Crystalyne Curley
Curley in 2023
11th Speaker of the Navajo Nation Council
Assumed office
January 23, 2023
Preceded byOtto Tso
Member of the 25th Navajo Nation Council
Assumed office
January 10, 2023
Preceded byKee Allen Begay
Personal details
Alma materArizona State University
University of New Mexico
AwardsMiss Navajo (2011)

Crystalyne Curley is an American politician serving as the 11th speaker of the Navajo Nation Council since 2023. She is the first woman to hold the position. Curley was Miss Navajo from 2011 to 2012.

Life

Curley is from Fish Point, Arizona.[1] She is Tsénjíkiní and born for Tó’aheedlíinii.[1] Her maternal grandfather is Kinyaa’áanii, and her paternal grandfather is Dził T’aadi Kinyaa’áanii.[1] Curley graduated with two bachelor's degrees from the Arizona State University.[1] She earned a master's in health administration from the University of New Mexico.[1]

Curley was Miss Navajo from 2011 to 2012.[2] She ran for the Navajo Nation Council Delegate position in 2022. Crystalyne Curley is currently working in the Navajo Nation Speaker's Office.[2] She later served as the senior public information officer for Navajo Nation President, Jonathan Nez.[2]

On November 8, 2022, Curley was elected delegate after defeating incumbent Kee Allen Begay.[2] She is the first woman to represent the Tselani/Cottonwood, Nazlini, Blue Gap/Tachee, Low Mountain, and Many Farms communities on the Navajo Nation Council.[2] In January 2023, the council elected Curley as its speaker, making her the first woman to hold the position and the first fluent Navajo speaker in the role since Johnny Naize's resignation in 2014.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Allen, Krista (2022-05-20). "Service is key: Former Miss Navajo Nation titleholders run for delegate seats". Navajo Times. Retrieved 2023-01-24.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Becenti, Arlyssa D. (January 23, 2023). "After women made historic gains, Navajo Nation Council elects first female speaker". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 2023-01-24.
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