PENDLETON — Marley Johnson and Samantha Craig-Allen have been named as Happy Canyon princesses for 2022.

The duo will serve as ambassadors for the Happy Canyon Night Show, Oregon’s official outdoor night pageant that happens alongside the Pendleton Round-Up, according to a press release announcing the princesses.

“We are absolutely thrilled to have these two talented local young women represent Happy Canyon this next year,” Happy Canyon President Tanner Hawkins said in the press release. “Their family roots run deep in local tribal history and in Happy Canyon, so we’re honored to have them serve as our representatives in 2022.”

Johnson, 20, is the daughter of Micah Johnson and Julie Rowell of Portland. A descendant of Chief Joseph’s sister, she is of Nez Perce, Cayuse and Walla Walla descent and has attended Happy Canyon and the Pendleton Round-Up nearly all of her life.

Johnson, who began competing in junior American Indian pageants at age 3, took third place in the Senior American Indian Pageant in 2019. As a Happy Canyon princess, Johnson will continue a family legacy. Her aunt, Drew (Johnson) Rivera, served as a Happy Canyon princess in 2000. Her grandfather, William Johnson, was the first tribal member to pass the Oregon State Bar and has been chief judge at the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservaion Tribal Court for more than 30 years. The moccasins Johnson will wear as a Happy Canyon princess have been in the family for more than 100 years.

Johnson graduated from St. Mary’s Academy in Portland. She is a sophomore at Mt. Hood Community College, where she plays basketball and softball. Her goal is to complete an associate of arts Oregon transfer degree at Mt. Hood and transfer to a university to pursue athletics and a degree in journalism or communications.

“I am proud and humbled to be selected as a 2022 Happy Canyon princess,” Johnson said in the press release. “Being selected as a Happy Canyon princess means so much to me. It allows me to act as a role model for youth and the honor to represent Oregon Natives, specifically my indigenous urban community. I look forward to giving back to the community as well as gaining new experiences.”

Craig-Allen, 19, the daughter of Sandra Craig of Pendleton and Sheldon Allen of Culdesac, Idaho, is a 2020 graduate of Pendleton High School. She is of Umatilla, Cayuse and Nez Perce descent and an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the press release stated. Her maternal great-great-grandfather, Dick Johnson, was with the Nez Perce band during the War of 1877, as well as her great-great-grand uncle, See Ya Kun llp llp.

Craig-Allen plans to enroll at Blue Mountain Community College in Pendleton, where she’d like to improve her skills in writing, dance and acting. She works at McDonald’s at Arrowhead Travel Plaza and said she applied to become a Happy Canyon princess because of her late grandfather, Fermore Craig Sr., who was a part of Happy Canyon for more than 75 years. According to the press release, Craig-Allen cherishes the memories she has of participating in Happy Canyon with her grandfather before his death and looks forward to continuing the tradition in her family.

“What I am excited about being a Happy Canyon princess is being able to get in touch with my culture even more and making my family proud for representing our tribe, Happy Canyon, and, most of all, my families,” Craig-Allen said in the release. “Also, I’m looking forward to all of the traveling and making new friends, experiences and getting to know (fellow princess) Marley more.”