Utah-filmed, two-time Emmy winner 'Navajo Highways' teaches kids the Navajo language

SALT LAKE CITY — For creator Pete Sands, teaching a language starts with getting it right.

"One Navajo word could mean four or five different things in English," Sands said. "So using the right context is very important, in that you know where you come from. You don't know where you're going unless you know where you come from."

That philosophy is at the center of "Navajo Highways," a children's puppet series told almost entirely in the Navajo language. The show has won two Emmy Awards, and it's filmed here in Utah.

Sands, who is from Montezuma Creek, on the Navajo Nation, said the show grew out of a small idea: a way to keep the language alive for kids who might otherwise never hear it.

"It's been a long ways to get to a film studio, from my little office on the res to a film studio," Sands said.

He said authenticity was non-negotiable from the start.

"I wanted real, authentic representation — having Navajo characters being played by Navajo people, and showing the real Navajo culture as best as we can," Sands said.

The show follows Sadie, a girl who grew up in the city and is reconnecting with her heritage as she returns to her community. Sands said he built the show around a young narrator on purpose, targeting first through third graders, an age he said carries a wider sense of wonder and curiosity.

"You've got to have the audience along for the ride, somebody they can learn along with," Sands said. "Sadie's just learning so that the audience can learn along with her."

The response has surprised him. His own daughter, Rainey, plays with the puppets at home, and gets protective when anyone else touches them.

"She's like, 'That's mine, that's my puppet,'" Sands said. "But that's what you want, right? For them to believe the puppets are real."

It's the reaction from older viewers, though, that stayed with him most. At the show's premiere on the Navajo Nation in Window Rock, Sands said elders cried in their seats.

"That really moved me, because I wasn't prepared for that," Sands said. "It felt like it validated me. Like, I know this is something that's meaningful to people, that they understand what I'm trying to do. It made me feel like I was doing something good."

In the show's first season, Sands voiced most of the characters himself.

"The first season I played probably 80% of all the puppets," he said. "All the voices — I probably did seven different voices."

For the upcoming season, Sands is bringing in other puppeteers to help carry the work, something he said didn't come easily at first.

"The first season I was resistant to other puppeteers. I'm like, 'Nobody will understand these characters like me, right?'" Sands said. "But just growing with the fact that there's other people that love this just as much as I do … and trusting the crew — we've been together now for three years."

The new season also leans further into what Sands calls the show's "matriarchal side," with more female guest stars and storylines. Sadie remains closely tied to her Uncle Al, a character Sands also voices.

"I just felt like there's a lot more cultural stories, and they evolve, than the feminine side," Sands said.

For Sands, the work doesn't stop when the cameras do. He said he continues visiting schools and communities year-round, long after a season wraps.

"It's all year long for me, for my kids," he said. "It just feels good that more people believe in the work we put into it."

Season one of "Navajo Highways" is available now on the FNX app. Season two is set to air this fall.

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