Celilo Miles named Lindley Scholar after blazing a trail from fashion to fire
From the runway to the fireline: Victoria’s Secret model blends fashion, fire and Indigenous advocacy
Celilo Miles may be the only Victoria Secret model to get a discount on a pair of hand-made firefighting boots for plugging the boot maker in a YouTube video.
Miles, a former fashion model who will graduate May 2025 with a bachelor’s in communication, is this year’s Lindley scholar in the College of Letters, Art and Social Sciences. She is also a wildland firefighter on a Nez Perce tribal crew.
After years of modeling in New York including a stint with Victoria’s Secret, the Moscow native, who is a member of the Nez Perce Tribe and graduated from Lapwai High School, enrolled at U of I to fulfill a goal.
“I decided I needed to work on myself intellectually,” Miles said. “I had spent several years modeling, and it wasn’t intellectually stimulating, so I always knew education would be my next step.”
I thought a communication degree would be the perfect fit for me. Celilo Miles, communications major
Since enrolling at U of I, Miles maintained a steady presence on the Dean’s List earning a degree in communications while working as a mentor within her tribe and spending each fire season in the woods wearing the made-in-Spokane Nick’s boots that she modeled on social media.
“I love my Nick’s,” she said.
Miles was taken aback to learn she was named as this year’s Lindley Scholar.
“I was a little shocked, frankly,” she said. “I had not even considered that I might be awarded the Lindley, but I worked hard and am super honored.”
Established in 1962, the Lindley Award is presented annually to the top graduating senior deemed the most outstanding in scholarship and character. It is the highest award a student in CLASS can receive.
Although her path to earning a U of I degree started later in life, Miles turned 30 recently, her modeling path began as a 12-year-old when she won competitions locally and in Seattle, earning money and an agent, who eventually sent her to New York, where Miles found a community at a local gym.
“Modeling was pretty cliquish, but I worked out all the time and had kind of an extended family at a cross-fit gym in Manhattan,” she said.
After her brother, a former Washington State University student, died of a drug overdose when she was in her 20s, Miles said she felt untethered from her family in Idaho. Modeling seemed less important than coming home. She joined the fire crew, bought a pair of Nick’s boots — the cost was later reimbursed when the company realized she pitched their boots in a national advertisement — and enrolled at U of I.
“Modeling really helped me come out of my shell and because I liked to engage people, and audiences, I thought a communication degree would be the perfect fit for me,” she said.
In addition to earning a bachelor’s degree, Miles completed research with the College of Natural Resources' Department of Natural Resources and Society and plans to return to graduate school to continue the work.
“The work includes environmental communication and conflicts and collaboration surrounding natural resource management,” she said.
Navigating post-secondary education, despite being a nontraditional student, was made uncomplicated by her U of I mentors and the university’s enrollment process, which helped direct her career path.
“U of I made the academic process easy,” she said. “Professors in the communications department were extremely helpful, and right from the get-go I was enrolled in the classes I needed to move into my degree. It was beneficial to have that kind of a support system, talking to professors face-to-face and building relationships that I can rely on in the future.”
Miles will continue fighting wildland fires on her tribal crew for the seventh season and plans to earn a certification to be an engine boss. At the same time, she hopes to continue mentoring tribal youth and young women and work toward a position as a public information officer.
“U of I helped me access opportunities in research and helped me gain skills to take on a lot of different roles,” she said. “That is what U of I does well.”
Article by Ralph Bartholdt, University Communications
Photo by Garrett Britton, University Visual Productions
Published in May 2025