On March 4-9, a delegation of cultural representatives from the Navajo Nation participated in a cultural exchange visit in Yakutsk and took part in Yakutsk’s first “ethnic nomadic fashion show” entitled “Solar Deer.” The five member delegation represented various professions and backgrounds including an elementary school teacher and former Miss Navajo, a trick horseback riding coach, a traditional dwelling construction company owner, a president of an Indian technical college in New Mexico, and a traditional Navajo clothing designer. In Yakutsk the delegation met small children and their teachers at the “Polar Stars” kindergarten, chatted about Navajo life with students of the Department of State sponsored ACCESS English language micro scholarship program, and met with members of an ethnic-cultural society who honored their Native American guests with traditional rituals and a shaman ceremony.
