Louva Dahozy

Doctor of Science from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
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Louva Dahozy is a Diné knowledge holder, health educator, cultural teacher and voters' rights activist born in the 1920s on the Navajo Nation. Over the course of her 70-year career, Dahozy has raised awareness of traditional Navajo foods, has used Indigenous-language radio broadcasting to reach underserved families, and has advanced food security for Diné women, children and older adults.

Dahozy joined the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension system as a community educator in 1958, sharing her farming experience and passion to provide cooperative extension programs to and for Indigenous communities.

While working for the Office of Navajo Economic Opportunity in the late 1960s, Dahozy helped secure federal funding for radio programs in the Diné language focused on healthy foods, nutrition and the diverse knowledge and skills of home economics. For 10 years, she also produced and recorded daily episodes of "Navajo Homemakers Radio Education," which were broadcasted by seven separate Navajo community radio stations.

Dahozy has written books to promote nutrition education and advance food security, including the "Navajo Homemaker Cookbook" in 1969 and "Navajo Terminology of Food and Nutrition" in 1977. Her nutrition expertise and intimate knowledge of Navajo culture led to many invitations to teach about Navajo culture and Indigenous foods at colleges and universities, including the University of Arizona, Dartmouth University, Duke University, the University of Kansas, the University of New Mexico, Prescott College and Diné College in Arizona.

Dahozy has extended her advocacy beyond nutrition education to other issues, including voters' rights, voter registration, and the needs of women and older adults in Indigenous communities across the United States. She has served as founder and ex-officio member of both the National Indian Council on Aging and the Navajo Nation Council on Aging. She also was a founder and ex-officio member of the North American Indian Women's Association in 1970 and a representative at the White House Conferences on Aging in 1971 and 1973.

In 1994, the University of Arizona College of Agriculture and Life Sciences – then called the College of Agriculture – honored Dahozy with a Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2016, she was also honored by the Apache County Recorder, Apache County Board of Supervisors and the 23rd Navajo Nation Council in Window Rock, Arizona, for her outstanding service and contributions to the Navajo Nation.