New Mexico broadcaster delivers sports in Navajo

[Judi Lynn]

New Mexico broadcaster delivers sports in Navajo
Harrison Dehiya: 'We're doing 99 percent in Navajo'
Published 7:21 PM MST Feb 07, 2014
By Orlando Sanchez

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. —For most places outside the big cities of New Mexico, high school sports reign supreme, especially throughout Native American communities, and one sportscaster is spreading the word through the Navajo language.

Harrison Dehiya has been announcing sports in Navajo for the past 16 years. He is calling sports for KGAK radio in Gallup. He doesn't know of any other station across the country calling games in Navajo to the extent he does.

''We're doing 99 percent in Navajo,'' said Dehiya.

He does play-by-play for basketball and football games across the state; he'll even be broadcasting games in Arizona. Publications like Sports Illustrated and the New York Times have featured Dehiya in stories.

''I just listen to Harrison and you're on the edge of your seat,'' said KGAK senior account executive Pat Jarvison Barton. ''Our language is a descriptive language and everything, the play-by-play action, he brings it to life.''

Dehiya takes pride in preserving his first language. ''Navajo Code Talkers are well-known with our language and I would like to keep this alive. Our language is still strong and we can broadcast it in Navajo.''

More:
http://www.koat.com/news/new-mexico/new-mexico-broadcaster-delivers-sports-in-navajo/-/9153762/24360518/-/12700k4/-/index.html

[Tanuki]

1. The late Ernie Manuelito used to broadcast out of Window Rock

You would hear an extended football play-by-play in Dine (the Navajo language), punctuated by something in English like "First Down!", which apparently doesn't have a suitable translation.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121760655