Miss Navajo Nation Rodeo Cowboys Association 2003 Queen



Meriel Goklish 

Meriel is 20 years old, she has been riding all her life.  She has 3 quarter horses, a Sorrel mare named "Princess", a Palomino named "Jackpot" and a Bay named "Ace"

Her current activities are working with a ecological youth camp, and guiding the kids to respect nature and embrace natural resources.  She is also a  full time college student attending Northland Pioneer College, a sophomore and a student intern with the White Mountain Apache Tribal Environmental Watershed Department

When ask what was required to compete for the Miss NNRCA title, her response was:

 "I had to write an essay explaining why I wanted to represent all of the cowboys and cowgirls who are members of the NNRCA, we were required to ride our horses using the horsemanship patterns, and we were judged on our public speaking by describing what we were wearing.  I rode my horse "Mustang Sally" and rode that horse last year at INFR, she passed away two weeks after the INFR in California"

When we asked Meriel where she would like to be in 5 years, she replied:

"Graduating from college with my bachelor degree in environmental science, still be strongly involved in rodeo, and then have a minor in Native American Studies" 

Meriel has 2 dogs, a Rotweiller named "Weasel"
and a Border Collie named "Wrangler" 

Her advice to young girls who want to be a princess or queen, but do not have access to horses or know how to ride:  

"Look for a nice person to let you ride their horses, and join a 4-H horse program, where you will learn to care for horses, training, leadership, and make new friends who ride horses.  Also, I was a girls camp counselor, and I enjoyed working with them on a daily basis where they made crafts, exercised, and learned more about personal hygiene". 



Indian Rodeo News would like to thank Meriel for taking the time to interview with us.  We hope her experience will inspire other young women to get involved with horses, cattle, and animal care.  And not to be shy from competing for a princess or queen title.