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Everything about The Navajo Nation totally explained

The Navajo Nation (Diné in Navajo language) is a Native American homeland covering about 26,000 square miles (67,339 square kilometres, 17 million acres), occupying all of northeastern Arizona, the southeast portion of Utah, and northwestern New Mexico. It is the largest land area assigned primarily to a Native American jurisdiction within the United States. The Nation encompasses all things important to the Navajo people: the land, kinship, language, religion and the right to govern themselves. Members of the Nation are often known as Navajo (or Navaho) but traditionally call themselves Diné (sometimes spelled in English as Dineh) which means Navajo people.
   The 2000 census reported 298,215 Navajo people living throughout the United States, of which 173,987 were living within the Navajo Nation boundaries. 131,166 lived in Arizona and 17,512 of these lived in Maricopa County, which includes the city of Phoenix. Because the Navajo Nation encompasses land in three states, its Division of Economic Development extracts census data for the Navajo Nation as a whole, and sends a representative to the Census Board. Another group lives on the Colorado River Indian Tribes reservation along the Colorado River in California and Arizona. The reservation also completely surrounds the Hopi Indian Reservation; the Hopi tribe is also known as “Navajo Land Island”.

Geography

The Nation's boundaries are the Ute Mountain Ute Indian Reservation at the Four Corners Monument and stretch across the Colorado Plateau into Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico. Located within the Navajo Nation are Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Monument Valley, Rainbow Bridge National Monument, the Hopi Indian Reservation, and the Shiprock landmark. The seat of government is located at the census-designated city of Window Rock in Apache County, Arizona. There are several adjacent "Navajo Indian Reservations" (such as Alamocita) in this area, but generally function as sub-units of the "Big Rez" with considerable local autonomy). The Diné's traditional boundaries are the four sacred mountains, which actually include an area much larger than the present-day reservation.
   The Navajo Nation was a very complex one. The eastern portion of the reservation, located in New Mexico is popularly called the "Checkerboard" because Navajo lands are mingled with fee lands (owned by both Navajo and non-Navajo people) and federal and state lands under various jurisdictions. Large non-contiguous sections of the Navajo Nation in New Mexico are: Ramah Navajo Indian Reservation in western Cibola County and southern McKinley County; Alamo Bend Navajo Indian Reservation in northwestern Socorro County; and Canoncito Indian Reservation in western Bernalillo County and eastern Cibola County. The total land area of the reservation is 62,362.062 km² (24,078.127 sq mi), making it by far the largest Indian reservation in the United States. It is almost exactly the same size as the state of West Virginia; it's slightly larger in land area, but slightly smaller if water area is included. Its resident population was 180,462 as of the 2000 census. The Navajo Nation is recognized as the largest federally tribe in the United States.
   Other Amerind tribes are located in this area, including several Pueblo nations: Congress established a Hopi (Navajo, Oozéí, or Ayahkinii "underground-house-people") reservation within the Navajo Nation's reservation at an historic homeland where Hopi history predates that of Diné in the area. Adjacent or nearly adjacent to the Navajo Reservation are the Southern Ute of Colorado, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe of Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico, both to the north; the Jicarilla Apache to the east, and other tribes to the west and south. A conflict over shared lands emerged in the 1980s, when the Department of the Interior attempted to relocate Diné living in the Navajo/Hopi Joint Use Area. The conflict was resolved, or at least forestalled, by the award of a seventy-five-year lease to Diné who refused to leave the former shared lands.

Communities


History

Prior to the Long Walk of the Navajo, traditional Navajo government was based upon regional communities and extended family leaders who worked together by consensus. (See Navajo people for more about Navajo traditions.) Europeans have tried to overlay their notions of government upon the Navajo for centuries with the Diné sometimes accepting change as necessary and needed.
   In 1863 and 1864, as the Anglo settlers' demand for land grew, the United States government forced more than 8,500 Navajo men, women and children to march in harsh winter conditions for hundreds of miles to Bosque Redondo, New Mexico (present-day Ft. Sumner) as part of President Andrew Jackson's Indian Removal Act. Some Navajos were able to escape and hide at Navajo Mountain, along the Little Colorado and Colorado Rivers, and in the Grand Canyon. As the march went on, the Navajo were forced to leave their elderly and young children behind to die. Five months later, the Navajos arrived at Bosque Redondo. Many Navajos died at the wretched prison camp, due to poor living conditions. The Navajos were imprisoned for about six years, and released in May 1868. Bosque Redondo had been proved as a miserable failure, because of poor planning, disease, crop infestation and generally poor conditions for agriculture.
   After the Long Walk, the United States Government's Indian Policy determined the administration of the reservation. Appointed federal individuals (Indian Agents) essentially ruled the reservation, sometimes relying on the counsel of traditional Navajo methods of government. The current tribal government was established and recognized by the federal government in 1923.
   The Diné have refused three times to establish a new government under the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. Members twice rejected constitutional initiatives offered by the federal government in Washington, first in 1935 and again in 1953. A reservation-based initiative in 1963 failed after some members found the process to be too cumbersome and a possible potential threat to their self-determination. A constitution was drafted and adopted by the governing council but never ratified by the members. The earlier efforts were rejected primarily because members didn't find enough freedom in the proposed forms of government to develop their livestock industries, in 1935, and their mineral resources, in 1953.
   In 2006, a Committee for a Navajo Constitution started to advocate for a Navajo constitutional convention. The committee's goal is to have representation from every chapter on Navajo Nation represented at a constitution convention. The committee proposes that the convention be held in the traditional na'achid/ modern chapter house manner where every member of the nation wishing to participate, may do so through their home chapters. The committee was formed by three former Navajo Leaders; Kelsey Begaye, Peterson Zah, Peter MacDonald, grass roots activist Ivan Gamble, and other local political activists.
Aside from politics, the Navajo Nation Government and its citizens are playing a pivotal role in filling the Economic Gaps in which Federal money is alloted to the Navajo Nation. Much of the Administrative budget within the Navajo Nation is Federal money from the United States government. Since the Navajo Nation Administrative Government is based a type of quasi-sovereign government mirroring the US Federal model, the Navajo Nation is allowed to maintain a semi-independent economic structure. Also Education is also seeing an overhaul in the Navajo Nation, in 2006 and 2007 more of the Navajo Nation's Educational infrastructure saw itself being modeled into a more efficient system like the ever organized state school districts around the country.

Navajo Post-Modernism

Wage employment opportunities, public schools, hospitals, and public utilities have brought Navajo people in larger and larger numbers to urban centers such as Shiprock, Tuba City, Ganado, and Fort Defiance. A strong sense of tribal identity has kept Navajo culture and social cohesiveness intact, despite the many changes of the last century.
   The Navajo Nation works to provide new business opportunities and partnerships with individuals, small business owners, and large commercial/industrial and tourism establishments. In order to become more efficient and accessible, the Navajo Nation is working to upgrade and implement its programs to benefit these burgeoning business relationships.
   Opportunities for starting or expanding businesses on the Navajo Nation are not limited to members of the tribe. The Navajo Nation is currently recruiting outside private commercial/industrial and tourism development.
   In recent years, The Division of Economic Development (DED) completed a range of developments including the completion of Phase I, Karigan Estates. The development plan included housing for middle- to high-income Navajo families, an office building complex, a restaurant, a commercial area and a day care center.

Tribal membership - Citizenship

Each tribe establishes its own requirements for being an enrolled tribal member, which is usually based on "blood quantum." The Navajo Nation requires a blood quantum of one-quarter for a person, the equivalent of having one of four Dine' clans, to be an enrolled tribal member and to receive a Certificate of Indian Blood (CIB). In comparison, some tribes require a 1/32 blood quantum for issuing a CIB. In 2004, the Navajo Tribal Council voted down a proposal to reduce the blood quantum to one-eighth, which would have effectively doubled the number of individuals qualified to be enrolled Navajo tribal members.
   The Navajo Nation took lessons from other American Indigenous Tribes which implement much lower blood quantum requirements. Unfortunately as a result, many of these tribes are currently suffering from individuals who intentionally false identify themselves as Native American.
   These reasons are usually to fraudulently attain Federal and Tribal money and/or the incentives which are provided in being a registered member of a Federally recognized tribe. These crimes effectively reduce the economic capital and momentum these American Indian and Alaska Native tribes need to develop and improve their education, health, and administrative infrastructures. (External Link)

Education

Education, and the retention of students in all school systems, is a significant priority. A major problem faced by the nation is a very high drop-out rate among high school students. Over 150 public, private and Bureau of Indian Affairs schools serve students from kindergarten through high school. Most schools receive funding from the Navajo Nation under the Johnson O’Malley program.
   The Nation also runs a local Head Start, the only educational program operated by the Navajo Nation government. Post-secondary education and vocational training are available on and off the reservation.
   Since these drop out rates are high among the Navajo Nation, programs such as the Literacy is Empowering Project help combat these problems. It is a non-profit project which promotes literacy and pre-reading skills for Native children to increase standard academic language.

Secondary Education

There are six types of secondary establishments, including:
Arizona Public Schools
New Mexico Public Schools
Utah Public Schools
Bureau of Indian Affairs Public Schools
Association of Navajo Controlled Schools
Navajo Preparatory School, Inc.
(External Link)

Navajo Preparatory School, Inc.

The only Navajo-sanctioned, college-preparatory school for Native Americans, Navajo Preparatory School recruits some of the best and brightest students of the Navajo Nation. Looking to the future, the school offers students a challenging, innovative curriculum in science, math, computers, and other traditional academic subjects. In harmony with the past, it steeps the youth in a deep appreciation of the Navajo Language, culture, and history. Armed with this impressive, balanced education, students graduate with the skills to succeed in college and an understanding of the world around them. Many will become leaders of their people and role models for future generations.
   Located in Farmington, New Mexico, a few miles outside the Navajo reservation, Navajo Preparatory School's mission is: "To educate talented and motivated college-bound Navajo and other Native American youth who have the potential to succeed in higher education and become leaders in their respective communities. The school provides a rigorous academic program based on a strong foundation of Navajo Philosophy, supported by a residential environment that enhances individuality and independence.

Diné College

The Navajo Nation operates Diné College, a two-year community college which has its main campus in Tsaile in Apache County, as well as seven other campuses on the reservation. Current enrollment is 1,830 students, of which 210 are degree-seeking transfer students for four-year institutions. The college includes the Center for Diné Studies, whose goal is to apply Navajo Sa'ah Naagháí Bik'eh Hózhóón principles to advance quality student learning through Nitsáhákees (thinking), Nahatá (planning), Iiná (living), and Sihasin (assurance) in study of the Diné language, history, and culture in preparation for further studies and employment in a multi-cultural and technological world.

Navajo Nation Department of Diné Education

The Navajo Nation Board of Education is an 11 member board instructed to oversee the operations of schools on the Navajo Nation and exercise regulatory functions and duties over education programs on the Navajo Nation. It was established by the Navajo Nation education code, Title 10 which was enacted in July 2005 by Navajo Nation Council.
   The board acts to promote the goals of the Navajo Sovereignty in Education Act of 2005 which include the establishment and management of a Navajo Nation Department of Diné Education, to confirm the commitment of the Navajo Nation to the education of the Navajo People, to repeal obsolete language and to update and reorganize the existing language of Titles 10 and 2 of the Navajo Nation Code.
   It is the educational mission of the Navajo Nation to promote and foster lifelong learning for the Navajo people, and to protect the culture integrity and sovereignty of the Navajo Nation. A Navajo Nation Board of Education meeting is scheduled the first Friday of every month.
   Through a ballot election process, the Board realigned their officers in 2006. The new officers are:
Jimmie C. Begay - President
Rebecca M. Benally - Vice President
Vee F. Brown - Secretary
Marjorie Dodge-Teacher representative.
   Other members include elected representatives from Eastern Navajo Agency, Dolly C. Begay: Western Agency, Dr. Dolly Manson; Ft. Defiance Agency, Katherine Arviso; and Shiprock Agency, Virgil Kirk, Jr. Presidential-appointed members are Juanita Benally-Navajo Culture Representative, .

Tommy Lewis Incident

Unfortunately as much as the Navajo Board of Education tried to the stay away from the astonishingly polarizing political life of the Navajo Nation, when an at-will employee is terminated by the board for substantially being unresponsive and unproductive; the result was a very explosive political crisis.
   Navajo Nation Board of Education voted to release Superintendent of Schools Dr. Tommy Lewis from his job, effective immediately.
   Most of the Board agreed and voted 5-2, with one absent, to release Lewis because of lack of performance. Eddie Biakeddy, who is second in command, was appointed acting superintendent. The board then began advertising the job position immediately.(External Link) I believe as we move forward for Navajo Nation education systems, as leaders we've to take a stand, Benally (Vice-President) said. And I believe that as the Navajo Nation Board of Education we have, because we observed stagnation in a position that should have had a vision to provide a better quality education for our children. That wasn't happening.

Government

Diné government is unique in several ways. The Navajo Nation is divided into five Agencies. These are similar to counties and match the five Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) agencies which support the Nation. The smallest political units are the Chapters, similar to towns. The Navajo Nation Council presently consists of 88 delegates representing the 110 Chapters, elected every four years by registered Navajo voters. As reorganized in 1991, the Nation's government at the capital in Window Rock has a three branch system: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial.
   The United States still asserts plenary power to require the Navajo Nation to submit all proposed laws to the United States Secretary of the Interior for Secretarial Review, through the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Most conflicts and controversies between the federal government and the Nation are settled by negotiation and by political agreements. Laws of the Navajo Nation are currently codified in the Navajo Nation Code. The Bureau of Indian Affairs maintains five Indian Agencies within the Navajo Indian Reservation: Chinle, Eastern, Western, Fort Defiance, and Shiprock. The Agencies provide various technical services under direction of the BIA's Navajo Area Office in Gallup, New Mexico.
   Local and federal law enforcement agencies that routinely work within the Navajo Nation include the Navajo Division of Public Safety, with the Navajo Nation Police (formerly the "Navajo Tribal Police"), the BIA Police, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation The Navajo governing council continues a historical practice of prohibiting alcohol sales within reservation boundaries. For some visitors of the area — often attracted by the Indian jewelry trade, by tourist attractions or by Interstate Highway 40 that passes through the area. Leaders and some member groups actively oppose the sale of alcohol, and have taken several measures to find and offer treatment for those members who are suffering from alcoholism.
   There is no private land ownership within the Navajo Nation - all land is owned in common and administered by the Nation's government. Leases are made both to customary land users (for homesites, grazing, and other uses) and to organizations, including the BIA and other federal agencies, churches and other religious organizations, and businesses.
   Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley, Jr. addressed the Navajo Nation Council in the annual State of the Navajo Nation Address on January 24, 2005 and presented his conviction to develop a new governing document for the Navajo Nation. President Shirley, who campaigned to return government to the Diné by government reform, stated that the document must establish the structure and authority of a central government.

Political leadership

Office of President and Vice-President
  • 2007-Present — Navajo Nation President — Joe Shirley Jr.
    • Navajo Nation Vice-President — Ben Shelly
  • 2006-2002 — NN President — Joe Shirley Jr. (D)
    • NN Vice-President — Frank Dayish Jr. (R)
  • 2002-1998 — NN President — Kelsey A. Begaye (D)
  • 1998-1998 — NN President — Milton Bluehouse Sr. (D)
  • 1998-1994 — NN President — Albert Hale (D)
  • 1994-1991 — NN President — Peterson Zah (D)
    • NN Vice-President — Marshall Plummer
  • 1991-1989 — NN Chairman — Leonard Haskie (Interim)
  • 1988-1987 — NN Chairman — Peter MacDonald (R)
    • NN Vice-Chairman — Johnny R. Thompson (D)
  • 1987-1983 — NN Chairman — Peterson Zah (D)
    • NN Vice-Chairman — Edward T. Begaye (D)

    2006 Elections

    Eleven (11) candidates ran in the 2006 Primary Elections:
  • Joe Shirley Jr. (Chinle)
  • Frank Dayish Jr. (Shiprock)
  • Ernest Harry Begay (Rock Point)
  • Lynda Lovejoy (Crownpoint)
  • James Henderson (Ganado)
  • Calvin Tsosie (Yatahey)
  • Wilbur Nelson (?)
  • Harrison Todichinii (Shiprock)
  • Vern Lee (Kirtland)
  • Jennifer Rocha (crowpoint) The Primary winners faced off in the General Elections in November 2006:
  • Joe Shirley Jr. Chinle
  • Lynda Lovejoy Crownpoint In 2006, Lynda Lovejoy was the first woman to ever make it to the General elections in modern Navajo Nation History, squaring off against Joe Shirley. Three days after the primaries Lynda Lovejoy selected Walter Phelps Jr. of Leupp, Arizona as her running mate. Although both candidates were Navajo members, Phelps did live off the reservation prior to running for the Vice-Presidential nomination which in retrospect ultimately lead to the downfall of her campaign.
       The following day Joe Shirley selected respected veteran-Navajo Tribal Councilman Bennie Shelly of Thoreau, New Mexico as his running mate. Both sides of the campaign teams ran strong platforms winning the minds of the Navajo people, the Shirley/Shelly campaign over all prevailing in their message of economic prosperity.

    21st Navajo Nation Council

    The 21st Navajo Nation Council convene immediately after the inauguration of the 6th President of the Navajo Nation, the Honorable Joe Shirley Jr. was once again sworn in as President for a 2nd term, with Vice-President elect Councilmen Ben Shelly.
       Two term Speaker of the Navajo Nation Council, Lawrence T. Morgan ran for a 3rd term as Speaker of the Council, while running against Fort Defiance Council Delegate Harold Waneka in a run-off. Speaker Morgan captured a 3rd consecutive win, as Speaker of the 21st Navajo Nation Council.
       In April 2006, Navajo Nation Council Speaker Lawrence Morgan faced a charge of criminal battery when he struck Council Delegate Mark Maryboy. Aneth Chapter members had demanded Morgan issue a public apology, following the bathroom scuffle. Speaker Morgan ignored the Aneth meeting, overall never presenting himself.(External Link) Investigators attempted to contact Morgan the following days after the incident. Public safety officials said that they believe Morgan stayed off the reservation to avoid possible arrest.(External Link)

    Notable Council Delegates

  • Kenneth Maryboy (Aneth/Red Mesa//Mexican Water)
  • Davis Filfred (Aneth/Red Mesa//Mexican Water)
  • Young Jeff Tom (Mariano Lake/Smith Lake)
  • Lorenzo Bates {Upper Fruitland)
  • Larry Anderson Sr. (Fort Defiance)
  • Councilmen George Arthur (San Juan, Burnham, Nahenezad)
  • Ray Berchman (St. Michael/Oaksprings)
  • Ervin Keeswood (Tse Daakaan)
  • Hope MacDonald-Lonetree (Tuba City/Coalmine Canyon)
  • Johnny Naize (Tselani/Cottonwood/Nazlini)
  • Harold Wauneka (Fort Defiance)
  • Former Council Delegate Mark Maryboy(Aneth/Red Mesa//Mexican Water)

    Past Speakers of the Navajo Nation Council

    Further Information

    Get more info on 'Navajo Nation'.


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