Letters: Pleased to see women marching

I am so pleased to see the many Navajo women march at Council in Window Rock to address their concerns.

The missing indigenous and murdered women is real on Navajo Nation. The abduction of kids and women on Navajo is real. The abuse of Navajo women is real.

This is why the many Navajo women are marching, pleading with tribal lawmakers, including President Nez, to fix the problem.

One solution is helping the police and first responders communicate quickly and efficiency to stop the harm to our women and children. Doing this requires having a robust communication network across Navajo. Congress has directed AT&T to build that emergency network across the country.

Congress also gave special instruction to implement it quickly on tribal land. It is called First Net.

After two years the Navajo Nation has failed in implementing it. Our Navajo Nation Council and President Nez have failed to make AT&T First Net happen.

The problem is the tribal bureaucrats once again are arguing about collecting fees, leases and tribal rights of ways. Are these issues more important than protecting our women and children?

The sad part is it’s all about the money for the tribe.

The Navajo government continues to be the bully on this issue about allowing building an emergency network and collecting fees.

Navajo departments continue to argue daily about land-use processes and procedures. We are talking about saving human lives and saving them yesterday. For the women and children, the leases and ROW fees for tribal government are the least of their concerns.

The tribe needs to mandate that we build the infrastructure for First Net on Navajo. Many of these tribal workers stopping the build out of First Net are at-will workers. We must remind these workers that if they continue to block projects that help the Navajo people the at-will policy will be implemented.

That means President Nez has to remove them and get others that can make it happen. Even if it includes his appointees, President Nez must remove the barriers tribal at-will workers continuously put up.

Protecting our women and children is important. The Navajo Nation has the resources and funding to do it today. We, as a Navajo Nation, must demand it be done.

A broad emergency network across Navajo land will save women and children’s lives. For example, the Amber Alert will work no matter where the emergency happens. Police can get emergency calls real time and use emergency GPS for location of the emergency anywhere.

There are many benefits to have First Net on tribal lands. Let’s demand tribal officials build this network because it will save our women and children. Otherwise, we march again.

Denise Begay
Hogback, N.M.

We are witnessing a water shortage

(To Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly) I appreciate your response to my letter regarding the very important matter of Oak Flats.

A great Nez Perce, Chief Joseph, once said, “It does not require many words to speak the truth. Although your response contains many words, the truth has been misrepresented.”

Scientists tell us that by 2040 a severe global water shortage will occur. Right now, we are already witnessing a severe water shortage in Arizona.

Can we afford to allow Resolution Copper, a company with a scandalous history of mendacious activity, to use the same amount of water each day that is necessary for the city of Tempe to function at its present level? For a period of 40 to 60 years (the projected daily use)?

I have been told that you are a practicing Catholic. If you check your Bible carefully, you will find that Jesus spoke more about money and greed than any other subject, and not one of his teachings about these matters was good.

Jobs and economic boosts are not justifications for reckless behavior. Endangering the well-being of future generations with remunerative reasoning is not only reckless, but contrary to your faith.

Lastly, Oak Flats is a sacred site. Would you advocate demolishing your place of worship because copper was discovered beneath it?

Please reconsider your position and take action that future generations will be proud of.

Leo Hand
Sawmill, Ariz.

Firing for no vaccination is not good

Tuba City Hospital announced that it will be firing employees who are not COVID-19 vaccinated. While vaccination is a good way to help stop the spread of COVID, firing employees because they are not vaccinated at the hospital is wrong.

The staff and health-care workers at the Tuba City hospital and at many other clinics and hospitals throughout the Navajo Nation have put their lives on the line to help care for and treat those inflicted with COVID.

While the nurses and doctors at Tuba City could not save my cousin from COVID, they put their own health and lives at risk trying to save all those who came to the hospital seeking medical assistance.

It is a terrible crime to repay the employees at the hospital this way and will hurt the community by causing the loss of highly trained professionals, which the tribe has through scholarship spent money training to serve the community. Their skill will not be easily replaced.

It is not how we, as Navajos, handle problems, it is how the federal government for years enforced their will upon on our people through fear, intimidation and force. Example of this includes the Long Walk, sheep reduction and boarding schools.

It is certainly not the way my great-grandfather, Asdii Peshlakiah, a well-respected headman from Tuba City would have handled it.

His way, as he has taught his children in working with people, was through persuasion or simply talking with people to persuade people to do something. His way was not through fear, the use of force, or intimidation. I doubt he would approve of firing employees for not getting vaccinated.

The Tuba City hospital should rethink its policy. The consequences to the hospital’s relationship to the community will be gravely hurt because many of the health-care workers are from the community. And the valuable experience of the employees will be lost, which will hurt the hospital’s ability to provide medical assistance to the community.

Thank you to the hospital workers throughout the reservation for their work in fighting COVID. Ahehee’.

Ronnie Lupson
Salt Lake City, Utah

Solutions are within the problem

During our trying times, it seems it is our attention that can reveal solutions from within the problem. Consider our reactions to the ongoing onslaught by the COVID-19 variants, including the cruel cleansings and changes of nature.

Thus far such practices of “trust” and “common sense” seemed forbidden. As understood, trust is to have confidence in something from another. However, such assurance is disgraceful, according to our tragic history with the dominant society.

For some, this mistrust is probably why the COVID-19 vaccine is not their solution. And common sense seems invalid, ever since we assimilated information into memory and our obedience to the great white way.

Supposedly, we are back to using science to understand the nature of things, as in exploring COVID-19. With science we can understand the basics of such parasites, as with its variations per se.

Science states, “Viruses are not living entities.”

In a jargon nutshell, these inanimate viruses are very complex collections of molecules, nucleic acids, proteins, lipids, and carbohydrates. It seems they only become mobile parasites when they enter, take over and multiply by copying itself using a living organism as power and transport. Thus infecting living human cells and, if in numbers, we become the wave.

Then there is talk of variants, the different versions of COVID-19. These “variations” are the changing or transformation of the viruses.

Google science text states, “Virus like SARS-CovV-2 continuously evolve as mistakes (genetic mutation) occur during replication of the genome.”

This is understood as where the viruses evolve because of their “mistakes” during their copying of themselves within human cells. Therefore, they do have to change, mutate, and transform in order to succeed in their intention.

Here, the life-saving catchword is “change.” With such realization through simple research, science and common sense, where do we take it from here?

Well, here on our reservation, we seem to always proclaim our character trait when difficulties arise. In the old days, the dominant society defined us as “an enduring people” in their books and films, a possible gimmick for their quick sale.

It seems, these days, we short-changed ourselves with the mindset of defining ourselves as “resilient.” Thus, as to bend with the wind, be flexible, pliant and unyielding.

True, in a sense, but it could further include being stoic and numb to pain. Basically, it could also mean to be stubborn, to stay in one place, without movement.

To be at a standstill in an ever-changing fluid world will only deny us our attention, communication, intelligent, creativity, ingenuity, insight, cooperation, and opportunities.

Our arrogance, ignorance and laziness only compound our social problems and they have nothing new to offer to resolve our issues.

If we refuse coordination with the changing times then our onward progressive movement is just a dream. How can we proceed beyond the horizon for new ideas and discoveries and with new understanding of life if we only yearn to be like the “stubborn plastic” littering the fence lines of our reservation roads?

Yes, without attention we make mistakes. For instance, we have become parasites to this planet, therefore now a competition. Our mindful resolve is before us each day from political propaganda to local vagrants. They even mention “change” to us.

And if viruses can “change” to a stronger variant because of their mistakes, so can we, even though we are afraid of change.

Our wearing a mask, social distancing, and practicing preventive protocols are changes for survival. Losening up our stubborn reaction and cleaning up our environment may be the beginning of a transformation for a better, healthy living.

And until nature forgives itself and us for the damages inflicted to our perceptional world, these changes are the new normal for daily living.

Robert L. Hosteen
Beclabito, N.M.

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