Letters | Leupp community plans important meeting

Leupp community plans important meeting

A group of concerned community members of Leupp, Arizona, invite you and directors from the Division of Community Development, Navajo Nation Elections Administration and Navajo Nation Ethics and Rules Office to a community meeting on July 08, 2023, from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM (location will be announced) to discuss a paramount of issues related to the Local Government Act of 1988 that is severely impacting the Leupp community and chapter. The community request clarification on the intent, changes and details of LGA.

This request does not devalue community members’ knowledge of chapter governance, but rather place onus on Navajo leaders to explain and educate all interested members about LGA and how it will reinforce accountability and transparency.

Without community awareness of the LGA, the community will continue to be exposed to a hostile situation such as the two unfortunate volatile incidents that occurred at the Leupp Chapter: 1) chapter meeting held on March 24, 2023; and 2) a quasi-Leupp Chapter planning meeting held on June 5, 2023. This is questionable and seems problematic, and it contradicts the efforts for a Chapter to best serve constituents fairly and objectively. The efforts by Leupp community members to seek guidance and support from Navajo leaders have seemingly been shrugged off, with feedback ALWAYS leading back to the complexities of Leupp being recognized as a “Certified LGA Chapter” and “voters having the power” to make changes. How can community and chapter members freely practice their right to convene and vote?

The community does not encourage or condone violence to highlight change, nor do they tolerate acts of bullying, intimidating, coercion, and manipulation. Such behaviors undermine and demoralize the holistic and Diné way of life in the community and takes away from proper and meaningful (chapter) government structure and protocol. How do we recreate balance among our people?

Leupp is our home, it is nestled below our sacred mountain, Dook’o’oosłííd, and near another revered and sacred site, Adahiilíní (Grand Falls) where the Little Colorado River flows. The late Phillip Johnston, son of a protestant Missionary, who initiated and created the Navajo Code Talkers, made his home in Leupp.

Lastly, the people who reside in and around Leupp cherish, honor, and hold in high esteem the land, natural resources and each other. The Navajo way of life taught by parents, grandparents and great-grandparents are still being practiced and it continues to connect us to our roots. Our relatives deserve the right to a just community.

This meeting is an invitation to community members and all Navajo leaders to raise awareness about LGA and explore opportunities for Leupp Chapter to reconvene business in a manner that is transparent, fair, honest, and trustworthy.

There will be a request for law enforcement to ensure safety and well-being of attendees. This written meeting notice will be shared with multiple social and press media outlets. Finally, please find attached a list of concerned community members and their 159 signatures who support and request a respectful and best-functioning chapter government.

For additional information, please contact Jenny Buckinghorse at leuppcommunitymeeting@gmail.com or milcodyI@gmail.com

Jenny Buckinghorse
Leupp, Ariz.

Disabled, elderly suffer needlessly at fairgrounds

My name is Amber R Cook. I am of the Edge Water clan, born for the Hopi/spider clan. My maternal grandfather’s clan is the Havasupai/People of the Blue Water and my paternal grandfather’s clan is the Red Streak Running into the Water. I am originally from Hunters Point, Arizona. I am also a registered member of the St. Michaels Chapter.

I have a physical disability called Cerebral Palsy, which leaves me wheelchair bound with a slight speech impediment and limited motor function. However, I am fully mentally competent and have earned 2 Associate and 2 Bachelor college degrees. Currently, I reside in Mesa, Arizona in pursuit of my Master of Architecture degree from Arizona State University.

Having the ability, I advocate for myself as well as others who have disabilities. Yearly, I attend the Navajo Nation Fair and other festivities at the local fair ground in Window Rock, Ariz. This is a part of my family’s tradition to reconnect and reunite while enjoying community events. Each time I attend events at the fairgrounds I am greatly disappointed of the lack of basic accommodations and accessibility for individuals with physical disabilities. This is a major concern I have knowing that there are others in wheelchairs, especially the elderly, who are not able to move safely and freely throughout the fairgrounds. This lack of consideration makes it impossible for those of us to enjoy such events, which is supposed to be available to all.

Recently, I attended the Navajo AG Expo INFR Qualifier Rodeo on Father’s Day in Window Rock. My family members and I were disappointed about how difficult it was to maneuver from the thick sand parking lot into the seating area of the rodeo arena. As organizers of events the tribal entities/departments need to know that whether being pushed in a manual wheelchair, pushing yourself in a manual wheelchair or using a powered scooter/wheelchair, one can become stuck due to the thickness of the sand or large gravel rock. Most wheelchairs are made with smaller front wheels making it impossible to move freely through rocks, thick sand lots, slop, etc.

Nobody in a wheelchair should have to struggle the way we did at this recent event; literally having to be tilted back to pop a wheelie and have multiple people help all at once. It does not matter if it’s a man or woman pushing someone in a chair, that’s a lot of work and they tend to tire out. Then if someone is pushing themselves, that’s even more difficult, to the individual it most likely seems impossible.

The best recommendation I have is to pave all areas that need to be accessed by all individuals, the elderly/grandparents and the physically disabled population. It should be a common courtesy. Also, consider keeping sidewalk access open during all fair events for safety reasons. Please take my concerns into consideration. Thank you for your time.
Amber R. Cook
St. Michaels, Ariz.

Outdated technology, bureaucracy plague Nation

I would like to express my concerns and observations on seemingly outdated technology in expediting and processing documents. The Navajo Nation background checks is taking too long. An example of this occurred when a family member applied for a teaching job in our local area. She hand-carried her request to Ft. Defiance in the third week of March 2023 and to date has not received a response. What is causing the delay? Other departments

outside the Navajo Nation cleared their background checks in a timely manner, but not the tribal one.

Furthermore, many individuals also expressed their undue frustrations of waiting for the Navajo Nation to get their clearances managed.

Along this same topic of postponement, many projects lay deferred. Such projects include gravel pits, road maintenance/road construction, the Shiprock police facility, and likely many others at different chapters. Do we have so much bureaucracy? What is the cause of long wait? Where is the Navajo Nation administration and their accountability?

Wilford R. Joe
Shiprock

---