'jo girl'

[Lynne Murphy]

A friend forwarded me this article from "High Country News" with this 'jo girl'
reference (2nd paragraph).  Do people know the term?  Is it only girls?

Lynne

> Not your average beauty queen
> UNCOMMON WESTERNERS
> Profile by Lisa Jones
>
> Rachel Benally, recent runner-up in the Southwest Regional Miss Navajo
> Pageant, Internet surfer, and unflinching slaughterer of her grandmother's
> goats, lies in a reclining chair in her Aunt Sharon's living room. She is
> recovering from last night's TV-watching marathon. Wrapped in a comforter,
> she is discussing things with me and her cousin, Heather Begay.
>
> "I'm not into dating," says Rachel, who is 24 years old, with a round,
> serious face and long black hair. "No guys in high school. Even in college,
> all I ever did was study in my room. I'm not like Heather," she laughs.
> Heather, who is 12, is lying down on the floor wearing black, shiny
> sweatpants, a black Nike T-shirt and a large crucifix pendant. She retorts
> that Rachel is a "Jo Girl" - a girl who likes to speak Navajo. Heather can
> speak Navajo, too, but only does so when she has to, with her grandparents.
> "No one speaks it," she explains. "Only older people do; maybe people over 30
> or 40 years old."
>
[rest of article deleted]
> © copyright 2000 High Country News and Lisa Jones
> ______________________________________________