While COVID-19 has thrown us all off balance, people are helping each other get back on their feet in some lovely ways – sharing their art, connecting people with resources, checking in on family and friends, donating where they can, helping the “helpers” on the front lines, and buying from their local mom-and-pop shops and restaurants. (All from a safe distance, of course!)

I’ve rounded up a list of various goodies to help you stay well, support independent artists and businesses, and give back.

Breathe background for Zoom video — Courtesy of Saywells Design + Why I Love Where I Live.

Free to Download

Adobe: Resources for creativity at home!

Coloring book pages by designers and illustrators. Each week, there’s a new set of pages with themes like “gratitude” and “alphabet.”
Short films about design.
Public domain images and fonts to liven up your paper craft projects!
Tips for photographing your plants and pets.

Badge Bomb: Fun stay-at-home-themed coloring pages, activity sheets, and stickers you can print and color.

Bluprint: Patterns for sewing face masks and instructions for folding no-sew masks.

Native Seeds/SEARCH:

Tips for collecting and saving seeds from your garden.
Lots of resources for gardening in desert climates.

Why I Love Where I Live:

Coloring pages by Southwestern artists.
Backgrounds for your phone or Zoom meetings by Tucson-based Saywells Design, including mask-wearing cacti.

Workshops

Debbie Allen Dance Academy: Founded by Debbie Allen of Fame fame, DADA is a non-profit organization with programs to expand young people’s access to dance + theater.

$3 dance classes on weekdays (signup via Zoom required).
Free Instagram Live classes on weekends.

Lisa Congdon: A couple of free online classes from an artist whose work always makes me smile.

MyIntent:

Free classes to begin and end each day (yoga, meditation, journaling, etc.)
A big list of free self-care resources.

Rohit Gijare: Virtual dance classes on Sundays…

$5 semi-classical or Bolly fusion workshop with the Bollywood Boulevard choreographer.
$8 for both classes with code BOTH.

Skillshare:

Free classes demonstrating a variety of art, craft, cooking, entrepreneurship, and other skills.
Premium membership free for 2 months. (New members only.)

Shop

Arts and Artisans: 40% off everything through April 30.

Badge Bomb:

Free colorful sheet of “Coronavirus Reward Stickers” by artist Gemma Correll with every order!
25% off all items in the Stay Home + Stay Busy collection.
Free shipping on US orders over $30 + international orders over $75.

Stay Home Reward Sticker Sheet by Gemma Correll on Badge Bomb.

Bookman’s: For every $25 gift card purchase, Bookman’s will add a $5 reward. For every $100, get a $25 reward!

Doggie Drawings Shop: Artwork by Lili Chin 20% off. This includes Dogs of the World prints and cute enamel pins of different dog breeds.

Dogs and Donuts: Free delivery in Tucson for orders over $15.

Downtown Tucson Partnership: DTP Gift Card Incentive Program…

Buy a $25 gift card for one of over 60 downtown businesses through the Downtown Tucson Partnership + receive a free $10 bonus!
Participating businesses include restaurants, museums, shops, bars/breweries, salons, fitness centers, a hotel, and a theater.
DTP will announce each round of gift card sales on its site. (Hint: They’ve mostly gone on sale on Fridays starting at 6am and sold out FAST!)
They’ve also gathered a lot of resources to help Tucsonans navigate life during the pandemic.

Hotel Congress: Additional $25 when you purchase a $100 gift card.

L.A. County Yarn Crawl Shops:

Knitting Tree – Sale on discontinued and overstocked items.
Wildflower Studio – Shibui Knits Maai $14/skein (regular $17.50) + free digital pattern for M.1 scarf by Shelli Anderson with purchase of 4 skeins.
Zoe’s Knit Studio – Free shipping (or curbside pickup) on select kits. Email info@zoesknitstudio.com for details.

MAST (at Mercado San Agustin): Free shipping on U.S. orders with promo code MARCHON. Or 25% off any one item made by Mellow, Sofie, or Tasha with code LEANON.

MyIntent:

50% off sitewide with code HERWORD50 (through May 10).
We featured a MyIntent necklace in a previous gift guide.

Arizona Hearts art print by Phoenix Supply Co.

Phoenix Supply Co.

Today: buy 1 art print, get one 50% off!
Free domestic shipping on orders $40+.
I know founder/artist Melissa through the Phoenix design community, and she is a stellar human being!

Not Just Quiltz:

Bolt of the Week 25% off.
All bolt BATIKS and precut bundles 15% off (half-yard minimum).
Select colors of King Tut thread $19.95/2000 yard cone (regular $29.95).
Closeout fabrics $8/yard, while supplies last.
We met this vendor at the Quilt, Craft, and Sewing Festival.

Seven Cups Fine Chinese Teas:

20% off Bai Long Xu (White Dragon Whiskers) Loose Leaf Sheng Puer tea.
Free delivery within the continental U.S.
Select tea ware on sale.

Spirit of the Artisan:

$10 tapestry tote bag special!
Another one of our favorite Quilt, Craft, and Sewing Festival vendors – now with an online shop!

Why I Love Where I Live:

Free shipping on orders over $15 with code 2020IG.
Buy a mask and they’ll donate one to a local organization!

Food (Arizona)

Phoenix Area

Cartel Coffee Lab, Tempe:

Free shipping (except subscriptions) with code STAYHOME.
Pickup available at original downtown Tempe location (on Ash).

Crown Public House, Phoenix: Weekday specials on green chili mac, wings, pizza, and more.

Peixoto Coffee, Chandler:

Buy 3 bags of coffee, get one free.
Free shipping or curbside pickup.
Make a donation to help them provide hot coffee to overnight hospital workers.

Republica Empanada, Mesa: $2 beer or $10 mix-and-match six pack with any order.

Tucson

Several Tucson restaurants are offering $30 takeout meals for two, as part of Tucson To-Go! Even though it’s presented by Sonoran Restaurant Week, this deal is ongoing.

Agustin Kitchen (at Mercado San Agustin): Burgers and sandwiches (a.k.a. “handhelds”) are buy one, get one free from 2-4pm daily. Walk-up or call-in orders.

Beaut Burger (at MSA Annex): Buy one, get one free vegan burgers weekdays from 4-5pm. Walk-up orders only.

Cartel Coffee Lab, Tucson:

Free shipping (except subscriptions) with code STAYHOME.
Pickup available at Grant and Campbell.

Cup Cafe (in Hotel Congress):

20% off Cup Cafe dishes to-go. New menu includes family style meals!
$2 off all pies and cakes by the slice.

Check out Tucson Foodie’s takeout guide or the lists that Brunch Babes Tucson has aggregated of current food, coffee, and alcohol options!

Yuma

Julieanna’s:

Ziggy’s On-The-Fly takeout menu has value-priced versions of their signature items.
Free delivery in Yuma. Curbside or patio pickup also available.
One of our Yuma favorites!

What is helping you find a sense of community during this time?

Chalk board sign — Good Oak Bar in Tucson

The Word

In many cultures, around the world and across time, the spoken word has been seen as having a power to create and destroy. In the Hebrew Bible, creation is spoken into existence with the words “Let there be light.”

The words of the Diné (or Navajo) people helped to bring an end to World War II. Diné serving in the U.S. Marines developed a code adapted from their tribal language that baffled the Japanese. These “Code Talkers” were able to communicate top secret information to aid the Allied Powers’ efforts in the brutal theater of war in the Pacific.

The Navajo Code Talker program has grown in public consciousness over the last 40 years and has been the subject of many books, documentaries, and even the 2002 film Windtalkers. Yet, with all this focus on what the language accomplished, you couldn’t watch a Hollywood film in Navajo until recently.

A New Hope in Navajo

In 2013, Navajo Nation Museum director Manuelito Wheeler embarked on a project with Lucasfilm to dub the original Star Wars: A New Hope into Navajo!

It would be the first mainstream film to be translated into any Native American language.

I learned about this as I was preparing to go to Anaheim for Star Wars Celebration 7 (2015 convention celebrating all things Star Wars). One of the panels that intrigued me most was a discussion and documentary screening about the project.

During this panel, I was surprised to learn that there are a sizeable number of Diné that still speak the Navajo language, traditionally known as Diné Bizaad, almost exclusively. However, their numbers are slowly growing silent as many from the younger generations are no longer learning their parents’ language.

The panelists explained that, despite the admonitions of their parents about the importance of learning to speak their native tongue, the younger generation often see the language as a relic of the past, irrelevant to their lives.

Voiceover actor for Star Wars in Navajo — Diné voice actor in the documentary.

Film as a Cultural Force

The excitement that the Star Wars dubbing project generated was multigenerational, drawing voice talent and actors from throughout the Diné community.

When the project was complete, the newly-dubbed film was shown outdoors at rodeo grounds on the reservation. After the movie finished, a Navajo elder, who spoke no English, exclaimed through a translator that it was the best movie she had ever seen! The original 1,500 DVDs sold out quickly with profits going to the Navajo Nation Parks and Recreation Department, which helped fund the dubbing project.

Indeed, this project was amongst recent efforts to blaze a trail for the resurgence of Diné Bizaad on the reservation. The movie has even been used in Navajo language classes for the youngest generation. In the eyes of the youth, it is giving a voice to their language that many find compelling. If a hero like Luke Skywalker speaks Diné Bizaad, there’s no denying that their parents’ language has cultural force!

A Fresh Perspective

At the end of the panel, we were treated to a viewing of the Navajo-dubbed version of Star Wars.

Being a language geek, I knew that I would find the story behind this project enjoyable. But I was surprised by how moved I was by actually viewing part of the film in the Diné Bizaad language.

Because I couldn’t understand what was being said, I paid more attention. I watched the background and noticed how much the dry landscape of Tatooine reminded me of Arizona and the Navajo reservation. I noticed how objects looked rusty and well worn, like abandoned buildings along the old Route 66.

Star Wars opening text in Navajo. — “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….”

I listened to the voices of the Diné voice actors. I was surprised to find out that, in this dubbed version, the voice of C3PO was a woman! But why not? It actually worked really well.

Even Uncle Owen’s words sounded more kindly and thoughtful than his English-speaking counterpart.

As the panelists wrapped up, one of the voice actors from the dub quoted something an older tribal member had said to a younger one, “Remember your language. Use it. One day your language will feed you.”

Words have power. They can start wars. They can bring peace. They have the force to create new ways of seeing.

– More Info –

The next Star Wars Celebration convention is scheduled for August 27-30 in Anaheim, CA.

Films:

The Navajo-language voiceover cast of Star Wars reunited in 2018 at Indigenous Comic Con (now “Indigipop X”).
The second major motion picture to be translated into Navajo was Finding Nemo in 2016.

Language:

According to Ethonologue: Languages of the World, as quoted in a 2017 article in the Navajo Times, there are 7,600 Navajo-only speakers and over 171,000 fluent speakers worldwide.
The same article shows a steady decline in Navajo speakers, with U.S. Census data showing that 93% of Diné spoke the language in 1980, but only 51% by 2010.
However, there is a movement among some young people to keep the language and culture alive, such as traditional singers Taylor Begay and his brother Dylon Begay.

Museums:

Museums and historic trading posts within the Navajo Nation.
Navajo Nation Museum (Window Rock, Arizona) on Facebook.
Exhibits honoring the Code Talkers, including the official museum in Tuba City, displays in Kayenta, and monuments.
“The Force Is With Our People,” an exhibition exploring the influence of Star Wars on contemporary Native artists. It is at the Museum of Northern Arizona (Flagstaff) – extended through May 25, 2020. Read more on the Navajo-Hopi Observer.

Month: April 2020

Community in the Time of Coronavirus