Backed up by the spiritual strength of nearby Hesperus Peak — the sacred northern mountain for their tribe — members of the Navajo rock band, Blackfire, performed a free concert in Cortez recently, combining a unique blend of traditional dance, rock, punk, ska and poetic ballads that portray a message of social justice.

Traveling to tour stops in Pueblo and then onto Mississippi, the upstart band of three 20-something siblings from Black Mesa, Arizona, agreed to meet for the day with students and teachers at Southwest Open High school, culminating in a fun-filled, two-hour show at the Comfort Inn.

Students and teachers alike bobbed, wiggled and cheered to the fresh sounds belted out by drummer Clayson Benally, lead guitar/singer Klee Benally and bass player/singer Jeneda Benally. A traditional Navajo hoop dance performed by Klee and choreographed to music started off the show. The complex dance uses a dozen hoops that appear to move about the dancer’s body on their own, creating impressive patterns that eventually take the form of an eagle in distress, its spirit broken by the growing disappearance of native traditions, Klee explained.

"Their music was very inspiring and about things that are real; that’s nice compared to other bands," said Kerri Hostetter, a junior at Southwest. "I really think it is cool to see a woman play the bass so well and sing songs that she wrote."

Blackfire’s songs depict a world threatened by capitalistic greed and environmental degradation, a crisis the band feels is largely ignored or dismissed by society, but which leads to gross injustices against humanity. They are especially inspired to inform their audiences of the unjust hardships handed to indigenous populations, including the Navajo Tribe.

"Traditional and modern — that is who we are," Clayson Benally said. "We are angry, but we sing because there is hope."

Blackfire’s sharp lyrics, polished over the last ten years, reverberate with youthful rebellion, but with a twist. The band preaches a drug-and-alcohol-free message, and challenges their audiences to be critical of what they learn in school, to question mainstream expectations and to think on their own.

"We too often are taught in school and in society that the value of success means money, and the way to get there is competition and slave-wage jobs, right?" Klee asked the youthful crowd. "In reality there is another value of success that people have forgotten or that the system is repressing. It is the value of a healthy mind, body and spirit. You are successful if there is a healthy relationship between each other, between the community and the environment, between you and your traditional ways, whether it be ranching or farming, art, music, or whatever.

"We need to bring those values back."

"There is so much hope and such an incredible future to be designed by you, so much opportunity ahead of you, so why cloud it with drugs or alcohol," Jeneda said. "Rise above that and others will, too."

The band implored the youth to speak up and let their voices be heard on issues they care about. For one local student, a long-delayed skateboard park in Cortez is the issue that takes priority.

"Laws are inflicted upon youth that we have no consent in, like no skateboarding zones," Klee said. "To change that, there needs to be mutual trust, and if there is not, then that mistrust feeds anger and hostility on both sides."

The powerful day hit home for Southwest Open students, a charter school that uses non-traditional teaching methods to reach teens who, for whatever reason, do not excel in the regular classroom.