On May 1, 2025 in the Jon M. Huntsman Center, University of Utah student Tracie Yellowman Tséyíníítsó made history as the first Native American commencement speaker in the U’s 175 years of operation. Yellowman Tséyíníítsó, who graduated with a degree in community health education and plans to pursue a master’s in public health, spoke of resilience, adaptability and family.
Yellowman Tséyíníítsó was not aware of her unprecedented accomplishment until she interviewed with the Salt Lake Tribune only a day before the ceremony.
“They said [their] teams scoured the libraries and all the documents, and there is no known Native American person that’s ever been a student commencement speaker at the graduation. But I had everything already written [the speech] and there was no going back,” Yellowman Tséyíníítsó said in an interview with The Chronicle. “I was like, ‘Okay, well, whatever I do is just going to have to do and I hope that it’s good.’”
Road to graduation
Yellowman Tséyíníítsó balances her education with motherhood, three jobs and community service. She interns at the Utah Division of Indian Affairs, Restoring Ancestral Winds Inc. and the Native American Church of Á Shįįh Bii’ Tó, among others.
“I was really shocked,” Yellowman Tséyíníítsó said. “This person that’s a welder, a mom and a Navajo … this person from this little teeny, teeny part of the corner of Utah that’s on the reservation is actually going to do something like this. I just wanted everybody in my family and my community to be proud of that.”
In her commencement speech, Yellowman Tséyíníítsó shared obstacles she faced with the graduating class. Due to unforeseen circumstances, she took a break from her education at Utah State University. Several years later, after healing from a life-threatening blood condition, Yellowman Tséyíníítsó returned to finish her degree at the U. In her time at the university, she achieved the Native Student Scholarship for Indigenous full-time students, became an Impact Scholar, a member of the Crimson Transfer Honor Society, Dean’s List and earned a 4.0 GPA.
“I just really thought it was just an amazing school, not only [because] the scholarship was available to the Native students, but it was also my experience with the help that I received [at the university hospital],” Yellowman Tséyíníítsó said. “Seeing how that all came together almost full circle with everything, like my health and doctors and things like that, so I kind of feel like that was all part of that.”
Inspirations and goals
Yellowman Tséyíníítsó credits much of her work ethic to her cultural and religious upbringing as a member of the Navajo Nation.
“My faith is what I go off of,” Yellowman Tséyíníítsó said. “What I was told growing up as a child and then also throughout my life [is that] if there’s something that you want, in my belief, everything starts with a prayer.”
She attributes her family and ancestors as her main sources of inspiration.
“My thoughts, I feel and think of them as prayer,” Yellowman Tséyíníítsó said in her speech. “As I saw the kids in my mind, I thought for them, but those are like my own inner prayers and words that I say. I don’t just say them for no reason, there’s purpose and there’s meaning behind it. So it was very, very powerful and very strong for me to say those and to acknowledge my ancestors and then to put that out there.”
Yellowman Tséyíníítsó spoke about her newfound notoriety resulting from her achievements.
“I think this just comes with being a mom too, you forget about yourself, you don’t realize what it is you’re doing or what you’ve done until somebody points it out,” she said. “So when all that attention came to me, I didn’t know what to do. My first thought was how I can use [my platform] to help people.”
t.govitviwat@dailyutahchronicle.com
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