Interview: Radmilla Cody discusses Navajo and Black heritage

Tuesday, February 22, 2011  

"The Root: The experience of having your Miss Navajo Nation reign challenged calls to mind the debate over the Cherokee Freedmen. Is this a common issue across the Native community, of African-Native Americans having trouble finding acceptance?

Radmilla Cody: I grew up having to deal with racism and prejudices on both the Navajo and the black sides, and when I ran for Miss Navajo Nation, that especially brought out a lot of curiosity in people. It's something that we're still having to address as black Natives, still having to prove ourselves in some way or another, because at the end of the day, it all falls back to what people think a Native American should look like.

But there's been many times when people have said to me, "Oh, my great-great-grandmother was an Indian." I'll ask them if they know what tribe, and they don't. It's very important because in order to be acknowledged as a tribal member, you have to be enrolled. So I can see where Native people are protective about defining who's a tribal member, and are questioning of people claiming Native ancestry.

TR: What motivated you to enter the Miss Navajo Nation pageant?

RC: I've known since I was in the seventh grade that I wanted to run for Miss Navajo Nation. We had a day at school where we were all dressed up in our traditional attire, and I remember seeing the woman who was Miss Navajo at that time. I thought she was so beautiful, and thought it was so neat that she represented the whole Navajo tribe.

Our society, as most Native societies, is matrilineal. Miss Navajo exemplifies the essence of First Woman, White Shell Woman and Changing Woman, which are deities in our culture. From that point it became a goal of mine, and I talked about it all the time. When I got older, I spent the summer before the pageant preparing for it."

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Black, Red and Proud (The Root 2/22)