Breaking barriers is something two women in the Navajo Nation know plenty about; for the first time in Navajo Nation history, there is a female vice president and female speaker of the council. The two women are hoping to inspire the next generation of female leaders of the Navajo Nation and beyond.
For Navajo Nation Council Speaker Crystalyne Curley, her family always knew she was destined for greatness.
“My grandfather always told me, 'one day you will be a leader, and one day you will speak for us and this is why we want you to focus, this is why we want you to be disciplined,'” said Speaker Curley.
From a young age, that expectation of excellence also translated into an expectation of hard work that knew no gender boundaries.
“My grandfather said, ‘OK, if you're a girl, you should still be able to chop wood, too. Just like the boys.’”
Speaker Curley says not having those gender limitations was something wonderful that was taught in her home. Something else Speaker Curley learned about while growing up is resilience, which has come in handy, especially when facing criticism.
“There's always opposition within my region of the Navajo Nation,” Speaker Curley said. “It’s very conservative. And being a traditionalist — coming from grandfathers who were medicine men — they encouraged me to speak and to talk and make tough decisions at a very young age.”
“It’s a happy feeling,” said Vice President Richelle Montoya, about her history-making position. “And also, it feels like, 'Oh my God, I need to do my best and put forth my best every single day.'”
Vice President Montoya says there are also challenges when it comes to dealing with “gender norms.”
“I've been told that I am rude and mean because I don't stop and chit chat or say hi — I don't know exactly what — but what I think is, if a man was in this position, and he was walking through the office with determination on his face, then he is being looked at as, ‘Oh, he is busy, he is working, he has a goal he is trying to complete.' No one says he's rude or mean. He's just working.’”
But Vice President Montoya says any criticism she has faced has been worth it when she remembers all the glass ceilings she has shattered.
“When I talk to our younger generation of women, they are very excited to see me and excited to hear what I am doing and what accomplishments I want to have happen.”
For Vice President Montoya, a letter from a student sticks out more than anything else.
“She wrote a letter when she was a little girl and her teachers said, ‘Tell me what you're going to be when you grow up,’ and she said she would be president of the Navajo Nation and she said her family said that can’t happen and laughs at her. She said, ‘You made my letter come true.' So that's what all our young women feel.”
For Speaker Curley, she’s hoping to leave her female constituents with a powerful lesson.
“One thing I always say to our young Navajo women is that anything is possible.”
