50 Years Ago

A few days after stepping down as editor of the Navajo Times in the spring of 1971, Dick Hardwick was interviewed about his experience running the tribal newspaper for more than three years.

Tommy Arviso Sr. resigned this week as the Navajo Tribal Fair manager much to the displeasure of Dick Hardwick, the editor of the Navajo Times.

This was a big week for Perry Allen, the chief prosecutor for the Navajo Tribe. Twenty-five years after he was wounded in Saipan in July 1944, he finally received his Purple Heart thanks to the efforts of tribal leaders and family members who wrote letters to members of Congress and national veteran officials who pointed out the problem.

We have pointed out in past columns that 1969 marked the start of a youth movement on the Navajo Reservation to address social issues in border towns like Gallup. But this weekend marked a huge increase in intensity and it was obvious to everyone who bought the Navajo Times this week which side the paper was on.

The Fairchild era began this week a half-century ago and the Navajo Times apparently considered it so important that the story took up almost the entire front page and was still continued inside.