Meet Our 2025–2026 Hózhó Naashá Ambassadors
Acadia Riley
Miss Hózhó Naashá
Acadia Riley is Navajo Preparatory School’s Miss Hózhó Naashá and is in 11th grade at Navajo Preparatory School. She is an enrolled member of the Laguna Pueblo and is from Farmington, NM.
Acadia is actively involved in campus leadership and student life. She currently serves as a member of the Naat’áanii Youth Council. In the 2024–25 school year, she was a member of the Student Advocacy Team, where she participated in legislative advocacy at the New Mexico Roundhouse.
Acadia is a member of the National Honor Society, the Natural Helpers peer support program, and the junior prom committee. She also plays on the Eagles Volleyball and Softball teams. Over the summer, she visited New Zealand for a cultural experience through the Diné–Aotearoa Māori Cultural Immersion Program.
Dylan Barney
Mr. Atsá Hastiin
Dylan Barney is Navajo Preparatory School’s Mr. Atsá Hastiin, serving as one of two cultural ambassadors for the school. A junior at Navajo Prep, Dylan proudly represents the Northern Agency from Shiprock Chapter.
He served as the Student Senate Class President during his sophomore year and continues to be a strong voice for his peers. Beyond leadership, he is an active member of the Speech and Debate Team and a Discovery Days Student Ambassador, welcoming and guiding future students to the Navajo Prep community.
Dylan is also musically talented. He plays guitar and drums and enjoys singing Johnny Cash songs, showcasing his creativity and love for performance.
Hózhó Naashá — Walking in Beauty
Hózhó Naashá means walking in beauty. The four cardinal direction principles below represent the “beauty way path,” where beauty exists within us and around us as light reflects through a rainbow. The symbol of the rainbow represents sovereign communication with Creator.
Hózhó means “natural order.” This natural order includes temporal time, cardinal directions, cycles of seasons, and principles placed in the four cardinal directions for a life journey.
The Four Corn-Pollen Footsteps
The principles placed within the four cardinal directions are blessing way teachings translated into English as “the four corn-pollen footsteps”: child, youth, adult, and elder.
East — White
Child: sunrise, spring, spiritual moral standards for living
South — Blue
Youth: noon, summer, learning, work, transportation
West — Yellow
Parent: sunset, autumn, family, home, storytelling, ceremony
North — Black
Grandparent: midnight, winter, self-reverence, reverence for the natural order, hope, restoring resources
Center — Red
Fireplace / hearth of home: spiritual family love
Once one has experienced a ceremonial change process to correct the state of dis-ease or disease, their journey is in the natural order. Then we are living the loving way, in right relationship to the elements of the four cardinal directions. When we travel through life in this way, we are walking in beauty.
Apply Now for the Hózhó Naashá Pageant Contest
The Hózhó Naashá Pageant is just around the corner. It will take place on
October 15, 2025, at the
Brooks Isham Performing Arts Center (BIPAC) in Kirtland, NM.
Students, please consider running for the Hózhó Naashá Pageant and representing the school as one of our cultural ambassadors. In order to run, please download the attached application and fill it out. Submit all completed applications by the required deadline.
Our ambassadors — Ayáásh Ambassador, Ms. Hózhó Naashá, and/or Mr. Atsá Hastiin — serve as cultural ambassadors for Navajo Prep. They carry an important legacy by representing students, staff, and our community regionally and nationally.
This is a great opportunity and learning experience for all students who are interested.
Previous Ambassadors
2024 – 2025
Ms. Hózhó Naashá Addison Salazar
Mr. Atsá Hastiin Bradley Redhouse
2023 – 2024
Ms. Hózhó Naashá Hailey Thomas
Mr. Atsá Hastiin Anthony Cruz
2022 – 2023
Ms. Hózhó Naashá Rayna Begay
Mr. Atsá Hastiin Landon Succo
2021 – 2022
Ms. Hózhó Naashá Yilnazbah Wauneka-Yellowhorse
Mr. Atsá Hastiin Devin Lansing
2019 – 2021
Ms. Hózhó Naashá Kally Gene
Mr. Atsá Hastiin Cade Allison
2018 – 2019
Ms. Hózhó Cheyenne Murphy
Mr. Atsá Hastiin Kenny Sloan
2017 – 2018
Ms. Hózhó Naashá Kellian Staggers
Mr. Atsá Hastiin Leander Cly
2016 – 2017
Ms. Hózhó Naashá Taishiana Tsosie
Mr. Atsá Hastiin Tyrease James
2015 – 2016
Ms. Hózhó Naashá Jourdan Watson
Mr. Atsá Hastiin Adriano Tsinigine
