People

Petty Officer 3rd Class Aaron Alcott of Tódinéeshzhee’, a 2023 Monument Valley High School graduate, is serving as a torpedoman’s mate aboard the USS Henry M. Jackson, an Ohio-class ballistic-missile submarine.

Navajo Nation hydrologist Crystal Tulley-Cordova and longtime water hauler Darlene Arviso will serve as grand marshals of the 78th Annual Navajo Nation Fair Parade Sept. 12, recognizing two Diné women whose careers have addressed water needs in distinctly different ways.

Rosanna Jumbo-Fitch, the former Chinle Chapter president, has been selected to receive Northern Arizona University’s 2026 Dr. Cliff Harkins Distinguished Citizen of the Year Award. NAU lists Jumbo-Fitch among its 2026 alumni award recipients.

Jake Skeets, the Navajo Nation poet laureate from Vanderwagen, New Mexico, has been awarded a $50,000 fellowship from the Academy of American Poets to support the Saad Prize and related public programming.

Crisosto Apache, Colorado’s poet laureate and a Mescalero Apache, Chiricahua Apache and Diné poet, is also among the 22 poets selected for a $50,000 fellowship from the Academy of American Poets.