Danielle Lewis of Tó Łizhiní crowned 2024-25 Miss Central Navajo

By Reginald Chee
Special to the Times

CHINLE

Rochelle Francisco, the 2023-24 Miss Central Navajo, crowned Danielle Lewis the 2024-25 Miss Central Navajo Saturday night.

Lewis, 20, of Blackwater, Arizona, is Tó’aheedlíinii and born for Naaneesht’ézhí Táchii’nii. Her maternal grandfather is Mą’ii Deeshgizhnii and her paternal grandfather is Naakaii Dine’é. She is the daughter of Wynona Bahe and Derrick Joe.

Lewis, a student in the welding trade program at Navajo Technical University (Crownpoint), says when she was crowned, the first thing that came to her mind was her late great-grandmother, Rose Ann Bahe, who was the matriarch and the rock of the family.

“I looked into the crowd, expecting her to be there but I knew she was watching me from the sky and happy that I won,” Lewis said in an interview with the Navajo Times.

Lewis’s platform focuses on educating Diné children about Diné knowledge and language and rallying against the Navajo Nation’s diabetes epidemic.

Lewis looks up to her family – aunts, and maternal and paternal grandmothers. “They all help me so much,” she added. “They inspire me so much. I also look up to very (educated) people and it inspires me to become more of myself.”