Navajo president attends State of the Union on first official trip to D.C.

ALBUQUERQUE

As the Navajo Nation’s representative, President Buu Nygren sat in the gallery on Tuesday night to hear President Joe Biden present in an hourlong speech his agenda that ranged from the economy to jobs.

Nygren attended the State of the Union address as Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly’s guest. Lynette Bonar, the former Tuba City Regional Health Care Corporation CEO and U.S. Army veteran, attended the address as first lady Jill Biden’s guest.

The new Navajo president was on his first official trip to Washington, D.C., on Monday, when he met the new Congress and House of Representatives and cabinet members of the Biden-Kamala Harris Administration in hopes of building relationships with them.

During the 25th Navajo Nation Council winter session, Nygren presented his first State of the Nation address Jan. 24.

Nygren opened his 20-minute speech to the new tribal Council made up of nine women, saying he could feel the “energy of change.”

He asked the members of the Council how they could work together to give the Nation a better future.

“I’m in full support of the Navajo Nation Council, and I will do whatever it takes to make sure that our priorities are lined up so that we’re singing the same song when we go to the state level and the federal level,” he told the new Council Jan. 24. “So, I’m all for that.”

Representing Diné

More than weeks later, the 36-year-old president sat in the House Chamber to hear Biden appeal to the Republicans to work together for a better future for the American people.

Nygren said he and Bonar representing the Navajo people at the State of the Union was “amazing.”

“It’s just amazing to see that Navajo, like the CEO – the former CEO – and myself, are there to represent the Navajo Nation, and the United States does highly recognize us as leaders,” Nygren said on Tuesday night.

Nygren added Gila River Indian Community Gov. Stephen Roe Lewis was in attendance as Arizona Sen. Krysten Sinema’s guest.

“And so that just shows, when you think about it, is that the state of Arizona highly values its tribal leaders, especially when both your senators bring two distinguished leaders to the State of the Union,” Nygren said.

Biden, who is making a bid for re-election in 2024, and the oldest president in history, smiled as he boasted his administration created 12 million new jobs in two years – more than any other president has created in four years.

During his Jan. 24 speech, Nygren told the 25th Navajo Council that it’d been tough filling the 1,200 to 1,500 job vacancies in the Navajo Nation.

“It’s very difficult to try to get people hired and then those positions by the time situations are, I think a lot of us have understood that it’s a strenuous process,” Nygren said on Jan. 24. “I’ve asked my team to come up with solutions that we can present to the Navajo Nation Council. Hopefully, we can open up those jobs where people are being hired right away to try and help boost economic opportunities on the reservation.”

Nygren said he and Kelly plan to create an infrastructure supporting jobs, water, power, and broadband.

“The discussions I’ve had with the senator about making sure that infrastructure dollars that have hit Navajo will actually start being deployed out to our community levels because not only do we have dollars that are ARPA related, infrastructure related; and making sure that dollars just in general are being distributed out to our communities in terms of reliable water,” he said.

Water infrastructure developments

In January of last year, Kelly and Sinema secured $82.8 million to support 13 water and environmental infrastructure projects, including nearly $66 million in funding for the Little Colorado River Flood Control project, also known as the Winslow Levee, in Winslow, Arizona. The money would repair the levee, which has been decertified since 2008.

Navajo County Supervisor Alberto Peshlakai said the levee repair provided a “measure of justice” for Navajo relocatees when the federal government forced them to relocate directly into the flood plain.

The repair of the Winslow Levee falls under a much larger and more complex Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act $8.3 billion plan to upgrade critical water systems and address drought in Arizona.

The Act invests $8.3 billion in building and strengthening water infrastructure, including aging infrastructure for water storage and conveyance, water recycling and reuse, desalination, drought contingency plans, and dam safety. These resources would be available to tribes, utilities, and others who handle major water projects.

The Act also provides funding to complete currently authorized Indian Water Rights Settlements.

Specifically, this funding includes $300 million for water reclamation operations under the Colorado River Drought Contingency Plan. Of this funding, $250 million is for the Bureau of Reclamation to create or conserve 100,000-acre-feet of water annually for Lake Mead’s Lower Colorado River Basin.

The funding was disbursed through the Department of the Interior to help Arizona tribes respond to wildfires, floods, and other disasters, impacted by climate change. The Navajo Nation Department of Fish and Wildlife Climate Change received nearly $340 million in funding to fight drought-related disasters in 2022.

Nygren added Indian Health Service was also working on plans for water infrastructure developments.

“I know that IHS also has a large amount of money that’s going to be deployed to water as well too. So, I think that he just really wants to help champion bringing our communities to make sure that they have basic essential services like water, power, and broadband,” Nygren said.

Visiting Wááshindoon

During his first official trip to D.C., Nygren said he plans to visit the Navajo Nation Washington Office. The office was a controversial investment for the Navajo Nation when it bought the property for $4.9 million in February 2021.

The approval for the purchase was from legislation sponsored by former Council Delegate Wilson Stewart Jr. and co-sponsored by Delegate Rickie Nez, who was re-elected. Nez has been appointed to the Resource and Development Committee, which he served on during the 24th Navajo Nation Council.

Stewart and Nez, along with then NNWO executive director Santee Lewis, argued before the Council that purchasing the property meant the tribe would no longer pay more than $25,000 per month in rental fees.

After a lengthy and heated debate, the Council passed the legislation by a 16-9 vote.

Before Nygren concludes his weeklong trip, he said he hopes his trip plants the first seeds to build alliances for the Navajo people.

“Whether they’re Democrat or Republican, my main focus is always working with the people that want to help us be successful. That’s my number one job as president. And I feel like being out here this week, meeting with Republican senators, Republican representatives, and Democratic senators and democratic representatives really showcases that. I’m out here advocating on the best interests of Navajo,” he said on Tuesday night.

Nygren has plans to tour the Pentagon before he returns home — a first for a Navajo Nation president.

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