Nizhoni Tallas

Yá’át’ééh (Hello). Nizhoni is a proud member of the Navajo Nation and grew up in Rough Rock, Arizona. After high school she attended Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and graduated with her B.S. in natural resources with an emphasis on outdoor recreation management. She recently graduated with her master’s in natural resources and is now in a Ph.D. program at the University of Arizona. Her master’s work focused on understanding interpretative signage throughout parks, national monuments and recreational areas in the Southwest region. She analyzed language usage in interpretive signage to see how these various outdoor locations were sharing Indigenous histories and stories. 

Nizhoni spends most of her summers participating in internships and other development programs to enhance her skills and to gain knowledge she can use in her future career. She recently completed an internship as the water advocacy intern at the Grand Canyon Trust. Her interest grew in storytelling when she participated in an intensive Native American Film course through the University of Montana and saw the impact filmmaking can have when sharing important stories. 

She looks forward to sharing authentic and compelling stories with others and to developing her skills in storytelling. She is excited to engage and learn from other cohort members, instructors and speakers throughout the program. Nizhoni enjoys being outside, traveling, and finding the nearest boba shop wherever she goes.

Piñon Season: Coming together to protect a culturally significant species (2024 Storyfest Finalist in the Best Video by a Non-Media Student Category)