Shannah Smith is one of the few Navajo real estate agents. This an article from the Navajo Times that I found very interesting. ("Real estate pro: More Dine needed in the field") Our leadership need to take notice. Why are there no Navajo real estate agents? The article says that because Native American are on reservations, we are not used to buying our own property. We say "shi keiya" but that is referring to home site leases. We need to understand how to buy a home. Shannah says it's just like buying an automobile. We Dine don't know that home ownership allows people to get loans for other things such as start-up money for business. And we say economic development is the biggest issue on the reservation that leads to other issues such as high unemployment, high alcoholism, high crime, and you get the picture. I think it is worth reading this article and paying attention to what Ms. Smith has to say.
