Infusing Diné culture

Blogger embraces heritage into everyday life

PHOENIX

In the world of social media, where the biggest beauty influencers on YouTube are majority women of color and where you have spaces like “Black Twitter,” it’s still difficult to find Indigenous content creators on YouTube or Instafamous style bloggers.

This makes Alana Yazzie’s content unique as a lifestyle and food blogger who infuses Navajo culture into her work.

“I try to inspire other Native Americans to embrace their Native American cultural heritage into their everyday life,” Yazzie, 29, said. “I do that through food, fashion and my everyday life.”

Her most popular and highly requested recipe on her blog was her Fancy Blue Corn Cupcakes.

One her followers commented on her first post of the cupcakes saying, “okay, you gotta tell me how you make those cupcakes haha so cool!”

Now her followers are asking for her Navajo tea-frosting recipe.

This is what Yazzie’s content is all about – infusing the Navajo culture into her every day meals and outfits.

She also did a blog post about styling an “amasani scarf” and making Fancy Navajo Boba Almond Milk Tea.

Yazzie, who is originally from Fruitland, New Mexico, started her Instagram account in 2013 and a year later added blogging to her platform.

“When I first started my Instagram, nobody knew who I was,” Yazzie said. “I was anonymous for, like, the first year.”

She didn’t use her own name or share images of her face. It wasn’t until Jaclyn Roessel, who is also known by her blogger name GrownUp Navajo, asked to interview her.

“She wanted to take pictures,” Yazzie said. “I was really nervous about it. People don’t really know who I am. They don’t know what I look like.”

Yazzie was nervous about Internet trolls and being attacked online.

“They talk about trolls on the Internet,” she said. “People being mean to you for no reason. Luckily, I haven’t experienced any of that.”

Now Yazzie comfortably shares outfits of the day, also called #ootd, and posts fairly regularly showing her face. Sometimes people even recognize Yazzie as she’s walking around.

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