces and bracelets. On their feet are
moccasins with deerskin wraps up the legs.

For both women, the program is a way to see the world — without joining the
military, often considered the only option for young Navajos who grew up
without money to take a globe-trotting tour, they said.

"That's how I felt," Light said. "That's the only way to travel."

She's looking forward to seeing Japan.

"I like the way the culture is, (and) the people are," she said. "It seems
unique."

But she already knows she's going to miss her 2 and 6-year-old niece and
nephew.

Martinez, meanwhile, wants to go to Egypt, but she's going to miss the
mountains of the Four Corners.

"Now, I wake up every morning and see Mt. Taylor," she said.

The pair got together just days before Up with People came to town. They've
both been candidates in native pageants and their talent caught San Juan
College's Darrell Morris's eye. When Up with People staff called looking
for Navajo performers, he had just the right people in mind.

"They are teachers," said Morris, who is interim director of the Native
American Program at the college. "They are educating the world about Native
Americans."

To make tuition donations for Martinez and Light, call Morris at (505)
566-3357 or administrative assistant Kasey Jones at (505) 566-3321.

Lindsay Whitehurst: lwhitehurst@...