Letters: It’s our land, our kids, our future

We’ve been hearing a lot lately about the proposed Grand Canyon Escalade Project. Too much of it is coming from the usual suspects — Flagstaff, Phoenix, San Francisco, New York, and Washington, D.C.

For generations they believe they know what’s best for us. They overran us, relocated us, marched us off causing thousands of us to die, took away our children, and froze more than a million acres of our land so we couldn’t even mend a fence … and now they tell us we can’t build something that would give us jobs, revenue, economic growth, and hope.

They send their paid protestors and professional anarchists to tell us what they want. I guess that’s better than armed forces but they keep forever ignoring what we want and need.

Do you think they care that, that part of the nation has more than 70 percent unemployment? Do you think they care about our children leaving the nation because they see no future here on our reservation? Do you think they will advocate for our children’s future? Did you really think outside influences care for our children?

We were the first people here, so why do they think we should be the last to decide?

Grand Canyon National Park is 1,217,260 acres. Grand Canyon Escalade, on our land, will be 420 acres. It will not harm the canyon and the Confluence will not even be touched, but be more protected. We are not talking about extracting natural resources from the canyon and/or desecrating the area.

Grand Canyon Escalade will provide 600 jobs during construction and 2,000 jobs onsite and 1,500 offsite when built out. Our people will be given priority for those jobs. A new road will be constructed, Internet service will be available, reliable water and power will be available for new homes, all within the former Bennett Freeze. And the nation will receive valuable revenue beyond taxes on the project.

For nearly 200 years, outsiders have been telling us what to do and what not to do. We need to stop listening to them. This is our land, our kids, our hopes, and our future. Let’s decide to move forward on our own. Let’s build our future, now.

Larry Hanks
Bodaway/Gap, Ariz.

A place to call home

Recently, the Navajo Nation Council released an announcement for Legislation No. 0380-15 to amend the home site lease regulations. They claim that this amendment will “will allow clarity for many home site lease issues and concerns” and to “provide solutions.” But, for many citizens on the Navajo Reservation, it is difficult to obtain a home site lease because of the bureaucratic red tape set up to limit land use. Our reservation was permitted its large land base through a number of congressional and tribal acts to allow our livestock to graze. But, this has also limited many regular Navajo citizens today to make a home on the reservation. This legislation does nothing to improve access to a home site lease, but rather restricts Navajo citizens’ ability to obtain a home. We have people waiting up to a decade to obtain a home site lease, let alone build a house and line up utilities. We need to let our political leaders know this is not acceptable and that we need a better path to a home site lease.

Additionally, the problems with the home site lease office has made it difficult for many Navajos of the younger, educated, generation to return home. As a Navajo woman holding a Bachelor of Science degree and working towards a Master of Public Health degree and the Registered Dietitian credential, I have been committed to working in the health field for my community. I grew up in Chinle and knew I wanted to return to my community to apply my education because we have so much to do to progress the health of our people. I have worked as a Public Health Nutritionist and a Diabetes Educator, traveling over 90 miles one way from a border town, to get to my job on the reservation.

I asked NHA about housing, and they said because of my background I was unlikely to obtain a home with NHA (because I was not “a single, low-income mother,” their words by the way). I would have to wait at least 5 years to get a home. People suggested Karigan Estates in St. Michaels, but when I found out the price on a lot of the homes (upwards of $100,000), that option was not possible. People have also suggested renting, but still, that is not a home. Our political leaders talk so much about the need for the educated youth to return home, but how? There aren’t jobs for us. And if there are, we are met with no or poor housing options.

I am calling for more political action and public discourse about providing a quicker and more efficient path to a home site lease and thus, a home. I am not asking for a house; I am simply asking for a more equitable way to obtaining/leasing a simple piece of land so I can build a home. I want to live in an area accessible to my work where I can devote myself to the cause of improving our nation’s health. I want to work and live in my home community.

This proposed legislation and their authors claim to provide solutions, but ignore the root causes of this complicated system. The reason people build additional houses and structures, a point the legislation attempts to address, without prior approval is because the system is so complicated and lengthy.

The proposal does nothing to shorten the waiting times and make it easier for Navajo citizens to secure a home site. We need an expedited path to a home site lease, not more restrictions. Submitting at least 10 forms for clearances by everyone but your mother (oh, wait you need that, too), and waiting up to ten years is not acceptable.

I am soliciting information from people who are on the path to a home site lease. I want to know what they think about this system and I want to use this information to advocate our leaders to improve our ability to make a home on the reservation. Please fill out this online survey to get the word out: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VQ52J82. Your identity on the survey is anonymous.

Denee Bex
Littleton, Colo.

PLI crafted by political elite

My thoughts about Utah Republicans’ relentless push on the Utah Public Land Initiative before people’s interest. What is the proper political balance between totally democratic decision-making and elite management of policy? The following states:

“The true democracy, living and growing and inspiring, puts its faith in the people – faith that the people will not simply elect men and women who will represent their views ably and faithfully, but also elect those who will exercise their conscientious judgment – faith that the people will not condemn those whose devotion to principle leads them to unpopular courses, but will reward courage, respect honor and ultimately recognize right.” (John F. Kennedy)

Utah political elite comprised of politicians from county to state and congressional level of government along with corporate special interest groups does not represent the true democracy. John F. Kennedy is correct. The state, Utah, is not putting its faith in the people of diversity who will elect men and women who can exercise their conscientious judgment. This political discourse has become evident in the light of the Utah Public Land Initiative and perhaps many other issues such as suppressing individual voting rights, gerrymandering without meaningful democratic process, etc. Public Land Initiative legislation is crafted and finalized without complete tribal input.

Indeed, there is no proper political balance between totally democratic decision-making and elite management of policy. The elite take the benefits for self-interest and gaining office, per se. They hold the influence over the policy-planning networks through financial support of foundations or positions with policy-discussion groups or conservative think tankers like Sutherland Institute. In both ends, government officials and corporations, exert significant power over the policy decisions of both entities in the state. In the end, a better or an ideal society is not promoted.

James Adakai
Oljato Chapter President

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