Being Miss Navajo
Jonathea Tso ready to pass on her crown

Copyright © 2008
Gallup Independent
By Karen Francis
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — Jonathea Tso’s favorite part about being Miss Navajo Nation 2007-2008 has been seeing her shadow with the crown on as she walked to and from various events. Seeing the crown on her head, it would dawn on her all over again that she is part of a long line of amazing women who have worn the Miss Navajo crown.

Now, with the Miss Navajo Nation pageant beginning in less than two weeks, Tso has been so busy preparing that she has hardly had time to think about her reign coming to an end.

“I think when the crowing coronation comes I’m not going to know what happened because you’re too busy scheduling things, getting things going,” Tso said last week.
After a year of acting as a good will ambassador for the Navajo Nation, Tso said that she can’t wait for new energy to come in.

“I think that’s the best part is you get someone coming in that’s very motivated,” she said.

As Miss Navajo, Tso used her office — the titleholder gets a paid job at the Office of Miss Navajo with two staff members — to be of service to the community and to include different types of people for that service. For example, she held a men’s basketball tournament and a women veterans’ essay contest, as well as becoming one of the faces of the New Mexico Department of Transportation campaign to prevent drunken driving.

One of the most positive experiences that Tso has had as Miss Navajo is getting involved with the Special Olympics. She was able to help bring in a torch for the Special Olympics which was wanted by participants for years.

“We had the first-ever torch run from Window Rock to Cedar Ridge,” she said.

Tso and other royalty from across Navajo also raised funds for the Special Olympics with the first Tip-A-Royalty day at Diné Restaurant. At other locations throughout Navajo, more money was raised for various purposes by the royalty.
One of her goals was to connect with the other royalty and to encourage them to become interested in running for Miss Navajo. Tso feels she did have impact there since three young ladies who held crowns this past year are now running for the prestigious title.

As part of the effort to encourage young people to become interested in becoming titleholders, the Miss Navajo committee put out a calendar of various royalty from across Navajo.

“(We’re) hoping just seeing that calendar somewhere, some little girl, little boy will be interested in running,” she said.
While she was able to accomplish some goals during her reign, she said that a lot of people come to Window Rock thinking they are going to change the world right away and get disheartened, but with her work, she realized the need to be persistent.

“I think people need to realize you need to keep trying,” she said. “I think that’s one thing I’ve learned to do is to keep going. Never forget that you are working toward something.”
Becoming Miss Navajo was a daunting prospect for Tso.

“You see all these ladies there that are incredible people who are just stellar and you try to think ‘How can I possibly accomplish that?’” she said.

As Miss Navajo, part of the biggest challenges she faces was dealing with the media — whether fielding questions from reporters or getting on KTNN radio station at a moment’s notice.

Also as Miss Navajo, she was constantly questioned about her knowledge of culture and language, but, she said, teachings and language differ slightly throughout the Navajo Nation.

“You just hang on to who you are and the teachings you got from your grandparents and your parents,” she said.

She noted that in meeting people from different tribes, many are losing their language and culture but one of the best things about the Navajo Nation is that it actually has an ambassador whose job involves promoting both.

“This is a cultural role model. This is a language role model and I think that is one of the most amazing things about the Navajo Nation is it’s been here since 1952. Where in the United States, in what tribe, do they have so much respect for their young role model where you can right next to the president, the vice president and the speaker and they acknowledge you?” she said.

For the next Miss Navajo Nation, Tso said the advice she would offer is to keep trying.

“It’s going to be difficult. You’re going to have people who are not very nice but keep going,” she said. “Keep smiling. Always smile no matter what. You don’t know you might come across somebody who may be having some challenge in life and just seeing you for that moment can make them happy.”

When she was running for Miss Navajo, one question that was asked of her by the judges was what she would to when she was done with her reign if she won.

“I’m going to help whoever I can when I can. I hope to continue to help in some way,” she said.

To further her education about the Navajo language, Tso plans to obtain her Navajo language certification from Diné College and would like to continue with Diné studies.