Miss Ceremonial named
ASU senior receives top honor

2008 Ceremonial Queen winner Crystalyne Curley receives her crown from 2007 queen Annthnette Spencer at the Red Rock State Park main arena Saturday, August 9. Curley was chosen over seven other pageant contestants. [photo by Cable Hoover] / Independent

By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Staff writer

GALLUP — Crystalyne Curley, a senior at Arizona State University, was crowned Miss Ceremonial 2008-2009 during Saturday’s Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonial.

Curley, a member of the Tselani/Cottonwood Chapter of the Navajo Nation, was awarded the Ceremonial queen title in a competition that featured eight young Native American women vying for the crown. She succeeded last year’s Miss Ceremonial, Annthnette Fern Spencer.

Winifred Bessie Jumbo from Two Grey Hills, was named first runner up. Angelynn “Angel” Boone of Zuni Pueblo was named Miss Congeniality, and Tamara Atakai of Fort Defiance was named Miss Photogenic. The ceremony was held just prior to Saturday’s Indian dance performance.

A former first runner up for the Miss Indian ASU title, Curley is completing a double major in Justice Studies and Psychology, with a minor in American Indian Studies. She plans to earn a graduate counseling degree and eventually attend law school. Curley performed a Navajo corn grinding song for the traditional talent contest and acted in a cooking show skit promoting healthy nutrition for the contemporary talent contest.

After the ceremony, Curley expressed gratitude that her immediate family had been able to travel from Arizona to see her win the title. According to Curley, both her mother and father had not been able to be with her during the days of competition because of their jobs. In addition, a number of very close family members had been unable to travel to Gallup because heavy monsoon rains had made the dirt roads around their homes impassable.
One person in particular was in Curley’s thoughts on Saturday: her grandfather, Kee T. Yazzie, who died in October 2007. Curley began crying as she recalled her grandfather’s influence on her life.

“He’s the one who always wanted me to be a role model for young people,” she said.

Curley said she hopes to do just that as Miss Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonial. She wants to be a good representative for the Navajo Nation and all Native American tribes, she said, and she hopes to encourage Native youth to accomplish their goals.
“My passion is youth empowerment,” she said.