Community

Wearing her crown with pride and calm authority, 21-year-old Priya Simpson, the newly crowned 2025-26 Miss White Mountain Apache Queen, stood on the fairgrounds of the 112th Annual Northern Navajo Nation Fair and spoke about duty, not just to her people but to those struggling in silence.

Charlene Dearly remembers sitting in an old wagon near the Northern Navajo Fairgrounds and listening to the powwow drums as a child. She and her cousin could smell the food from KFC and the sweet fried sugar in the air. They stayed out until the lights dimmed and the announcer wished everyone a safe trip home

The Frybread Contest at the Navajo Nation Fair made its return this year after a hiatus. Erickson Billy, the owner of Blue Naadą́ą́’ Sweets, brought the competition back on Saturday, Sept. 6, under the Navajo Square tent.

Two Navajo entrepreneurs, Walter Bia and Marissa Begay, have advanced to the 2025 Pow Wow Pitch semifinals, putting them a step closer to a $25,000 prize for their clean-energy startup, Bravo Solar and Wind.

Through food deserts and energy challenges, a quiet revolution is taking root where traditional farming meets modern solar technology. Across the Four Corners, researchers and farmers are testing a system called agrivoltaics that combines crop cultivation with solar energy production as a path toward food independence.