Biography of Dantzelle Yazzie
Dantzelle, a member of the Dine Nation, is a graduate of PCC Southwest in Mancos and author of the PCC land acknowledgement.
She attended San Juan Basin Vocational College after high school and earned her certificate in medical assisting, which was her career for almost 12 years. She earned her first associate degree from PCC in 2022 and her nursing degree in 2024. She has worked as a registered nurse since graduating. During her first year as a nurse, she worked toward her Bachelor of Science degree in nursing at PCC, graduating in May 2025.
Dantzelle loved working as a medical assistant but decided to become a nurse after caring for her grandmother during her cancer battle.
"I promised her I'd go back to school and become a nurse,” she said. “Education was so important to her and still is to my family, especially being an Indigenous woman. Only 0.4% of nurses are identified as Native American (according to the 2022 National Nursing Workforce Survey), so being a part of that small percentage means a lot to me and my community."
