Letters: Let Navajos invest in themselves

The Diné history is a grand and glorious past.

There was a time when Diné leaders were fearful of ever becoming an enemy of the Holy People. Our leaders back then used proper authority and traditional Diné teachings to care for and protect the children of the Holy People.

Those traditional teachings tell of the Hero Twins and how they returned from their visit with their father with the weapons needed to destroy the evil monsters that were killing Diné. The Hero Twins destroyed all the monsters, except poverty.

Today, poverty has brought back to life all of the evil monsters and once again they are mercilessly devouring and killing our Diné.

Opportunities exist for our Diné to escape poverty, but they can only do so by being allowed to invest the $410 million mismanaged money in themselves. The Tribal Government however has unwisely claimed that money.

The $410 million was obtained by a “class action law suit” on the behalf of Native American citizens, not once is the Tribal Government mentioned in the original law suit (only that they were accountable for allowing the Feds to mismanage billions).

If our leaders are worth their salt, they should know of the coming financial bubble and the currency being digitized. That event will wipe out tribal savings and investment accounts. That disaster will make the $410 million vanish into cyber space. Already, the U.S. dollar is worth less than a dime on the world market.

There is urgency in this matter and any Diné who has awareness of the financial market should advise our leaders to get the $410 million into the hands of our Diné as soon as possible and give our Diné a weapon to fight poverty by any means possible and investing in themselves.

Wally Brown
Page, Ariz.

The dangers of ‘Jiní’ news

I have always trusted the Navajo Times for my news. They have distributed great news stories over the years. I love the sketches of Jack Ahasteen, they articulate the reality of the reservation in a cartoonish way. I love cartoons.

This is why I wrote to the Navajo Times. We need to address the false news distributor, Tlo’chi’iin News. Trump was right about a media bias and Tlo’chi’iiin is an example of that. They don’t have a wide audience but their online following is pretty large. They have created fake news about Carlyle Begaye blessing the White House for Trump’s arrival. They made fake tweets in Trump’s name with the intent of spreading hate and falsehood. I am not defending Trump but these tricksters need to be addressed. Many Navajos fell for the stories and it caused a widespread panic. I see my brothers and sisters share their stories and feel afraid. They are the epitome of Jiní.

We need to protect our people in Diné Bikeyah from these tricksters and fake news creators. Our traditional stories spoke of a trickster and the consequences of his actions. We should warn the people of Tlo’chi’iiiin’s falsehood. People are giving them power by sharing their news clips and pictures.

They had the nerve to make false claims about Council making it legal for incest with the “No Clans After Ten” Legislation. This is disrespectful to our people and our philosophy. I was outraged.

They gain power and I feel it threatens the legitimacy of the Navajo Times, a quality news source. Our people speak truth through their stories but Tlo’chi’iin is speaking falsehoods through their fake news. We need to address them.

I hope Begaye’s administration ousts them for the trouble and panic they’ve caused. Protect out people!

Melvin Tso
Fort Defiance, Ariz.

Give our young Diné college graduates a chance

I would like to take this opportunity to address and make comments about a long standing issue that the Navajo Nation government refuses or is completely ignoring, or does not have a clue on how to resolve this problem. That is, what our Navajo college graduates face when they return and seek employment with organizations operating on the Navajo Nation, especially with our Navajo Nation government.

Our college graduates return after we as a nation and as parents encourage them, give them an ultimatum, and in some cases, force them to earn their degrees. Then they return, all eager, full of enthusiasm and energy, wanting to help their people. They apply for employment and receive a rejection letter, “You do not have the experience,” leaving their spirits broken and left dejected.

Off-reservation organizations would gladly hire a young, educated person with a college degree with no experience, just one of the reasons why we have half of the Navajo population living off the reservation.

You do not need to be a rocket scientist or nuclear physicist to figure out how to address and solve this problem. All you need is a little common sense.

The president and/or the Navajo Council Standing Committee have the authority to fix the problem. Just change the policy. The Department of Personnel Management, the president, and the Council with their infinite wisdom, should have solved this problem long ago. Fix or develop policy to give our students with degrees a chance to excel, a chance to contribute to the welfare of the Diné people.

When the personnel policies are changed and the vacancies are filled, chances are, it will improve services to our Navajo people.
Every year, divisions and programs are puzzled on how to improve services. One logical solution is to fill the approximately 271 Navajo Nation vacancies, and more than likely, it will improve services.

Ernie Yazzie
Window Rock, Ariz.

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