On Saturday, Arizona’s humanities council is once again teaming up with an Indigenous nonprofit to organize an all-day celebration of a unique staple from the Southwest. Blue corn is not only nutritious, it’s also synonymous with traditional ceremonies across this arid land.
Amber McCrary, who is Diné and the programs manager with AZ Humanities, says that’s why for the second year running, a festival named after this desert crop is taking root in downtown Phoenix.
“Blue corn, it’s always been there in my life,” said McCrary, “and I would just like to see it kind of become this bigger thing that we all will celebrate together.”
This time around, the festival is tied to funding from a Smithsonian initiative where each state is responsible for hosting a single folklife event this year, in honor of the country’s 250th anniversary.
It’s called “By the People: Conversations Beyond 250” — a collaboration between the Federation of State Humanities Councils and Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.
The budget for AZ Humanities got slashed by more than $1 million last April when the now defunct Department of Government Efficiency — DOGE — made federal cuts to the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Organizers weren’t sure whether the Blue Corn Festival would return.
“Even before the founding of this country — blue corn — our Indigenous foodways were shared and celebrated,” said Diné co-organizer Kinsale Drake, founder of the NDN Girls Book Club. “But they are here, right? And they have survived, and we’ve protected these foodways.”
From eating blue corn donuts to reading poetry, organizers look to have fun and foster new conversations about food sovereignty and cultural identity through food, art and storytelling – even down to the wardrobe.
“Last year, we had a really big turnout, but we’ve just been getting a lot of buzz so we’re really excited to see how many people show up,” added Drake. “If you are coming to the festival, wear your best blue. We have a dress code.”
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![The Long family [clockwise from top left] Joni Lapahie, Dáilan Long, Jona Lapahie, Emma Long and Emery Long.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/ac75967/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4032x2246+0+389/resize/280x156!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F8c%2F3e%2Fcb7758794c59b588da1f9a3323b8%2Flong-family-household-burnham-nm-gp-202602.jpg)
Coal has long been the economic bedrock of the Navajo Nation, which owns deposits in Wyoming, Montana and New Mexico. Now, the tribe is asking the Trump administration to dramatically expand the life — and size — of an operational coal mine that could uproot the lives of some Navajo families. And their longtime homes — literally. -
So instead of Santa hand-delivering stockings of coal along with his team of reindeer, it’s NTEC — or the Navajo Transitional Energy Company — with its diesel-powered trucks trekking across the sprawling 27,000-square-mile reservation. -
Coal is perhaps most closely associated with Appalachian states like West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Kentucky — or Wyoming, the nation’s leading producer of the fossil fuel. But the coal-mining business was once thriving in northern Arizona as well, atop the Colorado Plateau. -
CRIT leaders say a new plan to share the Colorado River is being rushed by the Bureau of Reclamation. -
Bertram Tsavadawa is a member of the Hopi Tribe and offers tours of the reservation through his company, Ancient Pathways Tours; he’s been doing that for nearly 25 years.
![The Long family [clockwise from top left] Joni Lapahie, Dáilan Long, Jona Lapahie, Emma Long and Emery Long.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/8f96e94/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4032x2246+0+389/resize/560x312!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F8c%2F3e%2Fcb7758794c59b588da1f9a3323b8%2Flong-family-household-burnham-nm-gp-202602.jpg)
