Letters | Missing in Shonto
Missing in Shonto
Editor,
On September 6, 2025, my dad, Aaron Mark Bradley, age 68 years old, was last seen at Shonto Marketplace. The market is within a few miles of his home in Cow Springs, Arizona. On a weekly basis he travels to the store to purchase some of his favorite treats like a soda and a strawberry cake parfait. He would take time to visit with familiar faces and update them on his planting, wood carving projects and how his children and grandchildren were doing.
Unbeknownst to the community members who spoke to him on September 6, they would be the last for months on end to see him alive and well.
My dad has been missing for 6 months. Numerous searches have been completed in Shonto,
Cow Springs and Red Mesa involving Kayenta Police Department, Dzil Yi Jinn Rescue, 4Corners K-9 Search and Rescue. Searches included many volunteers including Tonalea Full Gospel Church, his family, friends and many community members. During these searches a few of his personal effects were recovered, tagged, and are now in police evidence. Unusual activity surrounds his case, including his window to his home being broken, front door, front gate left open and essential items such as his medication and hearing aid left at his home. My family is very appreciative for Navajo Nation Law Enforcement and all they have done and continue to do for our family. However, it is no secret law enforcement are tasked with a large coverage area to keep our communities safe on Navajo Nation with the limited staff and limited resources at their disposal. As such, it unfortunately causes a huge issue of lack of communication between families and law enforcement due to the overwhelming responsibilities on law enforcement’s plate. In my family’s experience this unfortunately left us with times of silence and the feeling of abandonment by the experts who could locate our missing dad. We were left with no direction on what to expect, how to complete a basic search for a missing person and what the future of his case might look like.
As my family and I threw together searches with what limited information we had, we kept the course because we were determined to find our dad. During this process, we requested numerous times for a SAFE Alert (formerly a Silver Alert to be issued in the state of Arizona) and were constantly told “all efforts have not been exhausted.” Four months later, in the middle of winter and after months of advocating for our father, an AZ SAFE Alert was finally issued. It was during this time of feeling at our wits end, an Isleta community member reached out and provided us with an email address in hopes the recipient would be able to help us navigate this winding road we were on. The person responded quickly and referred us to the Missing Murdered Dine Relatives Task Force and encouraged us to attend their weekly meeting. This was an answer to a prayer. By attending this meeting, we discovered numerous resources all convened in one and were given a platform to share my dad’s story with the task force. Immediately the task force went into action. They began supplying us with resources, referrals, including advocates, Counseling services, and even financial assistance.
With the support of our new friends and resources, we began to feel equipped to proceed forward with the ultimate goal of finding our dad and bringing him home. We continue to share his story and support other families who have missing relatives. Please do not give up, there are resources out there to tap into. I encourage you to reach out to Missing Murdered Diné Relatives Coalition and they can point you in the right direction. I also encourage faith-based resources to continue to support families experiencing crisis. The Navajo Nation Police Department also, in return, needs our support, through prayer and encouragement that they have access to more resources and personnel to provide essential services to the Navajo people. We cannot be silent. We plead with the community, if you know something, say something. Let’s keep all our missing relatives in our prayers, continue to share their social media posts, continue to be vigilant in searching for them and continue supporting their loved ones. My dad is a father, grandfather, brother, uncle, friend and former pastor. If you have any information on my dad, Aaron Mark Bradley, in regard to his disappearance, please contact Kayenta Police Department (928) 697-5600. Thank you for hearing my dad’s story.
Kayla Benally
Cow Springs, Ariz.
Fund HB 142
Editor,
I am writing to you with regard to HB 142, drafted by Representative Anthony Allison. HB 142 appropriated $500,000 from us taxpayers for an independent study of contamination left behind when PNM’s San Juan Generating Station was shut down.
The New Mexico Environment Department was put in charge of this study and hired a contractor to do some of the work. NMED hosted two public meetings to explain the study and, as they said, get input from the public. NMED also asked of any additional comments to be sent to them in writing.
Rep. Anthony Allison attended a meeting and gave a thorough explanation about the bill. We also appreciated your explanation, Rep. Hernandez, about the bill, as well as your promise to get the money to follow through with what the bill needed to finish it out.
Rep. Rod Montoya stated in our local paper that a third party was needed to oversee the study. Now the NMED has run out of money and did not even finish characterizing the contamination at the power plant. And now instead of asking for more money to complete the independent study, they are handing it over to PNM, the polluter, in the form of an Abatement Plan.
My son and I have provided input to HB 142 and now to the Abatement Plan. We are PNMs nearest neighbor and we have been plagued by discharges and releases from PNM since the plant started operation in 1973.
Early on, NMEID found pollution in our groundwater and documented PNM contamination in the Shumway Arroyo. My family then drank from a spring in the bank of that arroyo. We switched from drinking that spring water to city water and in 1983 PNM was forced to put in evaporation ponds for most of their discharges. However, the contamination in groundwater and stream sediments was never addressed by NMEID, the EPA, or anyone else.
In 2002, my son and I sampled stream sediments and sent them to a lab for analysis. They showed heavy metals from PNM discharge. We have provided those results to NMED. Then at the first public meeting for HB-142, you heard one lady talk about how she had lost 10 family members and that they had died from cancer and that all the family members had been farming the land downstream from the San Juan Generating Station.
NMED heard our public comments and received all of our written comments on HB-142 and the Abatement Plan, which were asking NMED to investigate downstream pollution. NMED has never answered one of our comments. In fact, we commented on PNM’s draft Abatement Plan, but NMED did not ask PNM to address our concerns and never responded to our comments.
We are now asking you to fund the completion of HB 142 by someone independent (not PNM and not NMED) and have them study the surface water, the groundwater, stream sediment, and soils from the power plant to Shiprock. You should also consider asking EPA to make this a superfund site so that the Navajo lands would also be addressed.
R.G. Hunt
Waterflow, N.M.
Bears Ears ally
Editor,
To say that Bears Ears National Monument is a region of extraordinary natural diversity and cultural significance is an understatement. It is a place I and many other Native people have worked to protect for my whole life. It is one that the Utah Wilderness Coalition has worked to protect for decades – work that since 1997, has been alongside Senator Durbin.
The original Bears Ears National Monument proposal was led by the Navajo, Hopi, Zuni Ute Mountain Ute and Ute Indian Tribes. When President Obama established the monument in 2016, it was critical that his friend and former colleague, Senator Durbin, could call and voice support – encouraging the president to be bold and use his power under the Antiquities Act. Senator Durbin helped get the monument across the finish line at a time when many, many other priorities were in front of the president.
I am proud of my role in securing the first tribal endorsement of the Redrock Bill. After many meetings, all seven Utah Navajo chapters passed resolutions in support and in December 2021, a resolution in support of America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act was presented to the tribal Council. The Council passed a legislation unanimously and the speaker and the Navajo Nation president both endorsed it. Having Senator Durbin as an ally, helping us continue to speak the importance of Bears Ears and the Redrock Bill, even after the reduction of Bears Ears by President Trump was incredibly important.
Today, four tribal nations and the All-Pueblo Council of Governors, the collective voice of the 20 Pueblo Nations of New Mexico and Texas, have endorsed the Redrock Bill.
Navajo traditional beliefs are centered around the plants, the trees, the wildlife, the water, the canyons, the mountains, the rocks, and earlier forms of life (Sa’ą naagháí bik’eh hózhóón). During every monsoon season on the Navajo Nation, we hear and feel thunder that brings messages that the future of the earth itself is in peril.
Senator Durbin is someone who has helped us sound the alarm that this earth itself is in peril and worked to protect a special part of it in Southern Utah. Thank you, Senator Durbin!
Mark Maryboy
Montezuma Creek, Utah
Beyond culture talk
Editor,
Have you ever listened to the Navajo commentators that speak to an audience on the air? What are they attempting to convey, who is listening? Such speakers like Joe Shirley and Buu Nygren are on the Navajo radio station KNDN (Farmington) expressing their opinions on different topics. They try to encourage Navajo parents to communicate with their children in Navajo and pass on the Navajo culture and traditions.
While Navajo culture and traditions are important to many, we live in a society with many other influences through various streams of media. Navajo people of all ages express their preferences through their dress, manner of life, conversation, etc. As households develop and evolve, cultures are developed and families practice what have become habits in their daily lives.
Children learn what they see and hear in their homes from their parents, grandparents, or guardians. The adults in the homes are the first teachers to the young children, which could be the Navajo or the non-Navajo way of life. Joe Shirley and Buu Nygren tries to urge teachings of the Navajo culture and traditions. Children go to school to learn reading, writing, math, science and social studies which is in English.
In a society driven by the economy, knowledge of how to earn money to make a living is crucial. I think the focus of speakers on the radio would better serve the Navajo society with more emphasis on teachings of staying in school and graduating, even going on to college or a trade school. Knowing how to read, write, calculate and communicate in English and maintaining positions of educated occupations is how we fit into a world of rising prices.
Wilford R. Joe
Shiprock, N.M.
Salute to champs
Editor and Tuba City Lady Warrior Nation,
I am writing this letter to congratulate the Tuba City Lady Warriors on winning the Copper State Championship this past Saturday night (Feb. 28). Your team’s dedication, teamwork and hard work has truly paid off in their well-deserved victory over Snowflake High School.
It was inspiring to watch how your team overcame challenges throughout the game. The girls continued to work together and demonstrated the heart of a champion. This proves what happens when a team works toward a shared goal with passion and persistence.
In addition, I want to commend Warrior Nation for showing up and creating an amazing atmosphere at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum. More importantly their sportsmanship in how they cheered for both schools after your hard-fought victory. That was a true example of sportsmanship as the AIA presented the Lady Lobos the Copper Runner-up award and Warrior Nation cheered them on for their effort in a hard-fought loss to your girls. This show of respect to my Lady Lobos touched my heart and showed the true colors of Warrior Nation.
Congratulations once again on your amazing season and on the Copper State Championship!
Kevin Standerfer
Athletic director, Snowflake High School
Athletic director, Snowflake Junior High School
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Highway 264,
I-40, WB @ Winslow