Kay Curley Bennett

Kay Curley Bennett (1922 – November 18, 1997), was a Navajo artist, dollmaker, musician, and writer. She was also an activist and very active in the Navajo community.

Life Bennett was born in a hogan at Sheepsprings Trading Post near Sheep Springs, New Mexico on the Navajo Reservation. She was born to a traditional Navajo family who herded sheep. From 1974 to 1982, Bennett was on the Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonial's board of directors. Bennett ran for Chairman of the Navajo Nation in 1984, but was disqualified before the election because she did not live on the Reservation. She was also a poet A Navajo Saga (1972) is a historical novel co-written by Bennett and her husband. It is noted as a well-researched account of Navajo history in the 1860s–including the Long Walk and the Treaty of Bosque Redondo–from a Navajo perspective. Keesh, the Navajo Indian Cat (1989) is a children's book, written and illustrated by Bennett. One of her dolls is displayed at Canyon Records, a Native American record label based in Phoenix, Arizona.