Letters | Stop the favoritism

Editor,
When construction projects are announced across Diné Bikéyah, they’re introduced with big promises: local jobs, community development, and hope for our people. We attend chapter meetings, voice our support, and welcome the idea that something new is coming, something that will help our local families and communities. But over and over again, we are met with disappointment. We are told these projects are for us, yet we are shut out of the very jobs they create.

Unemployment across the Navajo Nation is staggering, estimated between 40% and 45%. In some communities, it’s even higher. Our young people are searching for their first jobs, our skilled tradespeople wait by their phones, and families are doing their best to get by without steady income. When we see construction crews arrive, but none of our own people are working on-site, it feels like more than just an oversight. It feels like a betrayal.

We expect outside contractors to overlook us. They’ve been doing that for decades. But what is harder to swallow is when this same kind of cronyism and nepotism comes from within our own Nation. A friend of mine, who has years of experience as a construction worker, was recently passed over for a job on a project in his own chapter. The subcontractor foreman on the job was Navajo. But instead of hiring from the local community, the supervisor brought in their own relatives and friends. Diné, yes, but not from the area. No announcements. No applications. Just private calls and closed doors.

This is not how we build up our Navajo Nation. Nepotism and cronyism, hiring based on family or friendships instead of fairness, are practices that divide us and keep opportunity out of reach for too many. They reinforce the same inequalities we say we want to change.

These practices also go directly against the Fundamental Laws of the Diné.

Our sacred laws teach us about k’é, about relationship, respect, balance, and responsibility to our people. When leaders and contractors choose favoritism over fairness, they violate the principles of k’é and kinship. They weaken the harmony and trust that hold our communities together. The Fundamental Laws tell us to lead with integrity, to protect the welfare of our people, and to make decisions that promote balance and harmony, not division and exclusion.

True Navajo leadership doesn’t just serve their own family or friends. A true leader makes life better for all the people. A true leader walks forward with everyone in mind, not just their own circle. Real leadership means creating opportunity fairly, with transparency and a commitment to all chapters, all clans, and all workers, no matter their last name.

What we need is transparency and accountability.

Every major project, especially those using federal, tribal, or grant funding, must be required to publicly post jobs, collaborate with local chapters to recruit workers, and prioritize hiring from the communities where the project is taking place. There should be real consequences for companies that fail to do this, not just a warning, but removal from future contract opportunities.

We also need community benefit agreements built into these projects from the beginning. These agreements can guarantee local hiring, training, and investment back into the community, not just profits for the few. And when violations happen, we need a way to report them and see real change.

To our tribal leaders, directors, managers, and chapter officials: we ask that you advocate for your communities not just at meetings, but in contract negotiations. Stand with us and insist on fair hiring practices for every job that breaks ground on Navajo land.

To subcontractors and business owners, especially our own Diné entrepreneurs, I say this: we support your success. But do not forget the responsibility that comes with it. Hire fairly. Hire locally. Make room at the table. Because true strength comes when we all rise together.

If you build here, you hire here. That’s how we honor k’é. That’s how we restore dignity, fairness, and opportunity for all our people, not just some.

Blaine Wilson
Crystal Chapter president
Crystal, N.M.

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