"'Songs from the Rez": Songwriting Retreat on the Navajo Nation
The next retreats will be held in Many Farms on May 29-June 4 and September 24-26, 2021 (location tbd)
(click here to learn about our 2020 retreat Sardinia, Italy!)
(click here to learn about our 2020 retreat Sardinia, Italy!)
Testimonials
"It's hard for me to say a single aspect of the retreat that most affected me, because i've been struck by how many different elements were brought together to make it a powerful experience. Even so, I would say the people were by far what I liked the most about the retreat. Each person brought so much to the situation, and I felt like the setting/activities/structure/cultural context/landscape came together powerfully to help us bring out the best in ourselves.
...I am leaving with a richer sense of being able to share vulnerable and genuine connections with people through music, and in general. I am leaving feeling empowered that I have something to offer, and that songwriting is a completely worthwhile pursuit and dedication of one's energies. This retreat has deepened my feeling that I can live an artistic way of life."
Jason Murray, songwriter, guitarist and recording artist, Albuquerque, New Mexico
...I am leaving with a richer sense of being able to share vulnerable and genuine connections with people through music, and in general. I am leaving feeling empowered that I have something to offer, and that songwriting is a completely worthwhile pursuit and dedication of one's energies. This retreat has deepened my feeling that I can live an artistic way of life."
Jason Murray, songwriter, guitarist and recording artist, Albuquerque, New Mexico
"Being a part of this amazing retreat was a life-changing event for me, both as a songwriter and a human being! Magical surroundings far out in the desert, loads of beautiful songs written each day, super inspiring facilitators, wonderful yoga sessions, homemade gourmet food and new friendships for life! And on top of all this: Now I'm working on a sci-fi musical with my partner from the first co-write of the week. Go!!"
~Camille Grey, Singer, Songwriter and Recording Artist, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2017 participant
~Camille Grey, Singer, Songwriter and Recording Artist, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2017 participant
"My experience at this retreat will stick with me for a lifetime. It was challenging and emotional, but truly valuable to my growth as a songwriter. I learned as much about myself through working with the other writers as I did about their styles and techniques. Between the land and the people I got to know on this trip, it's hard to say which was more impactful. The landscape has so much to say, while the people I met genuinely touched my heart. Kristina had a vision for this retreat. I'm glad it came to be, and she is able to share it with others."
~Alicia Stockman, Singer, Songwriter and Recording Artist, Park City, Utah, 2017 participant
~Alicia Stockman, Singer, Songwriter and Recording Artist, Park City, Utah, 2017 participant
"Placebound: which made sense almost immediately. LOVED the multigenerationality. Love bringing kids from local community into it AND international folk so we all are expanding our horizons! Love the set up for the day! Breakfast, yoga, free, song circle, work all day, song share! Feel I've entered a more creatively fluent space-feeling fertile with that.
Really well designed and intentioned retreat. The focus on community, voice and cultural exchane were really clear and came through throughout the week in deeper and deeper ways. Love love love!
Christy Cook, Singer, Songwriter and Recording Artist, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 2018 Participant
Really well designed and intentioned retreat. The focus on community, voice and cultural exchane were really clear and came through throughout the week in deeper and deeper ways. Love love love!
Christy Cook, Singer, Songwriter and Recording Artist, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 2018 Participant
Workshop Description
This is an intensive weeklong songwriting workshop and yoga retreat offered in the heart of Navajo Nation in the rural community of Many Farms, Arizona. Workshop features daily songwriting assignments and guided mentoring from instructors, morning yoga classes, nightly song circles, voice lessons, and a final performance open to community members. The experience also includes opportunities to try traditional Diné foods, including a visit to the local flea market in Chinle, an introduction to contemporary language and culture of the second largest Native American nation, and is hosted by a prominent local Diné (Navajo) family on their ancestral land. Workshop is modeled on a) developing your own singing, writing and artistic voice b) cultural exchange/cultural immersion and c) building community through cowriting; participants are paired with a different cowriter each day, and will leave the retreat with up to five new cowritten songs. Retreat includes lodging (tent camping), freshly catered meals, and all instruction (songwriting, yoga and one private voice lesson). Yoga focuses on yoga for singers, musicians and performers specifically and is tailored to daily needs of participants. Facilities are rustic and are located on a working ranch, and there is no running water. You should be prepared to camp and use a self-composting outhouse (two showers/week per participant and limited wifi available on- site), and you should be prepared to participate in community life while at the retreat and respect Navajo Nation sovereign laws. Experience is immersive and you are welcome to participate in ranch and community events to the extent you are comfortable and able. Air conditioning provided in main communal space, and shade structures provided for each tent site. Open to songwriters of all levels, beginner to experienced. Also open to writers of all ilks (poets, fiction writers, spoken word artists) wanting to cross into songwriting but desiring mentoring, encouragement and inspiration to do so. Workshop limited to 10 participants.
$800 (inclusive of meals, lodging, all instruction, voice lesson and transportation to/from Albuquerque Sunport); $700 if registered by March 1st, 2019. $100 discount for commuters, full-time college students and UNM alumni. Scholarships available for Navajo Nation citizens, Veterans and high school students. Please see detailed Registration Information, here
*For those preferring to stay in a hotel, three hotels are available within a 30 minute drive in the town of Chinle (Holiday Inn, Best Western and Thunderbird Lodge).* For those performing at the Albuquerque Folk Fest, please note lodging is on your own in Albuquerque for the night of June 1st.
UNM Faculty and Staff may also sign up using their tuition remission credits through UNM's Office of Continuing Education
Sample Daily Schedule
Sample Menu
Information for Domestic and International Travelers (airports, nearby health facilities, things to pack)
Sample Menu
Information for Domestic and International Travelers (airports, nearby health facilities, things to pack)
Kristina Jacobsen, Songwriting
Meredith Wilder, Songwriting and Voice Lessons
Christy Cook, Yoga
Chucki Begay, Songwriter-in-Residence
Helen Moorefield, Catering
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About the Facilitator:
Kristina Jacobsen is a singer/songwriter, anthropologist, country artist and former Park Ranger who has lived and worked on the Navajo Nation for twenty years. A professor at the University of New Mexico, she specializes in contemporary music and politics in Navajo (Diné) communities. A mindfulness practitioner, she has taught songwriting at the University of New Mexico and in Albuquerque, and has toured in the U.S., Denmark, Sweden and Italy. As the retreat organizer and facilitator, she is excited to provide a safe and creative environment for songwriters wanting to deepen their craft as well as to offer exposure and insight into this beautiful place known as the Navajo Nation. Co-Facilitator: Meredith Wilder received a Bachelor of Arts in Music with a vocal concentration from the University of New Mexico. From 2011-2015 her main focus was writing, recording and touring with her folk-rock trio Wildewood (Self-Titled and The Other Side). She has been a member of Albuquerque’s professional choir Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico since 2009 and recently began singing with Boulder, Colorado's semi-professional chamber choir Ars Nova Singers. She has been a studio vocalist since 2007 and has recorded vocals on many Americana albums from the Southwest. Meredith has taught privately for over three years and continues to write, record and perform original music as a solo artist (Self-Titled and The Coming of the Night). Meredith will offer voice lessons during the week for interested participants. Christy Cook is a singer, songwriter, artist, art educator and Registered Yoga Teacher at the ERYT-200 hour level. Christy has practiced yoga since the age of 17 and received her teacher training from Grassroots Yoga Studios in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 2017. Striving to infuse her yoga teaching with music and vibration, Christy feels that there is a natural connection between yoga and song. As an educator, Christy is practiced in the art of creative collaboration and has taught in a wide variety of fields including visual arts, stilting, songwriting, ukulele, environmental science, and yoga. About the Songwriter-in-Residence: Chucki Begay is a Diné singer/songwriter, blueswoman and lead singer/bandleader for the Chucki Begay band. Together with lead guitarist Richi Anderson (Diné), they perform contemporary Native American rock blues. Chucki comes from a place called Dzil'abei (Gray Mountain) in northern Arizona. Chucki Begay began her music career as a solo artist and released her first CD "Songs From My Heart" in 2007. She was nominated Debut Artist of the Year in 2008 at the Native American Music Awards; she has also received honorable recognition by Native American organizations, television and radio shows, newspapers, and magazines. Her music has been hailed as empowering, soulful, compelling, and heartfelt. Since then, Chucki has become a well-established local, national and international performer. Chucki Begay Band will be releasing their first Gospel CD "Spreading the Gospel" in the next few months. About the Chef: Helen Moorefield is an in-home chef and caterer specializing in fresh, local regional entrees and desserts. Her meals feature lean meats, seafood and vegetarian fare, fresh, flavorful produce, and delicious desserts (see sample menu here). She specializes in regional American cuisines, and is also experienced in cooking gluten- and dairy-free foods for special dietary needs. |
About the Community
Many Farms, Arizona is a small farming community located in the heart of the Navajo Nation. The town features a “chapterhouse” or community center, post office, elementary and high schools, a variety of churches, a gas station, and a convenience store. Community members are known as expert weavers, silversmiths, musicians, welders, sheepherders and ranchers. The retreat will be hosted by members of the Bia family at the family sheepcamp, ranch and communal hooghan called Carson Mesa (To Sikání). (NB: For those with animal allergies, sheep, goats, horses, chickens and dogs are all at the ranch). Many Farms is a four and a half hour drive from Albuquerque, New Mexico, and three and a half hours from Flagstaff, Arizona, and these are also the closest airport locations.
About Canyon de Chelly
Canyon de Chelly National Monument is one of the only national parks in the United States located on tribal trust land. Featuring numerous ancestral Puebloan (anaasází) dwellings, the park is operated jointly by the National Park Service and the Navajo Nation. The canyon (tsegi’) is also one of the only national parks in which tribal members live. Today, Navajo families make their homes, raise livestock, and farm the lands and raise fruit orchards in these canyons. The canyon can be accessed on foot, on horseback or by jeep, and is open to visitors with a Diné guide and available for overnights with a permit.
Many Farms, Arizona is a small farming community located in the heart of the Navajo Nation. The town features a “chapterhouse” or community center, post office, elementary and high schools, a variety of churches, a gas station, and a convenience store. Community members are known as expert weavers, silversmiths, musicians, welders, sheepherders and ranchers. The retreat will be hosted by members of the Bia family at the family sheepcamp, ranch and communal hooghan called Carson Mesa (To Sikání). (NB: For those with animal allergies, sheep, goats, horses, chickens and dogs are all at the ranch). Many Farms is a four and a half hour drive from Albuquerque, New Mexico, and three and a half hours from Flagstaff, Arizona, and these are also the closest airport locations.
About Canyon de Chelly
Canyon de Chelly National Monument is one of the only national parks in the United States located on tribal trust land. Featuring numerous ancestral Puebloan (anaasází) dwellings, the park is operated jointly by the National Park Service and the Navajo Nation. The canyon (tsegi’) is also one of the only national parks in which tribal members live. Today, Navajo families make their homes, raise livestock, and farm the lands and raise fruit orchards in these canyons. The canyon can be accessed on foot, on horseback or by jeep, and is open to visitors with a Diné guide and available for overnights with a permit.
Testimonials from Participants
"GREAT mix of songwriting, community, beautiful souls, Navajo Nation, yoga, great food, beautiful nature, fun and "sightseeing"=Chinle flea market, Rodeo. I'm taking all these beautiful songs, scenary and most of all: warmhearted people with me! I'll never forget this amazing retreat!! Never!! Thank you!!"
"Thank you for creating this room for us! Perfect start up every morning and great prompts that made us open up and get to know each other and create magic together."
"I really enjoyed this [retreat] because of the community it created and the integrity that reigned in this community. It was natural to innovate our songs because writing them felt like having conversation with a friend--well done making this space where folks could feel like friends very fast."
"I got to work with Meredith and I really think she helped me find my voice and gave me a better confidence in my voice. I am leaving with a full heart and more confidence in my entire being. With a relaxing feeling that I now have more people added to my family. Thank you for this once in a lifetime opportunity."
"As far as what I took away from it, I would say that it was exactly what I needed. I think first and foremost, making the time was worth it. A week is just barely enough time to really dig in... a long weekend wouldn't have been enough time. It was hard work, but time well spent. As far as food, Helen [catering] crushed it! I don't think I ever went hungry - although there were certainly times I definitely worked up an appetite, but not for lack of being fed.
Comments for Arlondo [site host], mostly just a massive THANK YOU. I keep thinking about what a huge ask it was for all of us to stay on his land and him to take care of us. I'm just super grateful. Erin [yoga] was amazing. I loved every single thing about her and her yoga instruction."
"GREAT mix of songwriting, community, beautiful souls, Navajo Nation, yoga, great food, beautiful nature, fun and "sightseeing"=Chinle flea market, Rodeo. I'm taking all these beautiful songs, scenary and most of all: warmhearted people with me! I'll never forget this amazing retreat!! Never!! Thank you!!"
"Thank you for creating this room for us! Perfect start up every morning and great prompts that made us open up and get to know each other and create magic together."
"I really enjoyed this [retreat] because of the community it created and the integrity that reigned in this community. It was natural to innovate our songs because writing them felt like having conversation with a friend--well done making this space where folks could feel like friends very fast."
"I got to work with Meredith and I really think she helped me find my voice and gave me a better confidence in my voice. I am leaving with a full heart and more confidence in my entire being. With a relaxing feeling that I now have more people added to my family. Thank you for this once in a lifetime opportunity."
"As far as what I took away from it, I would say that it was exactly what I needed. I think first and foremost, making the time was worth it. A week is just barely enough time to really dig in... a long weekend wouldn't have been enough time. It was hard work, but time well spent. As far as food, Helen [catering] crushed it! I don't think I ever went hungry - although there were certainly times I definitely worked up an appetite, but not for lack of being fed.
Comments for Arlondo [site host], mostly just a massive THANK YOU. I keep thinking about what a huge ask it was for all of us to stay on his land and him to take care of us. I'm just super grateful. Erin [yoga] was amazing. I loved every single thing about her and her yoga instruction."
"Kristina, it was a pleasure to be guided by you in this experience. The retreat felt like a safe space and a nourishing one to express and find emotion and images. Thank you and everyone for a life-changing experience."
This year's program (2019) made possible in part by the Arizona Humanities Council.
Listen to songs from year two's final concert (May 2018), below
Carson Mesa, rainbow and sunset with Round Rock Mesa (Tsé Nikání) in the background
