Curley reflects on unfinished work as speaker term nears end
Special to the Times | Donovan Quintero
Speaker Crystalyne Curley poses for a photo near her home in Fish Point, Ariz., on Friday, April 10.
BÉÉSH HÁÁT’I’
As her term nears its end, Speaker Crystalyne Curley says the clearest measure of her time in office is the work still waiting to be done.
Thousands of projects remain in motion. Major funding decisions made by the 25th Navajo Nation Council are still working their way toward completion. And in Curley’s view, the larger question now is what direction the Navajo Nation takes after the years shaped by federal pandemic relief money.
Curley reflected on a speakership shaped by federal recovery funding, repeated efforts to move money into housing and infrastructure, disputes between branches of government and the challenge of keeping the focus on what she described as the day-to-day needs in Navajo communities.
“We have thousands and thousands of projects that are sitting there,” Curley said. “We have revenue. Revenue is that we have to think about what is going to sustain our Nation for the next 50 years.”
As the Navajo Nation moves beyond ARPA and other pandemic-era funding, she said, leaders will need to put more focus on revenue generation and other long-term funding sources.
Curley was first elected speaker on Jan. 23, 2023, becoming the first woman to lead the Navajo Nation Legislative Branch. Originally from Fish Point, Arizona, she was re-elected to a second two-year term on Jan. 27, 2025. Her priorities included infrastructure, water rights and rural community needs.
To read the full article, please see the April 16, 2026, edition of the Navajo Times.
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