Letters: Build a prison on the rez

Posted by Navajo Times | Jun 25, 2015 | Letters |

As I sit here alone thinking about how our people (Diné) are striving to make their lives better out there on the Navajo Reservation financially, I do understand that any type of good resources for our people is hard to come by on the reservation. A good stable income with life insurance policy is what our people want today.

There are many educated and potential Diné out there that can successfully obtain a United States penitentiary facility. I, for one, would like to personally ask Navajos out on the reservation to assist me to uplift my concern by building a federal United States penitentiary on the Navajo Reservation. This idea and thoughts are not only for resources for the Navajos on the reservation, but inmates that are from Native tribes like Hopi, Navajo, White Mountain Apache, Pueblo, Zuni, and our neighboring tribes that are seeking to be closer to homeland and our relatives on the reservation. If only our council delegates, president of the Navajo Nation, agencies, and communities could communicate with other tribes around the Navajo Reservation and exchange information about building a federal prison on the Navajo Reservation.

To my knowledge and growing up on the Navajo Reservation, there are many open spaces and areas a federal prison can be built. Most times all I hear or read about on the Navajo Reservation is a possibility of another Navajo casino and funds approved for education, which are good intentions, but why not go to a greater outlook when it comes to bringing better jobs and income for Navajos and other tribes that would like to work at the prison. One prison can employ over 500 employees helping them financially. This is harmony, peace and balance for employees and inmates alike.

Anderson Black
Federal Detention Center
Oakdale, La.

An Anglo who has enjoyed a long relationship with Diné College as a teacher, and an even longer relationship with the entire Navajo community as a scholar and personal friend to many, I am saddened to learn of dissention at that fine institution. Only having taught there part time, first at Shiprock as far back as when it was Navajo Community College, then at the Crownpoint Center inception, I cannot address the specifics of contention, but I know this – its unifying mission matters more than any prevailing issues dividing those who serve it, be they staff, faculty or administrators.

This too I recognize from a concerned outsider’s perspective. Diné College is a proud institution with a distinguished history dedicated to preserving a rich culture — one I have been fortunate to get to know well after nearly fifty years of research and teaching both on and away from campus. As a seasoned college teacher I understand that differences occur routinely in academic life. But what matters more than personal issues is the well-being of the institution and especially its students. For those who teach when differences occur the classroom still matters; for those who govern that well being must also prevail above all else, as appropriate community support is likewise forthcoming, and as honest, impartial media prevails, all for the ultimate good of the college’s constituents.

To repeat, I cannot speak to the issues themselves or address personal disagreements that inevitably in an academic environment where ideas about governance inevitably clash. But I can boldly attest to my longstanding respect for the college, my awareness of its cultural mission, the integrity of its programs, and my gratitude for the privilege of having been affiliated there for so long. Personally unaware of any major wedge dividing the faculty and the administration, I have worked with Dr. George prior to her becoming president, I respect highly her overall service as a public sector educator as well as a college official. I have can testify to her dedication to the college insofar as I have been able to observe it, I have witnessed her effectiveness in advocating in the College’s behalf, and from the perspective of my long relationship with the college under a number for former leaders I believe that she has provided stability as its leader.

At the same time, good leadership will inevitably be challenged in a vibrant institution. What must remain constant must be overall community support in the spirit of give and take in the absence of sensationalizing or personal finger pointing. And here’s why I think so from my outsider’s perspective – to America’s broader national fabric the Navajo Nation adds a rich texture. Its educated youth contribute to that whether as teachers and professionals on or beyond the Reservation, thanks to the unique education Dinée College offers them. As someone lucky enough to work within the college’s mission and to grow uncommonly familiar with its cultural context in training its students, I recognize the need for such stability.

Paul Zolbrod
Albuquerque, N.M.