GIFF JOHNSON
Miss Namo Farrah Muller was crowned Miss Marshall Islands 2026 at Saturday’s coronation ceremony at the ECC in Majuro — before hundreds at the venue and thousands watching online.
She is the RMI’s third Miss Marshall Islands, taking up the title from outgoing Miss Marshall Islands Claret Chong Gum.
Saturday’s event, which featured activities such as the 13 contestants showing their custom designed evening gowns and answering a final question from the judges, was the culmination of a 10-day pageant program.
As in past pageants, the emphasis was placed on bringing the contestants together and while the pageant was a contest, the structure of the events and the fact that they lived together for the duration, brought the group together. It showed in the body language and enthusiasm shown when they were on stage together.
Saturday’s gala ceremony was emceed by Chloe Abraham and Randon Jack.
The first runner up was Miss Namdrik Jahzahra Faleteo Pedro and the second runner up was Miss Aur Hadasa Jonathan. Miss Namdrik stole the show during the talent night with her array of island dances, winning the talent competition.
Judges for the event scored the 13 competitors based on the following categories: Talent (25 percent), platform presentation (20 percent), traditional wear (25 percent), evening gown (20 percent), and stage interview (10 percent).
Within each of these categories were multiple criteria that were scored on a 1-10 ranking system.
What viewers may not have realized is that some awards like best float did not count toward determining the overall score for each contestant.
The top contestants were named shortly before the Saturday night coronation ceremony went to the crowning phase. The top five were the Misses from Namo, Kwajalein, Aur, Namdrik and Wotje.
As a nearly final item for the pageant, each was asked to reply to the question: What is the biggest challenge Marshallese women face?
Miss Namo’s answer clearly resonated with the audience viewing the event live from the ECC and the tens of thousands of viewers following NTA’s live stream (at one point, the number of viewers on NTA’s Facebook live stream was around 6,000 that indicated many thousands more actually watching the Facebook feed as well as the companion live stream on YouTube).
Miss Namo Farrah offered a totally original and unprecedented answer in pageant history when she replied the challenge for women she wanted to bring awareness to was generally not discussed and, in fact, island cultural norms lead it to be stigmatized: Post-partum depression. “To all those women who went through it, we hear you and we value you,” she said. The answer caused a ripple of interest and positive response among the live audience as well as many comments from those watching the live stream.
One of the organizers of the pageant, Angeline Heine-Reimers, commented on social media that for the first two pageants a Manila-based company was brought in to help with the production. This “Miss Marshall Islands, all Marshallese doing the media and production,” she said, recognizing CMI Media, Six9Too Productions, and the National Telecommunications Authority.
Co-emcee Randon offered a shoutout to all 13 contestants in a social media post: “You ladies dazzled us with your beauty, charm, intelligence, elegance, talents, bravery, and camaraderie with each other. Like your predecessors, you are all excellent examples and role models for our younger/future generations.”