Local banks: Midnight chaos?
Zarana Sanghani
Staff Writer
GALLUP — For two years, bankers have worked and then tested themselves
to prepare for midnight Friday, the telling moment of triumph or chaos.
The oversight in computers known as the Y2K bug triggered area banks
to bring in experts, test computers, replace noncompliant programs
and, for the worst case scenario, create an emergency plan to beat
the bug.
"We spent over $100,000 on upgrading computers and software,"
said Marshall Coker, chief administrator for Gallup Federal Savings.
"We know that everything is compliant or that the vendors have
certified Y2K compliance."
Coker said his company upgraded or replaced many items including computers
and software necessary for banking business, surveillance cameras
and air conditioning operators.
When computers were first programmed to maintain time, programmers
saved space by using, for example, "99" instead of "1999."
Now, when "99" goes to "00," noncompliant computers
will interpret that to mean 1900, not 2000. However, most programs
are time dependent.
At a bank, nonupgraded software would revert accounts to balances
recorded in 1900, if such balances exist.
Mary Kontz, who was shopping at the Rio West Mall, said she worries
more about the Y2K bug affecting basic services than her bank account.
"I don't worry about my bank account. My main concern is food
and water," Kontz said. "I'm sure that once they get electricity
up, the banks would be fine."
Despite assurances from tests and regulatory agencies that the Y2K
bug has been eradicated from their software, bankers have also organized
safety-net procedures.
Administrators at Gallup Federal Savings, First Credit Union and Western
banks said they will print hard copies of all bank records before
the New Year.
Gallup Federal Savings has identified two correspondent banks that
can provide cash supplies or other assistance if problems arise, Coker
said.
First Credit Union makes backups of all files every night, said Alma
Henley-Orr, the regional manager.
Of course, employees will make sacrifices also. At Western Bank, the
staff is not allowed to be on vacation in case anyone needs to be
called in, said John Dowling, the bank's CEO and president.
Finally, before doors open Monday morning, the administrators said
they will check computer records with hard copies.
Dennis Jone, who was also shopping at Rio West Mall, said he has his
own security system: "I have most of my receipts and I know what
I have (in the bank). I don't think nothing's going to happen."
The sentiment that Y2K will pass without event was echoed by the bank
administrators.
"I don't believe there will be a problem,"
Coker said. "All the plans we've made is for a disaster and if
there is a disaster, we're ready."
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Navajo special needs children await homes
Nancy Watson
Staff Writer
WINDOW ROCK — Twenty Navajo children are waiting for Navajo families
to adopt them.
Social workers for the Indian Child Welfare Act Program
said that although there are 38 families prepared to adopt, the children
available for adoption are too old. The families are looking for "little
babies."
Most of the children referred to ICWA range in age from 6 to 16. They
have been taken from their homes due to neglect and abuse and they
have a variety of problems or situations that make them hard to place.
The 20 children needing homes right now have special needs, said Dolores
Greyeyes, director of ICWA.
Some are victims of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and others have behavior
problems that are the result of abuse. Some have siblings and need
to be placed in a home together. Greyeyes said these children have
been waiting a long time for a foster home.
Just determining if a child is eligible for services is a process
that takes at least three months, she said.
Preserving culture
The Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 was passed by Congress to protect
Indian children and help Indian nations preserve their culture. It
requires that state agencies contact a child's tribe if a child has
become a dependent of the state.
The ICWA office received 2,000 referrals from across the country last
year. Of those, only one third of the children were able to receive
assistance from the Navajo Nation because the ICWA office was not
able to verify the child's enrollment.
"The child had been picked up by the authorities
who were told the child was a Navajo," Greyeyes said. But little
or no other information was available.
The information needed includes the names, birth dates, and place
of birth of the child's parents. Often, some or all of that information
is not available.
Parents may not be willing to give it because they are
afraid, angry or do not want their families on the reservation to
know they may be losing custody of their child. The ICWA office works
closely with the census office to determine if the child, or the child's
parents, are enrolled members of the tribe or the child has one quarter
blood quantum.
The census office is only 40 percent automated and the workers often
have to manually go through the files to find the information. If
the census office verifies that the child is Navajo, a social worker
is assigned to the child.
ICWA has more than 511 active cases. The staff of 14
social workers and six support staff is spread over the Navajo Nation.
Reunions are important
Social workers intervene with state social workers, attorneys and
courts. At the same time, they try to locate the child's extended
family.
"Sometimes, I'm on the phone all day and working on six cases
at the same time," said Kathryn Watchman of the Gallup ICWA office.
An effort to place the child with a relative and as close to his or
her parents as possible is the groups' first priority. Reuniting the
family is very important. That is very difficult if the family is
spread across the country.
If it is not possible, finding Navajo foster care is the next step.
If there are no Navajo foster homes available, the child may be placed
with another Native American family. The very last resort is a non-Native
American home.
It is the last resort because it is essential that the
child receives culturally appropriate services. It is the law, Greyeyes
said.
Prior to ICWA, children were frequently placed in non-Native American
foster and adoptive homes.
Also, in the past, Native American parents were pressured
to give up their children to non-Native Americans thinking they would
receive a "better life."
Children were taken to boarding schools and some were taken by church
groups. The Church of Latter Day Saints, Jewish Family Services and
the Bureau of Indian Affairs are some of the groups which took Native
American children from the families for a better life off the reservation.
Adoption horror stories
The staff of ICWA told horror stories of children being taken by non-Native
Americans while their Native American parents "signed adoption
papers with a thumb print."
Many of the children who were given up for adoption are the ones who
are now giving up their children, Greyeyes said. This happens because
they were never taught parenting skills.
"For some, it is a stereotypical belief that placing
their child with a family member on the reservation is not putting
the child in a stable environment. They want a middle class life for
their child. They aren't thinking of the cultural impact," she
said.
ICWA receives calls from adults who were adopted years ago and are
seeking their identities and their homes. They want to enroll in the
tribe and they are looking for records.
"We are unable to help them. We just refer them to attorneys,"
Greyeyes said.
"The Navajo language and culture are learned developmentally,"
said Betty Bitsuie of the Farmington ICWA field office. "How
can you teach that after someone is grown? How can you teach someone
social responsibility? It is learned through culture while you are
growing."
Dedicated workers
ICWA spells out the duties and responsibilities of the social workers,
the tribe, state agencies and courts. The women who work for ICWA
are dedicated to their jobs and do far more than is required.
"We are advocates for our children," said Selena B. Curley
of the Kayenta office.
They often work very late at night and on weekends. They do everything
from intervening with state agencies and courts to conducting home
visits, while trying to reunite the families. Each case involves a
great deal of paperwork, and tribal and BIA red tape.
Since the office cannot afford its own attorney, social workers have
to be very creative to get their work done. They have become legal
experts in their field and often testify in court on behalf of an
Indian child.
Some of the social workers, attorneys and courts they have to deal
with do understand that they may have to travel two hours on the reservation
to get to an extended family member.
They do not understand the importance of the law and of Navajo children
being placed in Navajo homes. The social workers sometimes face a
prejudice that is subtle but present.
The number of adoptive families needed at the moment is 20, but the
number of children and families needing services is increasing.
"It is increasing due to drug abuse, homelessness and domestic
violence," Greyeyes said.
Where to call
Navajo families interested in adopting Navajo children or providing
foster care are strongly encouraged to contact the ICWAP at the following
numbers: Window Rock, (520) 871-6832; Gallup, (505) 863-8847; Farmington,
(505) 324-0111; Kayenta, Ariz., (520) 697-5562 or Tuba City, Ariz.,
(520) 283-3052.
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Tribe's top 10 events: No drama, but
long-lived effects
Bill Donovan
Diné Bureau
WINDOW ROCK — This year will probably go down in the history
of the Navajo Nation as the period when stability came back to tribal
government.
After 1998, when the tribe had a record three leaders in office at
various times, the transition to the Kelsey Begaye administration
was viewed as a welcome relief by many tribal members.
While not as dramatic as 1998, the past year saw a number of major
events that will have a profound effect on the Navajo people for years
and perhaps decades to come.
Here then is the Gallup Independent list of the top 10 stories of
the year.
10. Y2K causes concern.
The Navajos, like almost everyone in this country, got wrapped up
in the talk about Y2K and the possibility of a massive shutdown of
services because of computers closing down, thinking it was 1900 and
not 2000.
Navajo tribal officials have been spending the past couple of months
urging reservation residents not to panic. They also point out that
many Navajos living in the more remote parts of the reservation won't
be affected because they don't have electricity or computers.
Whether they were right or not will be known Saturday. Navajo tribal
members can hope, however, that the year 2000 will mark the end of
Y2K talk.
9. Navajo firefighters walk out.
As the year ended, a number of firefighters for the Navajo Nation
both paid and volunteer walked out because of a controversy surrounding
Dicky Bain, the tribe's fire chief for the past two decades.
Although Bain was demoted to captain, as many as 30 or 40 firefighters
walked out, saying they would not work for the department as long
as Bain had anything to do with it.
As the year ended, firefighters were going back to work, although
three paid firefighters were fired. Bain is still around, but firefighters
say they are still not happy.
8. Tommy Lewis resigns as head of
Diné College.
It used to be a regular event: The president of Navajo Community College,
as Diné College was known in the past, would come under attack
and then be replaced for one reason usually political or another.
But it was a surprise when Navajo chapters around Tsaile began demanding
the firing of Lewis and members of the college's board of regents.
They complained that a planned reorganization of the school would
mean laying off many employees.
Even though college officials were quick to point out that talk of
layoffs was premature, the damage was done and Lewis had to spend
several weeks trying to explain to tribal members that the college
was only reacting to pressure from the Navajo Nation Council to reduce
unnecessary overhead.
Finally, Lewis told the board he had had enough.
But over the next year, the next president of the college whoever
he or she may be will have to tackle many of the same problems that
got Lewis in trouble.
7. Mark Maryboy steps down as chairman
of the council's powerful Budget and Finance Committee.
Maryboy, one of the most respected tribal council delegates, also
said he had had enough in 1999 and resigned from the budget committee
in a dispute with other members over how they were spending tribal
funds.
A fiscal conservative, Maryboy preached the gospel of a healthy tribal
surplus. When that surplus dipped to minus $4 million because of council
spending and Maryboy couldn't get support from other committee members
to stop spending, he resigned.
He came back a short time later, but he wasn't happy. Neither were
the other members of the committee. Finally, the committee voted to
choose another chairman and Maryboy eventually changed places with
a fellow council delegate on the Transportation and Community Development
Committee.
So far, Maryboy's resignation as budget chairman hasn't had any effect
on the tribal budget. But as the committee and the council begin work
early next year on the FY2001 tribal budget, tribal members will be
watching to see whether anyone steps up to the plate to argue in behalf
of fiscal responsibility.
6. Navajo Nation files its own lawsuit against major
tobacco companies.
A year after the states settled a multibillion dollar lawsuit against
the major tobacco companies, the Navajos, along with a number of other
Indian tribes across the country, filed their own lawsuits.
But the Navajos opted to go up against the tobacco companies alone,
rejecting an offer from a law firm representing other tribes to join
them.
It's still uncertain whether any of the tribal lawsuits will go anywhere,
but the Navajo Nation is going into the suit with little to lose.
The attorneys it hired are not billing the tribe they will be paid
by the tobacco companies if their lawsuit is successful.
5. Kelsey Begaye takes over as head
of the nation's largest Indian nation.
His election couldn't be called a mandate by the Navajo voters. And
some said he was elected in a year when there was no dynamic candidate
running for president.
But no matter how he won, Begaye has not gotten mired in disputes
with the council, as his predecessors did. Furthermore, the three-branch
government established in 1990 seems to be working.
Begaye, however, remains a mystery to numerous tribal
members, many of whom still say they are looking for a charismatic
leader like Peterson Zah or Peter MacDonald.
Is he another Zah or MacDonald? The jury is out on that
one, although Begaye has been given good marks for being accessible
and noncontroversial. But many Navajos say they question whether Begaye
is leading or following the advice of his aides too much.
4. The school board brings controversy.
Young Jeff Tom, the council delegate from Mariano Lake and Smith Lake,
spent much of the middle part of 1999 trying to dodge questions about
his pay as a school board member in his community.
An investigation by the Gallup Independent revealed he was getting
more than $250 a meeting on occasion as well as other perks as a school
board member of a contract school.
When the practice was also questioned by members of
the U.S. Congress, the tribe's Education Committee stepped in, setting
limits on how much contract school board members could be paid per
meeting.
As the year ended, some school boards have asked that
these limits be studied a little longer. They believe these maximums
are too low.
3. Navajo Nation files lawsuit against Peabody Coal
Co., charging fraud.
The lawsuit filed by the tribe against Peabody Coal Co. was kept sealed
for several months, but when it was unsealed, it created major headlines.
The tribe was suing Peabody, claiming that representatives of the
company conspired with officials of the U.S. Interior Department more
than 20 years ago to keep information from tribal leaders.
This information dealt with an Interior Department study
that said the tribe's coal reserves were worth more than the 12.5
percent royalty rate the federal government was getting for coal mining
on federal lands. Because this study was kept under wraps, the lawsuit
said, the tribe accepted the 12.5 percent.
Over the years, the tribe has lost more than $600 million. With punitive
damages being triple the actual damages, the tribal suit could be
worth $1.8 billion.
A couple of hearings have already been held on the matter in U.S.
District Court in Washington, D.C. More are expected in 2000.
2. Begaye talks of a monetary shortfall and impending
tribal employee layoffs.
Talk about a layoff of workers got a lot of attention from tribal
employees and the media.
The story began in January, when Begaye said projections indicated
the tribe was looking at a $20 million shortfall for its FY2000 budget.
This would mean that hundreds of tribal employees would have to be
laid off.
By April, the shortfall had decreased to the $12 million range, and
the number of tribal employees facing layoffs was less than 100. As
the summer progressed, tribal officials continued to chip away at
the shortfall. By August, a month before final budget deliberations,
the Begaye administration had managed to find jobs for affected employees.
With some wrangling (goodbye capital improvement funds), the tribe
managed to arrive at a balanced budget, and no layoffs were needed.
1. Can a fuel tax be established? Will the Romero
Brown controversy stop banks from lending money on the reservation?
There's a tie here for first place. On the one hand is an act that
will generate millions of dollars in new revenue for the tribe annually.
On the other is a dispute that may, if you believe attorneys representing
a Phoenix bank, make it even more difficult for Navajos to borrow
money to develop businesses on the reservation.
The new gasoline tax approved by the tribe and now in effect may generate
as much as $10 million a year. It also paves the way for the tribe
next year to discuss two other taxes being proposed by the Begaye
administration the gross receipts tax and the income tax.
Both of the proposed taxes already have some opposition, but Begaye
continues to say they are needed and justified. Both taxes have been
proposed for years, but now the question is whether Begaye can get
enough support to get either enacted.
The controversy surrounding Brown centers around the Navajoland Days
Inn he built in St. Michaels in 1998, using more than $2 million borrowed
from a Phoenix bank.
When it came time last March to start paying the bank back, Brown
balked, saying the bank allowed the contractor to build a hotel with
numerous structural problems that would cost millions to repair.
As the year ended, the dispute was in tribal court over
the question of who had jurisdiction state court, because a provision
in Brown's contract with the bank allows the bank to have any legal
dispute heard in state court, or the tribal courts, which Brown says
have inherent jurisdiction over such matters.
Attorneys for the bank say a decision against them will make other
off-reservation banks think twice about loaning money to a Navajo
planning to build on the reservation. Brown's attorneys say this is
a scare tactic. Future lenders will simply have to get a better-worded
provision to protect their interest, they say.
The Window Rock District Court is expected to make a decision on the
matter any day.
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Tribes get grants to attack youth crime
Stan Bindell
Special to the Independent
KYKOTSMOVI, Ariz. — Hopi tribal court officials
were ecstatic last week when the U.S. Department of Justice approved
giving them a $409,737 grant to help cut down on youth crime.
Thirty-four tribes throughout the U.S. were awarded $8 million of
these youth crime-fighting grants, but Hopi was one of only eight
tribes to receive at least $400,000. The grants included four tribes
in Arizona and three in New Mexico.
The other tribes receiving grants in Arizona were Navajo ($473,830),
Hualapai ($100,000) and Ak-Chin ($99,745). Three tribes in New Mexico
received $250,000 each Acoma Pueblo, Jemez Pueblo and Taos Pueblo...
Milan to get drug dog
Tom Purdom
Staff Writer
MILAN — The Village of Milan got a whale of deal Wednesday when
the board of trustees signed a two-year contract for a drug-sniffing
dog.
The dog used to be part of the Cibola County Sheriff's Department.
However, the deputy handling the dog left the department, so the sheriff
began looking for another department to take the animal.
"We were approached by the sheriff about a month
ago saying he lost the man for his canine unit and he wanted to know
if we'd be interested," Village Manager Joe Murrietta told the
trustees at Wednesday's special meeting...
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