Karletta Chief has come a long way since the days when, as a Stanford University undergrad, her father had to sell the family’s cattle to cover the costs of her engineering books. Such were the sacrifices of the Navajo first-generation college student and her parents, a minister and a Navajo weaver.
Chief, now a doctoral candidate who will graduate from the University of Arizona next month, tells that story and others to younger American Indian students as she encourages them to attend college. When she’s not writing her dissertation on hydrology and water resources, the 2000-2001 Miss Navajo Nation travels to K-12 schools to spread her message of education for Native students.
“I share my experiences of growing up on the reservation; old stories I’ve learned from my elders, being a first generation college student, my successes, failures and struggles as I strove to obtain my college degrees,” says Chief, 31. “I encourage students to be proud of their Navajo or Native American identity.”
Raised on the Navajo Reservation in Black Mesa, Ariz., Chief says she wants to show other Native students that higher education is an opportunity available to them.
She integrates the Navajo and English languages into her presentations so students can see how an academically successful American Indian can flourish in “both the traditional and modern worlds.”
And people are listening. In fact, the American Indian Science and Engineering Society recently selected Chief as a spokesperson. The organization focuses on providing role models for K-12 students and encouraging them to pursue an education in science and engineering.
