Charlaine Tso shows us a copy of the Navajo Times
The Navajo Nation Council has decided its most controversial issue so far, says one Council Delegate. 'I am not going to sell out', says another. The Nabik'iyati' Committee, which consists of all the Council Delegates, met last week and voted down, 11 to 9, any hope of giving any life to the dying Navajo Generating Station. Lake Powell News was the first to report on it, probably because the bordertown's lifeblood depends on the coal powerplant. Now that the powerplant is going to decommission, what is going to happen to the Page economy? Furthermore, what is going to happen to the Navajo and Hopi tribal nations? These tribes derive a substantial portion of the their revenues from the coal power plant that also use to fuel water and power to southwestern cities like Phoenix and Tucson. I thought female council delegates Charlaine Tso and Eugenia Charles-Newton did a real good job advocating for the grass roots. Ms. Tso really focused on the health and safety of the People. She really spoke on behalf of the people. Ms. Charles-Newton also said that she does not want to see Navajo People wearing masks like they do in China, to protect people from the bad air quality. Charles-Newton focused on the Council's fiduciary duty to the people, to make sure that the Council is informed when they make decisions. She told the People that oppose her decision to blame NTEC for not submitting the required documents for the Council to make an informed decision. I have heard that NGS-SRP did not want to make a full disclosure to the NTEC because there may be some illegal activities to uncover. What illegal activities were covered up? I am glad that the council did not assume the closing powerplant owner's liabilities to clean up and restore the area. Federal law requires the land to be restored to pre-coal-operation conditions. Council Delegate Otto Tso called for a discussion on who to "send home" referring to layoffs. So far there is no plan from the President Nez and Lizer team except to resort to the permanent trust fund.
The Navajo Times ran an article on their cartoonist, Jack Ahasteen, his family losing their land in the Navajo-Hopi land removal due to the Peabody coal operations. ("Now you know why I draw") The coal workers that are losing their jobs don't seem to realize that a lot of people lost their land so that the coal workers can have a job all these decades. Now that the coal operation is going to be shut down, are the Navajos that lost their land going to get their land back? Mr. Ahasteen states that many first generation people from families who lost their land qualified as "head of household" and were compensated with alternative housing and property. He says that the second generation children have nothing and would like to see a class action lawsuit against the federal government. I would like to see the Navajo families move back to their traditional homelands. That would be the least bit of fairness for the second generation children of families that loss their lands.
