Congresswoman asks about Navajo prostitution in New Mexico

Council Delegate Daniel Tso told Congresswoman Deb Haaland that the fracking industry in New Mexico is soliciting Navajo women for sex.  (story)  Congresswoman Deb Haaland brought this issue up at a meeting in Santa Fe where she was met with silence.  Congresswoman Haaland is leading the cause for missing and murdered Indigenous women.  The New Mexico oil and gas association is striking back at the congresswomen accusing her of raising an issue without any evidence.  It is their way of trying to silence her.  However, assuming that Delegate Tso is telling facts, it would be very difficult to disclose who said what because of the nature of the crime.  I don't think the Navajo women who were solicited would come forth and say anything.  If anything, the third parties who saw the solicitations would have to be the witnesses.  Even more, the oil and gas industry is a very powerful industry.  Most people are afraid of them that they do not want to talk against them, just like the mafia of the previous century, or the cartels of Mexico.  The oil and gas industry is huge and they are connected to, and in many cases, are the same as, the American politicians.  Most of the American politicians are heavily lobbied by the  natural resources industries.  We saw this during the DAPL protests, we've seen it time and time again with other natural resources industries like coal and uranium. It would be good if Council Delegate Tso and the witnesses come forward and substantiate their claims.  This issue needs to be addressed.  I'm glad that Congresswoman Haaland is raising this issue because many of our Native sisters are going missing.  They need to be protected.  If it's our own Navajo women who are engaging in prostitution, then this also need to be addressed since they perpetuate the missing Native women crisis.

Leetso Na'altseed Naatsoos

D77 4iy1 [eetso haag44d doodah ha'n7n7g77 bi naaltsoos 1t'4h.  T1diin d00 n1h1st'47 n11haiy65d33' 1lyaa' n7t'66'l1.  Dool0’ n7zaadg0 nahashzhiizhda nihi k4iya baahwiin7t'7igo.

2019 Dine Sustainability Conference

Here is another conference on sustainability.  Sounds interesting.

Climate change workshop

This is an interesting workshop on climate change.  It would be interesting to attend:

Community information: Climate elders tell stories of change

Mayor Coral Evans, rancher Jim Babbitt, Navajo artist Shonto Begay and river rafter Donnie Dove tell their stories

Learn how climate change has affected the ranching community and the presence of springs in the forest, how it is changing river rafting and outdoor adventure business, how lakes have dried up and fishing is harder, how climate change has affected housing needs, how gardening in Flagstaff is different, how new climate has brought changes to snow on the mountain and grass in the valleys, how higher temperatures are adding stress to people’s lives and many other stories.

More information is available by contacting NAZCCA community organizer Liane Giunta at liane.nazcca@gmail.com or Dr. Stefan Sommer at Stefan.Sommer@nau.edu.

Come and hear the stories of Mayor Coral Evans, who has lived in Flagstaff all her life, rancher Jim Babbitt, whose family has been ranching in this region for three generations, Navajo artist Shonto Begay, whose roots run deep in northern Arizona, and river runner Donnie Dove, who has made a living connecting people with river experiences in our region.

Rising temperatures, along with new snow and rainfall patterns, have affected people in Flagstaff and northern Arizona in many ways. Come and hear the stories.

Elders can give us a deeper perspective on change. Each of us has formed a baseline of how things are in Flagstaff based on how things were when we first got here. Sometimes it is hard to see how things have changed, especially if you have only lived in a place for a decade or less.

Enrich your perspective on climate change by listening to the stories of climate elders, who have deeper experiences to share.

Exclusion of Non-Dine off reservation lands

There has been a lot of talk about border walls and illegal immigration.  Similarly, our Dine Nation has a law under Title 13 that allows for exclusion of non-Dine for illegal activities.  There must be an exclusion proceeding in the courts.  Reasons for exclusion include:

   a. Unauthorized prospecting, mining, collecting or gathering of or for oil, gas, coal, uranium and other minerals, water, petrified wood, antiquities or artifacts;  or

   b. Entry into any Navajo home without the consent of the occupants;  or

   c. Interference with or unauthorized photographing of any Navajo traditional ceremony or other religious ceremony;  or

   d. Unauthorized trading or peddling;  or

   e. Recruiting Navajo labor without permission of the Office of Navajo Labor Relations;  or

   f. Unauthorized entering of an area of the Navajo Nation closed to nonmembers;  or

   g. Removal from the Navajo Nation of any member of the Navajo Nation under the age of 18, or under guardianship, except by Order of the Courts of the Navajo Nation or in conjunction with a nonsectarian program administered by the Navajo Nation or the Bureau of Indian Affairs;  or

   h. Unauthorized timber cutting or plant gathering;  or

   i. Unauthorized surveying;  or

   j. Damaging property of any resident of the Navajo Nation or using such property without permission.


Imagine how different things would be if all Indian nations had this type of law back in the 14th century.  We might all be writing in Dine now. 

Tax season is here - avoid T&R and Ellis - they are part of deceptive businesses caught

(article: Settlements reached in cases against Ellis Tanner, T&R)

When reservation basketball teams play surrounding white bordertown communities, cheerleaders from bordertown communities chant, "We pay taxes yes we do!  We pay taxes how about you?!"  A lot of white Americans think that Native Americans don't pay taxes.  They think we get things for free.  Well, the fact is that Navajo Indians pay their taxes just like other American citizens.  We have to pay income tax to the federal government.  Federal income taxes are due April 15 every year.  Recently, two popular tax outlets in Gallup, New Mexico that serve the Navajos with tax preparation services were sued for cheating their Navajo customers.  An attorney, Nicholas Mattison, sued Ellis Tanner and T & R Tax Services for deceptive practices against 15,000 Navajo customers.  Those deceptive practices include charging a higher amount than what was stated in the contracts.  The two companies reached settlements to pay back the money to their customers totaling in the millions of dollars.  This is wrong at many levels.  

Ellis Tanner prides himself as "Ayehe yazhi", or 'the small inlaw'.  I thought as an inlaw, your responsibility was to help your spouse's family, not lie to them, cheat them, and steal from them by the millions.  I would says that Tanner and T & R have been doing this for decades.  It is just now that they got caught.  I would say that that is the normal practice by traders and businesses in the surrounding bordertowns.  Like the payday loan companies and the car dealerships and the Indian jewelry stores, they prey on the illiteracy and lack of education of Navajos.  After all, Gallup is the "World's largest Indian trading center". 

Many of our people still speak limited or no English.  Many of our people don't understand business sales tactics or contracts clauses.  We don't realize that these companies are sharks, they have come to prey on us, they smell blood, and we walk right into their bait.  This includes the alcohol industry that is ran by state politicians.  It is only recently that we Navajos have started becoming educated and started doing something about our situation by starting counter efforts like the Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission, by suing payday loans, Wells Fargo, etc.  Shame on these non-Navajo people for preying on our women and stealing our money, property, and resources.  It is not good when you are the victim of manifest destiny, all the land grab and exploitation of natural resources.  No wonder a lot of our people fall into hopelessness and become homeless, alcoholics, and some commit suicide.  I am glad for those council delegates who have voted down the mining of fossil fues in Black Mesa.  This is just a short victory, we still have all the Ellis Tanners, the T & R Markets, alcohol retailers (like Sagebrush) in the checkerboarded parcels that keep the surrounding reservation intoxicated, and all the greed for fracking in our Dinetah.  They are hungry.  I don't think the King Gold Mine spill and contamination of heavy metals into the San Juan River was an accident.  The list goes on and we have to keep vigilant and fight on for our Dine people.

Daan biyi' hwooleel

D77 47 k'ad T'aachil biyi' yiizi[.  D77 k'ad dadeesk'aazy65 yaago 1t'88h.  Ch'il y1zhi hadahaans44h daaleeh.  Ch'osh ch'7daha'n65h[e. !1d00 na'ash0'ii a[d0' ch'7n1kah.  !1d00 shash a[d0'.  T'00b7y0 t'ahnidii nidaa[k'aas[e.  K'os nidaakei[eh, ch77l y1zhi 'n7l0 dit['id' woly4ego yee ak'ida'dile'[e.  D7igo at'4ego 0oly4 T'aachil.  H0zh00n7yee'go 0oly4.