Kay Curley Bennett (1922–1997), often known as Kaibah, was a

Navajo The Navajo or Diné are an Indigenous people of the Southwestern United States. Their traditional language is Diné bizaad, a Southern Athabascan language. The states with the largest Diné populations are Arizona (140,263) and New Mexico (1 ...

artist, dollmaker, musician, and writer. She was also an activist and very active in the Navajo community.

Life

Bennett was born in a

hogan A hogan ( or ; from Navajo ' ) is the primary, traditional dwelling of the Navajo people. Other traditional structures include the summer shelter, the underground home, and the sweat house. A hogan can be round, cone-shaped, multi-sided, or squ ...

at Sheepsprings Trading Post near

Sheep Springs, New Mexico Sheep Springs () is a census-designated place (CDP) in San Juan County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 237 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Farmington Metropolitan Statistical Area. Geography According to the United State ...

on the

Navajo Reservation The Navajo Nation (), also known as Navajoland, is an Indian reservation of Navajo people in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah. The seat of government is located in ...

. She was born to a traditional Navajo family who herded sheep. She studied at Toadlena Indian School and completed her primary education there. Then in the 1930s the Navajo Livestock Reduction program caused economic hardship for her family, and in 1935 Bennett went to live with a missionary family in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. During World War II, she worked in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

at an aircraft plant. She moved back to New Mexico in the 1940s and became a dorm attendant at Toadlena Indian School. Then, from 1947 to 1952, she worked at the

Phoenix Indian School The Phoenix Indian School, or Phoenix Indian High School in its later years, was a Bureau of Indian Affairs-operated school in Encanto, Phoenix, Encanto Village, in the heart of Phoenix, Arizona. It served lower grades also from 1891 to 1935, an ...

as a teacher, interpreter, and head of special education. She married Russel C. Bennett, an engineer from

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

, in 1956. They had two daughters. Bennett was named Arizona's Mother of the Year in 1968, and was the first Native woman in the state to be awarded the honor. From 1969 to 1972, she was the

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

Human Rights Commissioner. From 1974 to 1982, Bennett was on the Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonial's board of directors. She was a supervisor for student teachers on the reservation from 1976 to 1984. Bennett ran for

Chairman of the Navajo Nation The Chairman of the Navajo Nation was the head of the government at the formation of the Tribal Council and the government entity to interact with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The office was replaced by the President of the Navajo Nation in 1991 du ...

in 1984, but was disqualified before the election because she did not live on the Reservation. She ran again in 1990 as a write-in canditate, challenging the rules (which would be changed later) that candidates must live on the Reservation and hold, or have previously held, an office or employment by the tribe. She did not win the election, but set a record as the first woman to run for the position. Bennett died on November 18, 1997 in

Gallup, New Mexico Gallup is a city in McKinley County, New Mexico, United States, with a population of 21,899 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A substantial percentage of its population is Native Americans in the United States, Native American, wi ...

, her town of residence.

Works

While Kaibah did use the name Kay Curley Bennett, she often used her Navajo name, Kaibah, as her artist name. She wrote and illustrated books, wrote poetry, made Navajo dolls, designed clothing,and recorded music, including traditional Navajo music. She was also a poet and a clothing designer.

Music

Starting in the 1960s, she self-published her own albums. She made songs in the English and

languages.

Discography

* ''Kaibah'' * Navajo Love Songs * Songs from the Navajo Nation

Writing

* ''Kaibah: Recollections of a Navajo Girlhood'' (1964) is Bennett's autobiography about her childhood. * ''A Navajo Saga'' (1972) is a historical novel co-written by Bennett and her husband. It is noted as a well-researched account of Navajo history in the 1860s–including the Long Walk and the

Treaty of Bosque Redondo The Treaty of Bosque Redondo (Spanish for "Round Forest") also the Navajo Treaty of 1868 or Treaty of Fort Sumner, Navajo or ) was an agreement between the Navajo and the US Federal Government signed on June 1, 1868. It ended the Navajo Wars ...

–from a Navajo perspective. * ''Keesh, the Navajo Indian Cat'' (1989) is a children's book, written and illustrated by Bennett.

Legacy

Some of Kaibah's artwork (including her dolls) have been shown in art exhibitions in the United States. One of her dolls is displayed at

Canyon Records Canyon Records of Phoenix, Arizona, is a record label that has produced and distributed Native American music for 56 years. History Canyon was founded in 1951 by Ray and Mary Boley, who had opened the first recording studio in Phoenix, Arizon ...

, a Native American record label based in Phoenix, Arizona.

References

External links

Mixed Messages: Pablita Velarde, Kay Bennett, and the Changing Meaning of Anglo-Indian Intermarriage in Twentieth-Century New Mexico
''Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies,'' Vol. 26, No. 3 (2005), pp. 101–134 (34 pages) University of Nebraska Press * Some dolls by Kay C Bennett: *
Female doll (1965)
at the

National Museum of the American Indian The National Museum of the American Indian is a museum in the United States devoted to the culture of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. It is part of the Smithsonian Institution group of museums and research centers. The museum has three ...

(NMAI) *
Female doll (before 1966)
at the NMAI *
Female doll (1967)
at the NMAI {{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Kay Curley 1922 births 1997 deaths 20th-century American singer-songwriters 20th-century American women singers 20th-century Native American artists 20th-century Native American women 20th-century Native American writers American artists American dollmakers American women children's writers American women memoirists Artists from New Mexico Native American children's writers Native American fashion designers Native American memoirists Native American people from New Mexico Native American women memoirists Navajo artists Navajo women artists Navajo women writers Navajo-language singers People from Gallup, New Mexico People from San Juan County, New Mexico Writers from New Mexico