Denetsosie dodges bullet
Navajo Council votes overwhelmingly
against his removal

By John Christian Hopkins
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — The tribal Council voted to retain Navajo Nation Attorney General Louis Denetsosie during its special session Monday.

Council convened for a special session, after some delegates expressed anger that Denetsosie had issued a legal opinion that favored President Joe Shirley’s position in the ongoing brouhaha over reducing the Council by 64 members.

Before a packed house of curious onlookers, delegates — speaking mostly in Navajo — voted 20-60, thereby defeating the bill sponsored by Young Jeff Tom and Lawrence Platero.
Shirley is attempting to get an initiative on the November ballot to cut the Council from 88 members to 24, but there was some question as to what kind of vote was needed.
Shirley maintained that the initiative only needed the 50-percent, plus one of votes cast to be approved.

But Speaker Lawrence T. Morgan argued that the initiative needed a to be approved by a majority of all registered voters in each precinct.

Shirley sought a legal opinion from the Office of the Attorney General; and Denetsosie supported the president’s stance.
Delegate Roy Laughter disagreed with Denetsosie’s decision, but did not think it was grounds for dismissal.

“We need to stand up strong, we just have to swallow it,”  Laughter said.

The president and the speaker are meeting in an attempt to reach a compromise, taking this action would only disrupt those talks, Delegate LoRenzo Bates said.

Delegate Katherine Benally said she was “saddened and disappointed  to see this legislation come before the Council; however, Denetsosie brought it on himself, she concluded.

“To me, it’s an issue of trust. I, personally, can never trust this attorney general again, henceforth,”  Benally said. “This isn’t about one opinion, it’s about trust. 

The Council needs to know that the attorney general will treat the Legislative and Executive branches in a fair and equal manner, she added.

“I was very concerned about the direction we were going, in debating the legislation. This bill only adds onto the division of the Council and the Navajo people,”  Delegate Jonathan Nez said. “The proposed legislation wanting to dismiss the attorney general has no merits. There is no evidence of any wrong doing.”

Most delegates that spoke seemed to agree with Nez.
“What is the issue here?”  wondered Delegate Pete Ken Atcitty. “I haven’t heard anything that is justifiable for removing someone from his position.”

Providing no specific examples of wrong doing, the legislation seeks to imply it, Atcitty said.

“What we do here will define us on where we go as a nation,”  Delegate Leonard Tsosie said. “I think when we try to remove a top official, we should seek a reason for doing so. 
Delegates would never be able to receive honest opinions from employees, if they have to worry about being fired because their opinion differs from Council’s, Tsosie said.

“We always advocate having our young educated Navajo people to come home and help us; in Louis’s case, he has done just that. He came home to assist in moving our nation forward,”  Nez said. “What kind of message are we sending to our young people, who have worked their tails off to earn their degrees, and want to help their people and relatives?

Firing Denetsosie would “call into question the positive work  that his office has done, he added.

“We all know a team is a sacred thing,”  Nez added. “We, as the 21st Navajo Nation Council, are a team working for the betterment of our Navajo people.”

Council had previously reprimanded the attorney general for a 2003 case involving the Kayenta School District, in which Denetsosie sent a letter to the Bureau of Indian Affairs backing the president’s opposition to the delegates’ actions, after failing to report to the Council any objections.

During the special session, Denetsosie sat stoically on the south side of the chambers, often scribbling on a legal pad. After the Council voted, he finally smiled.

“I think the majority of the Council acted with good sense,”  Denetsosie said.

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