5th grader wins Navajo Nation Spelling Bee

This year a fifth grader will represent the Navajo Nation at the 2011 Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Delila Nakaidinae from St. Michael Indian School won the Navajo Nation Spelling Bee on March 17 by correctly spelling "pecuniary" (consisting of or measured in money) in round 6 of the grand spell-off.

The national contest takes place May 29 to June 4 in Washington, D.C.

"I'm so excited," Nakaidinae said, adding that it was a love of reading that helped the 10-year-old prepare for the competition.

She plans to travel to Washington with her mother, Denise Nakaidinae, and her teacher, Margaret King.

In addition to winning the Navajo Nation title, Nakaidinae walked away with a one-year subscription to Encyclopedia Britannica Online, a gift certificate for Amazon.com, a $100 savings bond, a suitcase, and a copy of Webster's Third International Dictionary.

Many in the audience went "whoa" when they saw the dictionary, which runs almost 3,000 pages.

Cheering Nakaidinae in the audience were her grandparents, Art and Margaret Nakaidinae.

"Before she went up, I said, 'OK, babe, you can take your mom to Washington,'" Margaret said.

The runner-up was Nicholai Bolus, a sixth grader from Second Mesa Day School, who faced a tight race against his younger brother, Sean, a fifth grader at Second Mesa.

The brothers went six rounds before Nicholai nailed "decrement" (the act of decreasing) after Sean misspelled "asado" (roasted) as "ossotto."

The day kicked off with welcome addresses from Navajo Times Publisher Tom Arviso Jr. and Miss Navajo Nation Winifred Bessie Jumbo.

The Times, the Navajo Nation's Office of Youth Development and the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Diné Nation sponsored the bee.

"For all of our young spellers, all of us are proud and honored to be in your company this morning," Arviso said.

Jumbo encouraged the students to read and continue learning English in addition to learning Navajo.

"If you are not already doing so, try to challenge yourself to spell in Navajo and maybe someday we will have a spelling bee all in Navajo," Jumbo said.

With that, students were off to compete in qualifying rounds. The winners went on to the grand spell-off.

Among the words misspelled in round 1 of the fourth-grade competition were "sultan," "caboose," "powwow" and "pueblo."

There were only four spellers left in round 2 when Jaclyn Jack from Piñon Elementary School won by spelling "albatross" (something that greatly hinders accomplishment).

Round 9 of the sixth-grade competition saw a three-way showdown between Nicholai Bolus, Aarish Raza from Mesa View Elementary School, and Samuel Yeager from Canyon de Chelly Elementary School.

The boys breezed through eight rounds, correctly spelling "poinsettia" (a type of flowering plant), "sassafras" (a type of tree) and "peccadillo" (a slight offense) until Yeager misspelled "rendezvous" (meeting) as "rendesvous" and was eliminated.

Bolus and Raza went four more rounds, going head-to-head flawlessly spelling "apparatchik" (Russian word for bureaucrat), "garcon" (French word for boy) and "schottische" (a folk dance).

The seventh-grade competition started with nine spellers, which was quickly whittled to four.

In round 2, three of the four failed to correctly spell their words. Amber Robbins from Tuba City Boarding School looked good to win when she correctly spelled "oolong" (tea made from leaves that have been partially fermented before firing), but she misspelled her second word, "quiche" (an unsweetened egg custard pie).

In round 6 Yanibah Yazza from Atsá Biyaazh Community School claimed the title with "catkin" (the flower of a willow, oak or birch tree).

The eighth-grade competition also saw it share of nail-biting moments, especially when Shaquilyn Gordon from Sanders Middle School and Cheron Laughin from St. Michael Indian School competed for first place.

Eight rounds passed until Gordon spelled "babushka" (Russian word for headscarf) followed by "megalopolis" (a cluster of cities) for the win.

Those who made it to the final spell-off include Jaclyn Jack, fourth grade, Piñon Elementary School; Courteney Yazzie, fourth grade, Red Mesa Elementary School; Sean Bolus, fifth grade, Second Mesa Day School; Delila Nakaidinae, fifth grade, St. Michael Indian School; Nicholai Bolus, sixth grade, Second Mesa Day School; Aarish Raza, sixth grade, Mesa View Elementary School; Yanibah Yazza, seventh grade, Atsá Biyaazh Community School; Mariah Robinson, seventh grade, Tséhootsooí Middle School; Shaquilyn Gordon, eighth grade, Sanders Middle School; and Cheron Laughin, eighth grade, St. Michael Indian School.

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