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Please send donations
to:
Alpacas for Natives
4395 Sacred Peaks Trail
Flagstaff, AZ  86004

For tax deductible
donations of animals
or breedings,
please contact
info@alpacasfornatives.com
 

Alpacas for Natives is a division of
Read Aloud International

Lena Benally

Shown here on shearing day 2011.

Lena and Raymond Benally were the first recipients of alpacas from AFN and Lena is on the Board of Directors. They live near Keams Canyon and Jeddito, Arizona, in an area called Sand Springs. They presently own five alpacas, two females, two geldings and a junior herd sire.

Lena has a heritage in animal husbandry, as her father was Goldtooth Begay, who was instrumental in bringing the Navajo Sheep Project to fruition when, after meeting Dr. Lyle McNeal in Minneapolis in 1985, he invited the project to the reservation. He is responsible for founding Dine be' iina (The Navajo Lifeway), a nonprofit organization of Dine producers and weavers founded in 1991 which assists producers with technical and educational information and sponsors the Sheep is Life Celebration every year. Lena's sister, Sharon Begay, was the first president.

In 2001, Lena was chosen by DBI to participate in a cultural exchange in Corsica, which, although technically part of France, is an island in the Mediterranean Sea located west of Italy. There, she and her group met with artisans and shepherds, taught weaving and traveled to schools.

In addition to Sheep is Life, Lena demonstrates her felting techniques each year at many events, and those who are near Flagstaff the first weekend of June can meet her at the Wool Festival at the Pioneer Museum.

The Benallys have created an environment where, in addition to post corrals, the alpacas can roam free with the sheep and return at will for water and shade during the day. At night, they cush comfortably around the compound like dogs. When we first saw Blessing, the first cria born on our ranch grazing freely on the Rez, I was in awe of the beauty that surrounded her and the ease with which she has adapted to this environment.

Blessing free ranging at Sands Springs

For information about her work as a felter and a weaver, write to: Lena Benally, PO Box 845, Keams Canyon, AZ  86034.

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Posing with Ricky, the alpaca.