Native woman shares filmmaking journey

The path of a filmmaker is one many people dream of taking, but it is a steep climb, one that requires dedication and attention to detail. It is a challenge that Deidra Peaches was willing to tackle.

Hailing from Flagstaff, Ariz., Peaches is Todích’íí’nii, or Bitter Water, and was born for Lók’aa’ dine’é, or Reed People. She is a self-taught, full-time filmmaker who has devoted her time and effort to documentary filmmaking since 2011.

On her website, Peaches states she has reclaimed her identity and cultural understanding through filmmaking. The amount of Native-produced media available today “has enabled Native...

Diné sewing group fights COVID-19 with creativity

Theresa Hatathlie-Delmar is a COVID-19 fashion innovator. She and the seamstresses and tailors in her group take a surprising list of items, including lingerie elastic and Tyvek and Everbuilt home wrap to design and sew masks and gowns for the Navajo Nation and the Hopi people to help protect them against the virus.

When Hatathlie-Delmar was designated to coordinate a sewing group on March 23. It was only six days after she heard about a COVID-19 case on the Navajo Nation in Dennehotso, Ariz.

Hatathlie-Delmar had only a small personal stockpile of fabric and thread that she used to sew, weave and bead to earn money. But the...

Ben Kruise is an essential worker these days. The 22-year-old pilots a white Honda Civic, which has over 230k miles on it, many of those miles from trips transporting patients who tested positive for COVID-19 to area motels and alternative care facilities.

Kruise is originally from Ethiopia. He was adopted from an Ethiopian orphanage by a Gallup couple and has been living in Gallup for most of his life.

When Dr. Jennie Wei of the Gallup Indian Medical Center saw a need for more vehicles to take people to motels and places such as the Miyamura High School field hospital, she asked one of her contacts if he had any suggestions. Rick Kruise, Ben’s uncle, who works in the medical field...

Even as people stay inside during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the imminent summer season means people are going to want to buy fireworks. But Gallup Deputy Fire Chief Richard Austin says the weather conditions around McKinley County may put a damper on those plans.

“Based on the most recent U.S. drought monitor data, approximately 80-90 percent of McKinley County is either under moderate drought conditions or severe drought conditions with approximately 30 percent of McKinley County currently in severe drought conditions,” he said.

As in past years, the ban would not completely outlaw sales of fireworks, however.

“It does not ban all fireworks, only those kinds the state...