Vet agrees: $300,000 was wasted
by tribe

By John Christian Hopkins
Diné Bureau

STEAMBOAT, Ariz. — Navajo veteran Lee Bitsui agrees with President Joe Shirley Jr. that the Council wasted $300,000 on its Memorial Day motorcycle ride to Washington.

“They didn’t even stay for the event,” Bitsui said. “They left that morning and went back to Albuquerque.”

But Speaker Lawrence T. Morgan vehemently denies spending the $300,000 in question.

“If Bitsui is alluding to the $300,000 (for Veterans Affairs), then, no, delegates didn’t utilize that account,” Morgan said.

He said that delegates used travel allowances from specific accounts,.

“There are four of them that rode in the Run for the Wall, and Operation Carry the Flame ... specifically to take part in the motorcade,” Morgan said. “Wreath laying is another event at another location by another group.”

Bitsui was one of three members from the Steamboat Navajo Nation Veterans Organization to attend the events Memorial Day weekend. The others were Nelson Tsosie and Henry Peterson Jr.

They laid a wreath at the veterans’ memorial May 26 to honor fallen heroes, Bitsui said. But the Council delegates weren’t there for that.

“That trip was just R & R for them,” Bitsui said. “It was a waste.”

The $300,000 was used to pay for five nights of hotel accommodations, gas and meals, Bitsui said. Some of the gourd dancers even brought along their wives, he said.

“If anyone brought their wives, fine — they are perhaps financing it themselves, rather than relying on the government to pick up the tab,” Morgan said.

Bitsui said he declined to accept any tribal money to defray costs of the trip. He said he raised his own funds through donations to help pay expenses.

Gripes, like these by Bitsui, are a result of a campaign of misinformation from the president’s office, Morgan said.

Shirley is criticizing the Council to defend his controversial plan to cut the number of delegates from 88 to 24, the speaker said.

For his part, Bitsui still backs the president.

Events planned for Navajo participants — such as a barbecue dinner — never happened, Bitsui said.

Bitsui said he and the other Steamboat veterans could not understand why the delegates didn’t stay for the wreath-laying ceremony.

“We were honored to be there,” Bitsui said.

It becomes a question of liability, Morgan said.

“Liability is at stake if people should deviate from their routes and events,” Morgan explained.

John Christian Hopkins can be reached at Hopkins1960@hotmail.com