Navajo Nation hits the big screen thanks to Holmesville native
The Holmes County Historical Society offered a presentation of Homer Hott’s digitized version of his 1950’s documentary on the Navajo people at Duncan Theater in Killbuck. The documentary showcased a look into the lives of the Navajo nation, its custom and its people.
Holmesville native Homer Hott lived among the stars during his life. No, not the stars in the heavens but the ones on the silver screen.
Hott worked in the film industry and recently his feature film “Navajo Arts and Crafts” was presented at the Duncan Killbuck Theater courtesy of the Holmes County Historical Society.
Their presentation “Homer Hott Goes to Hollywood” was shown on the big screen, with a touched-up version of Hott’s 1950s film that showcased a look into the lives of the Navajo nation, its customs, its people and the many unique characteristics that made the Navajo people who they were and are today.
Attending the soiree was one important figure — DeeAnn Lemon, daughter of Hott. She has seen this movie many times over, and was excited to present it to the historical society and Mark Boley, HCHS director, who had the film digitized.
“We’ve had the movie at home all these years, and Mark decided he wanted to get it digitized and show it and I was excited to make that happen,” Lemon said.
Lemon doesn’t have to live the Navajo experience through the film, because she traveled with her father to the reservation when he was documenting the Navajo people.
She said he made two separate trips to Arizona, first in 1944 and then again in 1954 to add to the footage he had shot.
“We lived on the reservation at Window Rock,” Lemon said. “The first time we went I was probably 3 or 4-years-old.”
She said there was no electricity on the reservation, they had a huge ice box, the area was desolate but the people were warm-hearted and kind.
She said her dad had been involved in the motion picture industry form the time he had graduated from high school. He worked in Hollywood in stage shows and motion pictures, using his degree in electrical engineering to work on sets.
“He was a behind the scenes guy, and he would have been so excited to see this motion picture being shown like this because he enjoyed creating educational films,” Lemon said.
Lemon said the anticipation of having the movie shown was both fun and nerve-racking, because she wasn’t sure anyone would come to watch it. It turned out that she had nothing to worry about, because the Duncan Theater was nearly at full capacity.
As a way of bringing even more authenticity to the event, the historical society invited Daron Butler, who is of Navajo decent, to speak with visitors prior to the film in a section of the theater that had been set up with all types of Navajo memorabilia as well as photos of Hott during his time at work on movie sets and in filming the movie.
“I’m here helping provide some cultural background to this documentary,” Butler said. “He focused on the Navajo nation capital Window Rock and did some work at Monument Valley to show people the Navajo people’s culture.”
He said that included arts and crafts like rugs and jewelry. Butler talked to visitors about how those items were crafted and the meaning behind how they made it with a purpose, including the art of leaving imperfections in each rug so that the spirits wouldn’t get trapped inside and had a way out through the imperfections.
He said he had many interesting discussions and enjoyed sharing the history of the Navajo nation with visitors.
“This film is great because it documents traditions that have been passed down through generations,” Butler said. “I’m thankful someone documented it all and it’s amazing that someone from Holmesville, Ohio did such a great job of doing so.”
Butler lives in Wooster and serves as the Hospice chaplain with LifeCare.
Lemon said meeting Butler and having him present really enhanced the experience for the people who came to watch the film.
Benton natives Lavern and Mary Coblentz had a special reason to visit and watch the film. Both had served on a mission team in Arizona and were eager to see life there decades ago.
“We went to serve with the Navajo school through Gospel Haven in 2018,” Lavern Coblentz said. “We were very curious as to what life is like then and to make connections to some of the things we experienced while we were there.”
The crowd appeared to invest in the movie and showed great interest, and Lemon said although she has seen the movie many times, it never gets old. She did say, however, that there was one small problem following the film’s digitization process.
“The sad thing is, I have a new Blu-Ray disc that Mark gave me, plus a thumb drive, and I don’t know how to get them to work,” she said with a laugh. “I’ll find someone young who knows about that type of thing to get it to work.”
But then again, there’s little reason to watch it in either format when you’ve lived and experienced the movie in real life, something Lemon said will stay with her forever.