Contestants and fans from all walks of life were welcomed at the 2026 Home of the Navajo PRCA Rodeo in Window Rock, Arizona over the weekend. There was a tie at the top in the team roping, and it felt fitting that three Native sons shared in the win. Brothers Wawa and Brandon Ben were joined in the winner’s circle by James Arviso and Chris Young, both with blazing 5.4-second runs for $3,422 per man. But the pride of performing up to world-class par in front of friends and neighbors might have been worth more to them than the paycheck.
Wawa, 21, and big brother Brandon, 24, are San Carlos Apache and Navajo. They make their home on the San Carlos Apache Reservation in Peridot, Arizona, which is five hours from Window Rock and a couple hours east of Phoenix. The Ben boys were up in Saturday morning slack.
“Winning Window Rock is special to me, because this is the Home of the Navajo Nation,” Wawa said. “Not a lot of guys who grew up around here can say they’ve won it. My grandpa (Leon Ben) is from Lukachukai, which is right down the road from Window Rock. It was cool to win it in front of the people here, and Window Rock was already special to me, because it’s the first pro rodeo I placed at on my permit in 2023.”
“Our grandpa is full Navajo and our grandma is full Apache, so it’s kind of a hometown and home reservation for Grandpa,” Brandon added. “I talked to him driving up to the rodeo, and it was nice to do good, because Grandpa is one of our biggest supporters.”
I’ve visited with a lot of brothers over the years about the pros and cons of playing on the same team.
“I feel like it’s an advantage, because I’m comfortable roping with my brother versus being nervous roping with a partner I’m not related to,” Wawa said. “When you’re not related, you don’t want to mess up and miss, and that adds pressure. I just feel comfortable roping with Brandon.”
“I don’t really think about it too much, because we’ve roped together all our lives,” Brandon said. “I think it’s easier, because traveling and doing everything together seems normal and easy. Roping together just makes sense. We’ve been improving on our run ever since we were little. It’s fun roping with family.”
Who have the Ben brothers watched a little extra on their rise up the roping ranks?
“I love watching Clay Tryan,” Wawa said. “He’s gotten better as the game has changed and gotten harder. He’s always at the top, and finds a way to win.”
“I’m going to say Jade Corkill,” Brandon said. “He’s so consistent, and does everything so correct. I like watching videos of him lately, and how he’s coming into God. And I like how he breaks heeling down, and his mental game. Jade’s just been so good ever since he started.”
Job One for the Ben brothers right now is to rope their way into the Top 30 this summer, so they can have a shot at rodeos like San Antonio and Houston next winter.
“As for this summer, we’re going to enter where we can, rope as hard as we can, and keep going ’til we can’t,” Brandon said.
Have the Navajo Nation’s big three—Erich Rogers, Aaron Tsinigine and Derrick Begay—inspired the Home of the Navajo Nation PRCA Rodeo co-champs?
“We absolutely look up to those guys, but they’re also like family,” Wawa said. “Erich was at my first birthday party.”
“As Native Americans who’ve made the NFR, they’ve inspired us, for sure,” Brandon said. “We’re all good friends—more like family, it seems like. They obviously rope so good. But beyond that, those guys are always looking out for the youth, and the young Native American kids. And that’s us.”
That’s Begay’s nephew and 2025 Resistol Rookie Header of the Year, James Arviso, too. After roping with Rance Doyal earlier this year, Arviso started roping with Levi Lord at Guymon earlier this month, and is currently ranked 15th in the world heading standings.
“It’s been fun roping with Levi,” James said. “He’s made the NFR five times the last few years, and he knows a lot more than I do. He’s a veteran.”
When Lord couldn’t make the trip to Window Rock, Arviso called on Wittman, Arizona’s Chris Young. Chris had no trouble closing the deal, and it gave them both a welcomed boost in the Turquoise Circuit team roping standings.
Next up for Team Arviso and Lord?
“To try and win $110,000 from today, June 5th, to September 30th,” Arviso grinned. “And Window Rock has been a bucket list rodeo for me growing up. The pro rodeo and the Navajo Nation Fair in September were high on my list to win. To do that in front of a Sunday night crowd is pretty special for me.
“It’s also special to me that my mom (Jamie Arviso, who’s also Begay’s big sister) and Carol Holyan—this Dean C. Jackson Arena is named after her dad—put this whole rodeo on. They’ve worked so hard to improve this event for the cowboys and the fans, including moving the dates from the Fourth of July (to May 29-31), so a lot more contestants could come. I’m proud of how hard they worked to make the Home of the Navajo Nation PRCA Rodeo such a success, and a rodeo we can all be proud of on the Navajo Nation.”
We’re all thankful for that. Congratulations, cowboys, and best of luck out on the hot and dusty this summer.