2015: One of the most chaotic

Posted by Navajo Times | Dec 30, 2015 | News |

Navajo Times | Donovan Quintero
Navajo police officer Chris Holgate, left, watches his partner Philbert Toddy become emotional after the successful search for two young brothers early Wednesday morning in Besbetoh, Ariz.

By Christopher Pineo and Bill Donovan
Navajo Times

WINDOW ROCK

The past year was probably one of the most chaotic years in the tribe’s history with the Navajo people facing delay after delay in choosing a tribal leader, a mine spill that continues to affect the financial well-being of hundreds of Navajo farmers in the Four Corners area and on a personal level, the heart-warming and successful story of two young Navajo children lost in the woods.

It was a year that people living on the reservation won’t forget for a long time.

Here are a few of the Times’ Top Stories of 2015 (a full list can be read by purchasing the Navajo Times) as determined by the staff of the Navajo Times. They are not in any particular order:

Boys in woods

(This may have not had the biggest effect on the tribal government but this story resounded with our readers to such an extent that the issue where this story appeared sold the most copies of any issue in 2015.)

When two boys went missing on Oct. 27 in the Beshito area north of Toyei, the Navajo Nation turned all eyes to the search.

Aztlan Champayne, 4, and Anthony Champayne, 3, who had been hauling wood with their grandfather, grandmother and their aunt wandered off at about 2 p.m.

A dam breach that released a million gallons of wastewater into the Animas River on Aug. 5 colors the river orange as it merges with the San Juan River, right, on Saturday in Farmington. Navajo Nation tribal officials have been visiting community members living along the San Juan River to inform them to not use or swim in the river’s water until further notice. (Times photo – Donovan Quintero)

Gold King Mine spill

(On a personal level, this is the story that probably had the biggest financial effect on the largest number of Navajo families. It’s a story that also may continue to affect hundreds of Navajo farmers in the Four Corners area for years to come.)

Just three months after Russell Begaye took office, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency caused a rupture at Colorado’s Gold King Mine that sent 3 million gallons of toxic wastewater downstream. The spill became one of the Navajo Nation’s biggest environmental emergencies in recent history.

Election/language issue

Navajo Times | Donovan Quintero
Newly elected Navajo Nation President-elect Russell Begaye, second left, and Vice President-elect Jonathan Nez walk to the Window Rock Sports Center with family and supporters on Apr. 21 after the votes from all 110 chapters are counted. Begaye and Nez defeated their opponents Joe Shirley, Jr., and Dineh Benally by a wide margin.

(Navajo elections are always a volatile issue but 2015 saw things happen within the tribal election system that never happened before and caused many tribal leaders to worry about the affect it would have on the stability of the tribal government.)

After Chris Deschene finished second in the primary on Aug. 26, 2014 just behind Joe Shirley, the conflict over whether or not candidates for the Navajo presidency should be fluent in the Navajo language exploded.