GRANDMOTHER, MOTHER, SISTER, AUNT: Karletta Chief fills these symbolic roles--not to mention ambassador and advocate--as this year's Miss Navajo Nation. It's a tall order for the 4-foot-10 young woman with the crown, but she says she's eager to "represent womanhood" for her people. Raised in northern Arizona in a home without electricity or running water, Chief earned degrees in civil and environmental engineering and is now pausing from PhD work to help preserve her culture and address environmental issues facing tribal lands. "A lot of Navajo children have potential [to excel] but don't see an example," she says.
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