Tsosie proposes 'constitution-like' document

D. Harrison Tsosie, originally from Dennehotso, Ariz., enters the race for Navajo Nation president with a platform that includes creating constitution-like document that would give more legal power to the Navajo people.

"I want to implement the things on this list and mostly to empower the Navajo people," he said.

An assistant attorney general in the Navajo Nation's Department of Justice, he has a two-page list of items he would accomplish if he were elected.

At the top of his list is creating an "organic document," which would essentially create more land rights for the Navajo Nation, he said.

Citing a long standing U.S. Supreme Court decision in Johnson v. M'Intosh in 1823, wherein the court decided that Indians can't sell the land they live on, he said that by creating a "organic document" the Navajo people could have more control over Navajo lands.

He said he's been working on a draft of the document for about eight years.

In addition, he said creating the constitution-like document would also allow for governmental reform.

"The people didn't have a voice (in creating the current government)," he said. "People will have a say on the matter by developing a document. We can define our rights to the land."

His experience as deputy attorney general since 2001 would help him create solutions and new legal stances for the Navajo Nation, he said.

"What I see with the Navajo Nation, we have to go right back to the fundamentals of the Navajo Nation government," he said, adding that examining Title 2 would be a part of that process.

He said the document would create a more defined three-branch government with the roles and powers of each branch clearly defined.

Tsosie earned his law degree from the University of Utah in 1995 and worked for Navajo Agriculture Products Industry from 1997 through 2001.

He currently resides in Waterflow, N.M.

He said with the constitution-like document, the Navajo Nation would be in a better position to create economic development.

"The real problem I see is there is a cloud of uncertainty on the status of Indian trust lands," he said.

He said as a result corporations and large companies don't want to invest on the Navajo Reservation|.

"No one understands it and it's very complicated," he added.

So he wants to clarify property and land rights on the Navajo Nation, establish a real estate market, a commercial court and update Navajo employment laws.

He also vows to protect the Permanent Trust Fund and not to waive or circumvent laws for political needs.

Regarding infrastructure, he ranks water, electricity, roads, landfills and communication systems as priorities.

He plans to define his platform in more detail in the coming weeks.

"What my campaign is going to do at some point is give everybody the complete campaign," he said.

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