Diné artist Jerry Brown finds inspiration in traditions, upbringing
Gallup Independent. November 19th, 2019. Vida Volkert, Staff Writer
GALLUP – The sight of a nun walking down Thoreau’s NM Highway 371 with an acoustic guitar strapped to her shoulder is one of the reasons Jerry Brown changed the course of his life.
Brown, now a successful artist from Mariano Lake, had dropped out of high school and had no direction. In his own words, “I was too wild.” He had spent a few years in different boarding schools in the area, a school in Utah and public schools in Thoreau, Wingate and Crownpoint. Continued after Image
‘Too wild”
“I started the public school, but I didn’t like it there and walked back to the house.” he said
It was around 1988 when Brown saw the nun walking down the street in Thoreau. The nun was “Sister Michelle.” She was the principal of St. Kateri Tckakwitha school in Thoreau, which later became St. Bonaventure Indian Mission and School.
Brown remembered the school was known as “the academy,” and it was a small campus. He was so intrigued by the sight of Sister Michelle walking with her guitar that he decided to visit the school.
“They put me in 10th grade. I met all the teachers. They came from all walks of life. They were missionaries that were doing the good thing for the natives,” Brown said.
