Historic government reform plan
to be unveiled in Chinle
FT. DEFIANCE, Ariz.
The most ambitious effort in more than three decades to overhaul the structure of tribal government will be unveiled on Wednesday, July 16, at the Chinle Wildcat Den. The meeting will start at 10 a.m.
Led by the Office of Navajo Government Development and the Commission on Navajo Government Development, the “Diyin Nohookaa Diné’é Bi Beeha’z’áanii Bitsí Siléí” proposes sweeping changes to how governance is defined and practiced.
“We need to take action to undo the government created by the federal government and create a government that promotes the interests of the Navajo people,” said Harrison Tsosie, the executive director of the Office of Navajo Government Development.
The current government structure, adopted in 1989 amid political crisis, concentrated significant authority in the Legislative Branch. Though intended as a temporary fix, it has remained in place for 35 years without ever being ratified by the people.
“It has been 35 years since the establishment of this project. It has been 100 years since the federal government interfered in Navajo governance in 1922. The federal government created the first Navajo Nation Council in 1923 and replaced our traditional form of government,” Tsosie told the Navajo Times on Wednesday afternoon. “The federal government created the Navajo Nation Council so they could create a regime that catered to the interests of the federal government and outside business interests. Not a government by the people and for the people.”
To read the full article, please see the July 10, 2025, edition of the Navajo Times.
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