Delegate: ‘Things turn into a power struggle’

By Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — During a special meeting Tuesday, members of the Human Services Committee discussed the need to set priorities for the Navajo Nation.

Sometimes it seems like the Nation pulls against itself, Delegate Woody Lee said.

“Things turn into a power struggle,” Lee said. “It becomes political-slash-territorial, it’s like ‘The Northern Agency can’t do that, because the Western Agency thought of it first.’”

The HSC planned to discuss specific priorities forwarded by, but the council is still working on them, Delegate Peterson Yazzie said.

“I hate to say it, but some of those smaller tribes are ahead of the larger tribes,” Delegate Larry Anderson Sr. said. “We are moving forward, but we keep stumbling every now and then. Why?”

The answer is that the smaller tribes utilize professional consultants, Anderson said.

“(The consultants) know what is going on in Washington , what is happening at the state level and on Wall Street,” Anderson added.

“The Hopis use a lot of consultants, that’s why they can keep up with the Navajo Nation,” he said.

The Nation needs to come together, Lee suggested. Instead of something being “a Mariano Lake issue,” people need to see it as a Navajo Nation issue, he said.

The Nation also often squanders its political strength, Lee said.

“Why don’t we have a delegation?” he asked. Other groups put together delegations and send them to political conventions and to lobby lawmakers, Lee said. There is no reason the Nation can’t do the same thing, he added.

“Don’t be afraid to use consultants,” Anderson urged his colleagues. “Every government uses consultants.”

Contact John Christian Hopkins at hopkins1960@hotmail.com