Farmington Navajo Code Talkers Museum moves forward as Tsé Bonito site remains empty

Posted by Donovan Quintero | Aug 6, 2026 | News |

GALLUP

Days before Navajo Code Talkers Day, New Mexico is moving ahead with plans for a museum at Navajo Preparatory School in Farmington. It is not the museum announced more than a decade ago at Tse Bonito. It is not the one that was supposed to open two years ago.

Navajo Prep trustees approved an agreement with New Mexico in April to design, build and operate the museum. The state issued a request for proposals in May for architect and engineer services. The solicitation caps construction at $11 million and calls for a core exhibit of about 6,500 square feet. Construction bidding is scheduled for June 2027.

At Tsé Bonito, about 130 miles southwest, two groundbreaking ceremonies have been held on a 208-acre site. The Navajo Code Talkers Association held the first. Navajo Code Talkers Museum LLC held the second on National Navajo Code Talkers Day in August 2022. Four years later and two years past the announced opening date, nothing has been built.

Wearing a purple blouse, a red, white and blue necklace and a concho belt, Malula Sandoval scooped dirt with a gold-painted shovel, set it on the pile and stepped aside for the next person. New Mexico state Sen. Shannon Pinto, the granddaughter of the late Sen. John Pinto, poured water over the mound. Frank Dayish Jr. turned earth beside them.

Malula Sandoval said her husband, Samuel Sandoval, had meant to put a shovel in that ground himself. He died July 29, 2022, at 98, less than three weeks before the ceremony.

To read the full article, please see the Aug. 6, 2026, edition of the Navajo Times.

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