Movie Analysis: The Navajo Nation

The Navajo Nation is the largest in the United States. It is located in the Southwest portion of the country in New Mexico, Utah, and Arizona. The Navajo have a very unique and vast culture and they present some of it in arguably their biggest competition known as Miss Navajo. The woman crowned Miss Navajo takes on a great responsibility and must be a role model and ambassador for the nation
The Miss Navajo competition started in 1952 and has continued to grow ever since. In order to compete a woman must be 18 years of age, have no husband or children, a high school graduate, and must speak Navajo. The winner is selected upon a series of events in which they compete with other contestants. These events include interviews (over community, government, culture, and history), the butchering of a sheep, making of different types of bread, and a skills/talent portion in both contemporary and traditional aspects. In the movie “Miss Navajo,” we see a group of women go through this event while keeping the focus primarily on one contestant named Crystal Frazier.
She states early on in the film that she does not enjoy “city life” and is a “reservation girl.” We get a small glimpse into what her life is like on the reservation, which includes her interest in livestock, mainly chickens, and the fact that there is no running water where she is located. It is somewhat surprising that Crystal would go through the pageant process due to her introversion. We later find out though that Crystal enjoys pushing herself, which means the pageant is actually perfect for her. The Miss Navajo pageant requires prep over a vast majority of things and Crystal goes at it full force. From the butchery of sheep to the making of bread it is easy to see she is prepared for the competition. The only worrisome aspect is her fluency in the language of the Navajo