Letters: Baseball players face discrimination

Our high school baseball players are not recognized by the college-level coaches.

We’re Native players and our baseball players are Native (Navajo). They have the knowledge and skills, but not to the baseball scouts. They’re never at our games to recognize our Native high school baseball players, even though the games are free.

Our high school coaches try their best to help them to be recognized, but not to our Native coaches. They don’t help them to show the college coaches the skills they recognize in them, which they play for them during the summer months. As soon as they turn 18 they’re forgotten.

This is not fair to our youth who play their hearts out to be on the team. We need to be fair, not to only play championship games, but at all levels. Some high school players show their skills at the college level, but they’re Native and there it goes again … they’re Native.

To this day, there’s only one Native (half) in the major leagues. No other Native player is in the major leagues. Why? Do we belong in the white man’s game (baseball) or not? Is it because we’re Native?

I’ve heard comments at high school tournaments where no Native high school team makes it to the finals. They have the skills and knowledge, but due to some wrong calls by the umpire, which was never overturned, is the reason they don’t want Native teams to be the state champions.

Local high school baseball teams went to state, but it’s always their way. They went to state three years in a row. Most of the baseball players start with little leagues here on the reservation and their families are really into the games like grandparents, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, uncles, aunts and in-laws all the way to little babies. These families are really happy to see their little ones playing.

This comes down to the school administration where they don’t support the baseball program. They need to support the sports program equally, not one or two sports, but all of them such as fixing the equipment. I approached one high school administrator and asked him to fix the baseball dugout. He stated that will be done in a week. That was two years ago. Nothing happened. Our local high school baseball players played in one uniform all season. Why? Other sports have about two or three uniforms. Last season, we, the parents, had to raise money to purchase two T-shirts, one for away and one for home, and here we have one of the largest high schools on the reservation.

To upcoming high school baseball players, make sure you have the support you want. All in all, please give our Native baseball players a chance to be up there with the rest of the world.

Ben Lee Sr.
Tselani Springs, Ariz.

Honor our veterans every day

The picture of Lance Cpl. Alejandro Yazzie’s parents on the front page of the Navajo Times (Sept. 28, 2017) was most heartbreaking. We Diné can never fully thank these parents or anyone who have suffered the loss of a loved one in service to this country. Freedom is not free. It is paid for with the lives of many brave Americans, among them many of our Diné children.

The fallen warriors and their families have made the supreme sacrifice on the altar of freedom in this nation of individual liberty. Be grateful to them and thank them with proper respect. As Diné we should never forget our fallen warriors.

Many of us can never know the horror of war and the loss of loved ones in combat. There is no emotional pain that can equal what it feels like when your loved one or friend is returned in a casket draped with a red, white and blue flag. Years come and go and the hurt and loss never goes away. You remember their laughter, their joy and their happiness — their individual dreams that were cut short.

All Diné have relatives who have served in the military. We are a family with all those who have served in uniform, because of Ke’. We have all lost family members, friends in common ways. Not a day goes by that you don’t remember their innocent joking around and them talking about their girlfriend or wife and family back home. To those of us who served, they are still alive in our hearts.

The veterans who have survived thus far are still hurting and should be getting all the medical treatment they need, free of charge. That is the only way this nation can ever thank them enough for their service.

I’m just saying love, support and honor them at every opportunity. Honor them when a flag passes in a parade. Honor them when a flag is raised at any event. Honor them and their families. An American soldier would rather live standing with his countrymen then to ever kneel to any form of tyranny. Honor them, lest we forget.

Semper Fi.

Wally Brown
Page, Ariz.

Save trust fund for youth programs

In the Navajo Times article titled, “Vote no in October 24 referendum on Transportation Stimulus Plan” by Peterson Zah (Sep. 28), he suggests that everybody vote “no” to this referendum. The referendum will withdraw money from the Permanent Trust Fund to improve road conditions within the 110 chapters on the Navajo Reservation.

The Navajo Nation’s Permanent Trust Fund was established in 1986 by the Navajo Nation Council. First of all, “the trust fund was established to create a source of income for the future generations of Diné people. Furthermore, to replace revenue from depleting natural resources such as coal, timber, oil, and gas.” Mr. Zah states all the reasons why we should not use the Permanent Trust Fund to fund the Transportation Stimulus Plan. This referendum is the Transportation Stimulus Plan, which will be brought before the people for approval or disapproval on Oct. 24, 2017.

Peterson Zah is right in that we should vote “no” to the referendum of the Transportation Stimulus Plan. The Permanent Trust Fund was established for the future generations of our Diné people. Mr. Zah quotes that, “Another critical area is our youth. A lot of social issues going on right now and are impacting our young people. We need well thought out and effective programs to help them.”

The quote means we need more youth programs to service our youth. A lot of suicide, drugs and alcohol are impacting them. These youth programs will help such as Office of Diné Youth. This is a great program that helps youth on their paths towards Hozhó in four main areas: Diné cultural identity, physical and mental wellness, Navajo citizenship, and knowledge and education. We need more programs like this in each chapter to service the youth.

During the fiscal year 2018 the Navajo Nation did 15 percent budget cuts to the program. Funding cuts prevent the program from delivering direct services to youth. I’m suggesting when the interest accrues and matures, the Permanent Trust Fund can create more services towards the youth.

My suggestion is that the Navajo Nation Council look for other options besides using the Permanent Trust Fund. They should all be able to work with the county and state to advocate for more money. If they can create other trust funds for chapters and other Navajo Nation entities they should be able to do so with our roads.

The only time you see our Council delegates actually working and speaking for the people is during election time. They use youth and elders as a platform but end up not supporting programs dedicated to them. The Navajo Nation Council needs to be more resourceful in making transportation improvements instead of relying on a trust fund that was created with the intention to provide a source of income for future generations of Diné people.

Chantz T. Samuel
Chinle, Ariz.

Ancient prophesies are coming true

Long ago, dating back to the earliest times, the ancestors of the Navajo Indian tribes, Navajo is the largest Indian tribe in the United States. I remember my late grandfather and grandmother used to be good storytellers. They both passed many years ago.

My grandfather’s prophesy tells what will happen in the future, expressing something terribly bad, horrifying things that are expected to happen.

Our ancestors prophesied, “Someday things will go wrong in many countries throughout the world. This will be when whole earth had one language and one speech, and if a woman is leading to hold a leadership role position, a woman is not permitted to be a leader or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence who are mentioned in the Bible and the Navajo common law.” The law gave husbands control over their wives.

Today, the language most often spoke by a high majority of the Native American is English. In some other tribes, they may legally give up their status as Indian and no longer be considered Indian. They imitate trying to be like Bilagáana as they called those of European descent. The coming of the white man began the end of the Indian way of life almost everywhere in America. Every day we hear that our language is going away, no one speaks Navajo voluntarily anymore to one another.

The Navajo Code Talkers must be remembered. They used their Navajo language to fight enemy to win the war they communicated on a code basis. This code is the first unbreakable one in U.S. history.

Be proud and appreciate what the Navajo Code Talkers have done to help save countless American lives. They were such heroes and brave soldiers in the U.S. military, yet without the Navajo Code Talkers the Navajo language would not even be here today. We need to carry on our Native language and we need to talk to our children and grandchildren. They are losing their language, we need to help them. They get educated, but still don’t know who they are. Be proud of speaking the Navajo language at home.

How will it be in the next 20 years? After that, I don’t know. Keep the Navajo language alive. Floyd Dawson Tonalea, Ariz. Stop all extractive industry It is perplexing…. the continual contentious debate about when, where and who should drill for more gas, oil, dig for more coal, uranium, etc.

It seems a non-stop, unstoppable, exponentially increasing race of who will get there first, who will extract the most, who will make the most money the fastest and cheapest way. The bottom line is making more money and the collateral damage of who and what gets hurt along the way is beside the point. I make this statement in reaction to a letter to the editor printed in a local newspaper (Oct. 15) on the timing and implementation of the “methane rule” in New Mexico.

However, my statement is on all extractive activity happening the world over. With the mad race to exploit the earth’s remaining resources, the damage being done to the earth and the environment is tremendous and mostly irreparable.

There is a limit to natural resources and there is a limit to the life of earth. The life of earth is being destroyed for the sake of monetary profit. It perplexes me, extremely, how the vast majority of leaders in industry, government and science don’t appear to be able to connect the cause and effect here. The leaders who refuse to or simply cannot understand this reality, are actively participating in accelerating the closure of the life of earth and subsequently all life.

To these leaders, I say, “Consider this and look into the eyes of your young child and grandbabies and tell them you are helping to destroy their world.” Defenders of Earth Mother and water protectors can look into those trusting and innocent eyes and tell them we do all we can to save their future.

Chili Yazzie
Shiprock, N.M.

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