Gallup Sun

UNM-Gallup professor Joe Kee stresses importance of keeping Navajo language alive

As a professor of Navajo language, Joe Kee teaches Diné students their native tongue at The University of New Mexico-Gallup, but he acknowledges that classroom lessons on their own are not enough to keep the language alive.

During his Nov. 30 presentation entitled “Maintaining Native Languages: The Critical Foundations for Language Strength and Survival,” Kee talked about the challenges in teaching young people Diné bizaad due to historical trauma and generational gaps.

“Every day we hear Native languages are becoming critically endangered, that we’re losing the language at a rapid rate, and...

The holiday season is here and that means there is no shortage of options as far as seasonal fare goes. For a film critic, it can be a bit difficult to recommend something at this time of year that few have seen. Like everyone else, it’s easy to suggest familiar favorites, so I’ll run down obvious titles before drawing attention to a few that deserve more attention.

 

Naturally, if you haven’t seen them, it’s certainly worth checking out classics like It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), A Christmas Carol (1951) aka Scrooge (this is the British production with Alistair Sim) along with White Christmas (1954). Those looking for some holiday trivia may be...

Welcome to another look at some of the highlights arriving on Blu-ray and DVD. Due to the upcoming holiday, this edition isn’t quite as busy as others, but it does contain two major Oscar contenders and a few alternate releases. So, if you can’t make it out to the movies this week, need to spend time indoors or require some recovery time from festivities, be sure to give one of these titles a try!



BIG NEW RELEASES!



THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN: Set in Ireland on a remote island, two villagers and longtime friends reach an impasse when one of them decides to suddenly end their friendship. Shocked and saddened, one of the men tries to figure out what he did wrong...

The University of New Mexico-Gallup hosted more than 800 community members on campus and lit up more than 1,000 luminarias for its eighth “Holiday in New Mexico” event Dec. 1

“Holiday in New Mexico” has become a modern tradition at UNM-Gallup. It started in 2013 as the brainchild of the late Marilee Petranovich, who worked as the senior public relations specialist. The event was put on hold for two years during the COVID-19 pandemic but made its successful return to campus this year.

“This year’s event was fun, magical and filled with excitement,” Senior Web Designer Carmen Wellborn, who coordinated the event, said. “After only two months of preparation, everything...