Don’t stand in the shadows: Miss Navajo applies skills, service to battle against virus

WINDOW ROCK

At first all Miss Navajo Shaandiin Parrish could do was stay home and sew facemasks.

Like everyone on Navajo, when COVID-19 first hit, Parrish didn’t have a full grasp of what this novel coronavirus actually was.

Through public health orders, Parrish had to stay home in Window Rock and was not allowed to visit her family in Kayenta, which isn’t far from where the first Navajo case was reported on March 17, 2020, in Chilchinbito.

“It was very difficult from the beginning because it started in my home town and I couldn’t see my family,” said Parrish. “So I took it upon myself to make homemade masks for the Navajo Nation donation center.

“Nobody tells you how to be Miss Navajo Nation while this is happening or when there is crisis,” she said.

In order to slow the spread, the community of Chilchinbito was blocked off by police officers and monitored for who was going in and coming out.

The Navajo Nation Fire Department was also tasked with getting supplies to the community so residents wouldn’t have to leave and potentially spread the virus.

“We took drastic measures of closing off the community at the very beginning,” said Parrish. “And to see those photos of police officers in their PPEs and monitoring who comes out of that community, that was unreal to me.

“I couldn’t believe what this meant for my community and the Navajo Nation,” she said. “Personally, it was very difficult.”

Parrish went from planning summer workshops as Miss Navajo to cancelling them. While the Navajo Nation canceled events along with closing non-essential business, tourist spots, schools and the government, Parrish had planned a trip to Taiwan.

“We were so focused at trying to mitigate the situation that we didn’t even take into consideration what month it was,” said Parrish. “It’s so hard to conceptualize time now. That was the energy … we were too focused with our work.”

It was a summer like no other on the Navajo Nation.

With COVID-19 testing blitzes, the fair season and other events canceled, Parrish worked alongside President Jonathan Nez and his staff as they travelled from community to community to hand out donations and supplies.

Before becoming Miss Navajo, Parrish worked as Arizona State Treasurer Kimberly Yee’s public information officer and she volunteered her PR skills at the Health Command Operation Center, where she created graphics on preventative measures written in both English and Navajo.

“President Nez gave me a perspective about this pandemic,” said Parrish. “He’s given me the opportunity to step up and to be that voice … and it gives you a sense of confidence in understanding that you don’t have to stand in the shadows.

“That you can stand alongside your leaders,” she said, “not behind them, but alongside them.”

The Navajo Nation has been praised for the example it set with masks and other public health mandates. While the rest of the country was deeply divided over wearing cloth over their mouths to keep from spreading COVID-19, the Navajo Nation embraced masks early.

“I always followed the protocols and respected our leaders’ decisions,” said Parrish, “even though they were more drastic than the rest of the country.

“When I was asked by national media sources why we had lockdowns, I would always reiterate that our people know how to take care of our people,” she said.

Able to end her reign as Miss Navajo any time she wants, since she has already served for a year, Parrish emphasizes that public service and “dedication to our Navajo people” has always been the priority and is why she continues into a second year.

As the Nation re-opens, Parrish said she would like to be included and is supportive of the Division of Economic Development and tourism, and to provide the information the world needs to know.

Being where she is needed, and assisting in any way she can, is what she will continue to do for the Navajo Nation.

“My heart goes out to all the families impacted by COVID-19,” said Parrish. “We have lost too many of our loved ones to this virus. This can be prevented. Even though we have a vaccine we should take this just as seriously as we did a year ago.”

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