Breaking Barriers
Essie Yazzie is on track to become the first Black woman to graduate from Navajo Technical University. The 46-year-old Biology major loves science and plans to go on to medical school after she completes her degree from NTU. She knows she has a lot of schooling ahead of her, but that is not stopping the vet tech, mother of two, and grandmother of two more from going after her dream and becoming an oncologist- a cancer doctor. Yazzie was already interested in studying cancer, but when her father received a diagnosis of prostate cancer and later colon cancer, she felt extra motivated to understand how cancer happens and more importantly, how it can be stopped.
Yazzie credits Drs. Irene Ane Anyangwe, Palmer Netango, Abraham Meles, and Elizabeth Roastingear for supporting her through her studies. “When I have a bad day, they cheer me up. They’ve even put together study groups to help us through rough patches.” Yazzie took Roastingear’s creative writing class and said it really helped her grow as a writer. When not doubling down on her science classes, Yazzie writes children’s books. “I want to uplift. There’s enough negativity in the world.” The author of five children’s books (ages 5-8), Yazzie said she likes to focus her stories on topics that are very relatable and relevant like “bullying, how to have a positive self-image and spending time with family.” Yazzie’s most popular book is called Lester’s Big Cover Up, and the story is about a frog who doesn’t like his spots and how he comes to embrace himself. “I’m aware that I’m going to a Native American school. I’m proud of my identity. They have their rituals and practices as Native people, and I have mine too.”
It has not always been easy for Yazzie to be one of two Black women in a school with approximately 1,300 students. She was accepted into the university, but there have been challenges. Some students would not speak to her. “Sometimes you have to show people how to treat you. Once I put people at ease and they came to know me, they treated me well.”
Yazzie’s resiliency and upbeat attitude shine through. In 1995 she met her husband, Jason, in Denver, and he convinced her to relocate to Thoreau; she had no idea what she was stepping into. She’d never heard of Thoreau, New Mexico, but she took a chance. “It’s still a culture shock. At first, I didn’t see any Black people. Finally, we went to Gallup. I asked someone if there were any Black folks around,” she laughed.
At 19 she learned she was pregnant with their first child. “I didn’t know what to do. I was just 19, so I packed up, got on a Greyhound bus, and went home to San Diego. I figured I’d be a single parent.” But single parenthood never happened for Yazzie. “Jason came after me. On the advice of my mother, I returned to Thoreau and decided to give it a shot for one year.” The couple were married in 1997 and are still married today. They have two grown children. “We raised both kids here, and they thrived.”
“In high school I didn’t make the greatest grades, but now I’m determined to do it, and my professors have been very instrumental in getting me where I am.” Yazzie is now part of a microfluidics team. She has recently been traveling to different universities and working as a team of students-four from NTU-and professors who are trying to isolate cancer cells in an attempt to treat only cancer cells and not hurt healthy cells when utilizing chemotherapy. “It’s really awesome to see how far technology has come. The future looks very promising for cancer research,” Yazzie said. She hopes to attend a historically Black college like Howard or Tuskegee for medical school. “Black and proud. Here I am.” Yazzie is scheduled to graduate from Navajo Technical University in 2025.
Essie Yazzie