The world's largest nonprofit dedicated to raising funds to prevent and study breast cancer has teamed up with Navajo artist Michael Roanhorse to raise money to promote breast-cancer awareness among Navajos.

Roanhorse, an artist who hails from Crystal, N.M., said he got involved with the Susan G. Komen for the Cure organization (known for its nationwide Race for a Cure events) after watching a relative deal with a breast cancer diagnosis in the 1990s.

"It's something I've been wanting to do for a long time," Roanhorse said. "My auntie fought cancer and survived, but everyone in the family was affected by it. It touched me, and I wanted to help in any way I could, and I thought the best way was raising money."

Roanhorse, who usually creates silver jewelry, is donating his first pieces in gold — a pendant and earrings — to be sold to benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure. The set is valued at about $5,000, said Susan Simons, executive director for the Central New Mexico Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Roanhorse has also donated eight other pieces that will be auctioned off during a brunch today at the Inn of the Anasazi. Minimum bids on those pieces range from $75 to $200, Simons said.

Last year, Roanhorse donated his first sculpture to the organization. It sold for $5,000 at the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts Gala.

That money is being used to translate into Navajo the information Susan G. Komen usually prints on "breast self-awareness cards," which remind women to perform a self-exam on their breasts each month.

The information on the cards (which are plastic and designed to be hung in the shower) will be translated by faculty at Diné College's Shiprock campus.

Simons said the school was a perfect candidate for the project because faculty there have been working to develop a glossary of cancer-related terms to help medical professionals discuss cancer with Navajo-speaking patients.

Faculty member Edward R. Garrison said the school received a grant from the National Cancer Institute in 2006 to create the glossary, which is nearly done.

Garrison said the glossary project was driven by Navajo nurses and doctors concerned about "misleading, inaccurate and outright wrong" translations of cancer-related terms.

"They needed a standardization and codification of cancer terminology in the Navajo Nation because that had never been done before," Garrison said.

Simons said the organization will print and disseminate about 10,000 cards in Navajo.

She said she'll consider the project a success if clinics and health providers ask for more cards or if there is an increase in Navajo women getting mammograms.

"Eventually we would like to extend it to other Native American languages," Simons said. "But since (Roanhorse) is Navajo, we started there."

The organization has dubbed today's event Roanhorse for the Cure. Simons said it will become an annual affair and could be expanded to include other artists in the future.

"I hope it will be something my great-grandchildren will be taking on when I'm not here," Roanhorse said. "It's not just for a year or two. It's something that will be going on for a long, long time."

The brunch and silent auction are open to the public. The event will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. today at the Inn of the Anasazi, 113 Washington Ave.

Contact Phaedra Haywood at 986-3068 or phaywood@sfnewmexican.com.