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Hailing from New Mexico, Jourdan Bennett-Begaye is a Diné (Navajo) citizen who identifies as the Towering House Clan, The Coyote Pass Clan of Jemez, The Mexican Clan and also The Hopi with Red Running Into the Water clan.

Currently stationed in Nenahnezad of the Diné Nation, Jourdan Bennett-Begaye holds a master's degree in newspaper, magazine and online journalism. She is also a Newhouse Minorities fellow. She received her degree from The S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University in New York, regarded by many as one of the nation's top schools of communications; one of the many "pluses" for the school's program is that both faculty and students confront issues facing the current and ever-changing media topography that extends beyond the classroom.

After completing graduate school, Bennett-Begay taught high school journalism, video production and theatre, in New Mexico.

Her career, however, has not always been about journalism; she earned her bachelor's degree in athletic training at Fort Lewis College where she also played volleyball. She has always loved dancing and working with Indigenous youngsters as well, which contributed to her co-founding The Survival of the First Voices-an art and media organization for Native youngsters.

The Jourdan Bennett-Begaye resume also includes that she has written for numerous publications, including the Next Gen Radio, the National Public Radio (NPR) Project, and Native Peoples Magazine. She is probably best known, however, for her work on the coverage of the Native Vote 2018 Midterm elections, with its record-setting slate of 105 Native American Candidates on federal and state ballots.

The event was covered by Indian country's three largest media outlets: First Nations Experience (FNX), Native Voice One (NV1), and Indian Country Today (ICT). It was the six hours of live election night coverage on Native Vote 2018: Election Night Live and Native Vote 2018:Recap, that made Jourdan Bennett-Begay a household name in Indian Country.

Bennett-Begay is also a human rights and racial justice defender: Among the causes she champions is justice for the Wounded Knee Massacre of December 29, 1890, by posthumously stripping medals given to soldiers involved in the bloodbath.

Another cause she supports is making sure that the U.S. census counts Indian country, since "undercounting in the last census adversely affected tribal governments' funding".

Illustration by KB Schaller

But the multi-talented Bennett-Begay's dreams also stretch beyond what she has already accomplished. She also has plans to publish her own magazine for Indigenous people. There can be little doubt that Indian country eagerly awaits its debut.

Sources:

Bennett-Begaye, Jourdan, Indian Country Today, July 4, 2019

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KB Schaller is the International Book Award-winning author of 100+ Native American Women Who Changed the World, Women's Issues Category. Her latest, Whatsoever the Sacrifice, a novel, is published by Trilogy, a TBN subsidiary. KB Schaller books are available through amazon.com and other booksellers. Contact: soaring-eagles@msn.com