Diné have right to petition government

December 13, 2007

When I was a young boy I remember learning from my grandparents and parents the importance of honoring my elders, of speaking with k'e and remembering we must always serve the Dineh in our actions.

Sometimes I have failed miserably but still I pick myself up and try again because living in beauty is more than a good bumper sticker or political slogan.

Being listed among the plaintiffs in lawsuit against the administration, deemed a "wannabe" by shil'nal'aash, the council's attorney, I feel it necessary to explain there may be civil discussion when you disagree with another ("Betting against the house; Critics plan lawsuit to stop $100 million casino loan," Dec. 6, 2007).

K'e is designed to be most important during such times. It is understandable that the bilagaana who speaks for our president may not know or understand these things or be bound by clan relationships, but I would ask that shi'diné remember that disagreement is not always personal.

My disagreement with the administration is not from being "opposed to anything the Shirley administration has done for the Navajo people," but rather what it has not done.

As an 18-year latecomer to the government reform issue, and as one, which has publicly denied the need for a Navajo Nation constitution, our president has shown a lack of fiduciary trust to the Diné by worrying more about his legacy than our reality.

The legislation passed by this council for a $100 million dollar loan for the administration shows a very dangerous action, which would not have been possible under most nations' constitutional structure.

By allowing the administration sole access to the amount of debt taken from JP Morgan Chase the council has effectively removed fiduciary trust from the legislation branch, a check of power, and allowed this administration the right to saddle my generation and the next with tens of millions of dollars in debt in an enterprise, gambling.

Navajo Nation has no experience yet assumes 100 percent of the liability. This will be the next administration's problem, unless a certain council delegate from Western Agency succeeds and sponsors legislation to allow for our president to pull a Hugo Chavez and amend the law for another term.

Navajo Nation has the troubles of a nation but our leadership has responded with the ideas of a tribe.

The legislative branch has the obligation of protecting the nation's purse, of oversight of the actions of our collective government. When a branch of government does not properly execute their duties there is a possibility for action by the Diné.

There is precedence for this. Actions by previous executives and policy implemented by the council have been successfully challenged.

The right of the Diné to disagree is respected by our Navajo Supreme Court. In Halona vs. MacDonald Sr., and in Judy vs. White, the Navajo Supreme Court has reiterated the right of a Diné citizen to bring suit and that sovereign immunity is not a blanket protection.

"This entire matter really arises because of a legal fiction. Sovereign immunity protects the Navajo Nation and its governing body, the council, from suit. However, this doctrine does not protect wrongdoing. Rather, it preserves the dignity of the sovereign. Thus suits are brought against ministers and employees of the sovereign."

This gem was from the collective written wisdom of the members of the Navajo Supreme Court in 1978.

This leads to the epic decision of Judy vs. White in 2004 that stopped the controller from delivering an illegal pay raise the council gave themselves. For the council to get a raise the normal procedure is through the chapters and voters. This was attempted with no success. The council then tried to do it by resolution.

A group of citizens challenged the action in another case that went to the Navajo Supreme Court where the court emphatically reminded the council that citizens had right of standing to petition actions of their government and that there does not exist parliamentary supremacy by the Navajo Council. The council should remember that two- thirds of the council was not re-elected because of their actions as a result.

Do not let anyone try and scare you that you do not have right to petition your government. For the president's spokesman to say that only by running for office does a Diné have a voice, or the chief legislative counsel to try and frighten the readers from standing up for what they believe in, it is inexcusable for a person paid by the nation's coin to make such disrespectful words and dishonor our laws and rights.

Shi'diné remember, please remember, that in a sacred covenant with our Creator, with our Mother Earth, we are to be a sovereign people and honor and respect our land. In 2002, a wise Navajo Council codified these words and made it into Title 1 of the Navajo Nation Code, the Fundamental Law of the Diné.

However, in their own annotations they remind the reader that it is "merely to plant the seed" for that to come. I feel this directive was toward a constitution created by the people.

Do not let a government that has been so used to hiding their actions from the people continue in the same manner. Any house cannot stand long without a foundation, especially when it seems there are storms on the horizon.

We cannot expect the federal government to ever live up to their treaty. They never have. If we are to fix our problems we must do it as a people - by ourselves, for ourselves. The president can beg in Washington until kingdom come but 139 years have shown that the first nation needs are far down the priorities of this federal government.

Asking for more federal and state oversight through gaming compacts and more federal intrusion is not sovereign nation building. If gaming is what our president wants, why not do what Steve Wynn, the Vegas mega-builder, does? He takes his money to China, Macau specifically, and gets his return in two years, no federal oversight, in a nation with more millionaires per capita.

If this is the route desired by our leadership let's go Amsterdam or Monte Carlo rather than Laughlin or a tent on the side of the freeway. With the cost of an off-ramp from a federal highway costing almost $30 million alone, the kind that truckers can exit off, plus the cost of a space-aged tent, the cost for a "temporary structure" is going to at least use a majority of the $100 million dollar credit.

This is supposed to bring jobs to the nation, but what sort of jobs?

You cannot raise a family on a cocktail waitresses' salary, you cannot send your children to college as a slot machine cleaner. Most of the sub-contracts will profit off-nation companies. Again we are operating in a way to make money for non-Diné.

One hundred million would pay for serious in-roads in light industry with good union wages for Diné wage earners. One hundred million would pay for three of Sir Richard Branson's spaceports such as he is building in New Mexico for commercial and industrial use.

Navajo Nation is almost 30 years behind in casinos, entering a saturated market connected to the disposable income of the lower to middle class, those most likely hit by the current economic malaise. Placing a casino along a freeway corridor already set up with major players is suicide, keeping the assets of the nation pledged as collateral is criminal.

Would you rather go to a crappy Navajo tent casino or to Sky City? I know the answer our council delegates give and where they stay. This is poor economic strategy and poor investment by our nation and the cost of default is too great.

Simply put, this is too great a decision for our council to make, to pledge the full faith and credit of the nation and designate this administration responsible for a debt they won't be a part of paying back because of term limits? This question should be put to a referendum first before any action is taken. The Diné are the true sovereign of our nation, let us decide this on the ballot.

Those attempting character assassination in the media confuse dedication with vanity. As I told the president's chief of staff when he came and asked me, I have no desire to run for office. To be a "wannabe" there has to be desire.

However, much of what I have seen of politicians and lawyers makes me remember one does not need a title to be a leader or to make positive change, and makes me question the value of a law degree.

I am a patriot of my people and have been taught to serve shi'diné.

As a member of the loyal opposition I have joined this suit to teach my people that there are better ways to make our voices heard as a nation. There are better ways to make money than we have attempted.

I have volunteered my time and energy over the last year in service to my people and believe what I am doing now is for our collective betterment. The push for a Navajo constitution continues because it is the best solution for our unresponsive national government, to put the check of the people onto the issue.

In the Halona vs. MacDonald case the justices made this remark, "We are reminded at this point that the Navajo Nation possesses no constitution. It is for this reason that the Navajo courts must be so careful to preserve the concepts of due process of law..."

The days when the Diné are no longer vigilant to the actions of their government is a thing of the past. There are many that agree on this point and have responded accordingly.

In fact, you don't have to take me at face value. The legislation approving this line of credit is available for view at www.myspace.com/navajoconstitution, on the blog.

Read it for yourself and you'll begin to question, if this action is so legal and in the best interest of the nation, why did the president, controller and attorney general need to ask for immunity for their actions taken to secure the loan?

Gamble, from Tuba City, is a member of the Committee for a Navajo Constitution.

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