Should Miss Navajo speak Navajo?

This year, there were only two women running for Miss Navajo. Shandiin Parish from Kayenta won the Miss Navajo contest this year.

Unable to Speak Navajo

At the sheep butchering contest, the judges (former Miss Navajos) were frustrated with the contestants when the judges asked questions in Navajo and the contestants did not answer back in Navajo.  The women in the audience were shouting "T'aa Dinek'ehji!" (translated, "In Navajo!").  The contestants had a scripted response, "Dine bizaad binahoosh'aah," which avoided the question and translates as "I am re-learning the Navajo language." I too was sad and frustrated to see that neither of the contestants spoke Dine Bizaad. One judge stated that she was not going to translate the question into English because she stands for Navajo language and culture. Another judge said she would translate the question after the other contestant had an opportunity to answer the question. The other contestant also did not understand the Navajo question. One former Miss Navajo stated that we can forego one year of having a Miss Navajo if none of the contestants speak Dine bizaad.

Few contestants

It was also surprising that only two people ran for this contest. Perhaps all the recent criticism of the Office of Miss Navajo turned off a lot of people so that this title is no longer prestigious. ("Questions about Miss Navajo pageant", August 30, 2018)  In 2017 and 2018, there were accusations that the judges were biased and abusive. One writer wrote:

"To begin with, a scoring rubric and committee is put in place to ensure the impartiality of judging all contestants. Sadly, this was not the case because relatives are known to be a part of the judging, which questions the validity of the scores."

Maybe women no longer want to be Miss Navajo.

No role model

I was annoyed at the recently-crowned Miss Navajo when I read about her platform in the Navajo Times:

"Her platform is focused on Navajo homes and families to encourage all generations to come together to preserve the Navajo language and culture, “making sure our elders and our children make those connections even though some of our kids might not have grandparents and our grandparents might not have younger children to teach,” she said.  

“Our language and our teachings need to be passed on regardless of kinship. We as a people need to come together. I think this year’s pageant really opened a lot of people’s eyes to that.”" ("New Miss Navajo sees her role as public servant", September 8, 2019)

How can Ms. Parrish talk about language preservation when she falls short of being a role model by not speaking her language?   She would be more convincing if she spoke Dine Bizaad.  Many Navajo speakers are frustrated and rightfully so. The newspaper says that Ms. Parrish held two other titles previously, Miss Indian ASU and Miss Indian Arizona. Perhaps she won because she had better pageant skills. Her Miss Indian Arizona bio says,

"Although she was born and raised on the Navajo Reservation she is not fluent in the Navajo language. To be fluent is her greatest educational and personal goal. She competes in pageants to improve her public speaking abilities, to practice the Navajo language and to learn more about her culture. "

If it's her greatest educational and personal goal, she should have put in the effort to learn at that time (three years ago) by taking language classes and relearning the language.  If she meant to learn the language, she would have learned the language.

Marrying your relatives

I also don't like how Ms. Parrish introduces her clans when she says, "I am and born for Kinyaa'aanii." By saying it in this manner, she appears to be hiding the fact that her first two clans are the same. She needs to say, "Kinyaa'aanii nishli, Kinyaa'aanii basishchiin…"  While that is not her fault, it is her parents' fault, and she needs to address that to say that people with the same clans should not be dating, marrying, and having children. By remaining silent, she is condoning it. By our remaining silent, we are saying it is okay to marry your own relatives. We as a society are not addressing this deterioration of our culture. We need to. ("For Navajo Nation, Finding unrelated mates within tribe")

Like many people, I am frustrated and saddened at the way our society is losing its identity. The 2019 Miss Navajo competition is just another reminder that we are losing our language and culture as a nation. The whole idea of Miss Navajo is rooted in Navajo culture and language. Yet, as we go along, we see Miss Navajos talking less and less of the Navajo language, and not following the traditional values. This year is a special year because it will be known as the year that there were no young women who spoke Dine bizaad.