Six considered for job as health czar
Diné Bureau
GALLUP — The Navajo Nation is looking at six applicants who want
to guide the tribe toward its goal of taking over the Navajo Area
of the U.S. Indian Health Service.
The six, who include two non-Indians, are now going through an interview
process that tribal officials say should be concluded by the end of
the month.
Roselyn Chapela, manager for the tribe's Office of Self-Determination,
said the person who is chosen will be the key to the next step in
the process of the tribe's taking over the federal health programs.
He or she will be responsible for drawing up a contract that will
spell out details of the transfer.
Chapela said plans now call for the proposed contract to be presented
to members of the Navajo Nation Council at its fall session.
Originally, the transfer of power was to have taken place Oct. 1.
That has now been changed to Jan. 1, 2002.
The tribe is looking for someone who has a background
in both health and administration, she said. A nationwide search began
some three months ago, leading to the six applicants, all of whom
were described as being from this region.
"We hope to have the person on board by April," she said,
adding that this will give the tribe's Health Care Design Team time
to conduct personal interviews and for the successful applicant to
transfer to Window Rock.
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Cutting of fence symbolic
Nancy Watson
Staff Writer
BIG MOUNTAIN — The fence dividing Hopi and Navajo partitioned
lands was symbolically cut Tuesday.
John Bennally, a Navajo resident of the area, and Dennis Kootsi, a
Hopi, performed the cutting.
The U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs erected the fence, which has been
cut down and repaired numerous times over the years, in the late 1980s
to separate land given to the Hopis from that given to the Navajos.
The ceremonial gesture illustrated what many believe to be the truth
regarding the land dispute between the two tribes that traditional
Navajo and Hopi people are not at war.
"It is the power of the true Hopi people to unify
the minds and spirits of all true peace seeking peoples of the earth,"
Kootsi said.
Three Navajo elders who are resisters, Ruth Bennally, Mae Shay and
Glenna Begaye, attended the fence cutting.
"I did not approve of the fencing," Shay said. "I did
not know about it (before it was put up). I found out about it all
of sudden. Since then, I've worried. My grazing area is split in half,
half Navajo and half Hopi."
John Bennally said he hoped the resisters would be able to stay on
their lands.
"There would be no place I could go to if I left this land,"
he said. "I'd be a refugee in my own country."
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McKenzie: Navajo Nation has 'turned around'
Walter Howerton Jr.
Santa Fe Bureau
SANTA FE — Navajo Nation Vice President Taylor
McKenzie told New Mexico legislators Tuesday that in the past year,
"the Navajo Nation has turned around the way it has been going."
McKenzie was one of several Native American officials
to address a joint session of the state House and Senate on a day
set aside for the state's Indian population. He was joined on the
floor of the House by members of the tribal council and other Navajo
officials. Navajo President Kelsey Begaye did not make the trip to
Santa Fe.
Indians in business suits mingled with dancers in traditional dress
in the lobby of the Capitol building. Traditionally enterprising Indian
women sold jewelry only a few feet from displays promoting that more
recent Indian enterprise, casino gambling. Native American senior
citizens in their best jewelry and children in dance finery wandered
the halls of the Roundhouse.
The theme of the day was supposed to focus on children, but the Indian
leaders who addressed state lawmakers had decidedly adult concerns.
McKenzie seemed determined to convince lawmakers that things have
changed for the better in the Navajo Nation.
"Under the leadership of Kelsey Begaye, the Navajo Nation has
entered a new era," he said, adding that the Begaye-McKenzie
administration is guided by two basic principles: preserving Navajo
language and culture and strengthening tribal sovereignty.
Using those principles, McKenzie said, the current Navajo administration
is developing policies for "walking in beauty" into the
next century; governmental reform; financial independence; integrating
technology, and promoting partnerships and relationships.
Among the changes already in place, he cited the erasing of a projected
$20 million deficit without having to lay off Navajo employees. He
also said the three branches of Navajo Nation government had been
brought closer together in the past year.
"The Begaye-McKenzie administration has done well,"
he said.
"The Navajo Nation pledges to work with the state," McKenzie
said. "We are indeed hopeful the state will respond in a cooperative
way" as Navajos push toward what he called "self-sufficiency,
independence and nationhood."
McKenzie did not mention specific ways lawmakers could work with the
tribe in his brief address, but at least one Navajo group showed up
at the Capitol with a message for lawmakers.
Representatives of the Navajo Agricultural Products Industry, who
set up a booth in the lobby, brought along sacks of potatoes and samples
of other products. In front of the booth was a large architectural
model of the proposed potato processing plant they want to build near
Farmington.
"We want to let the legislators know the project is not dead,"
said one of the people tending the booth.
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Winslow takes thrilling win
Santiago Ramos
Staff Sports Writer
WINSLOW, Ariz. — The Winslow Bulldogs came up with a key steal
in the final seconds to preserve a thrilling 57-56 3A Enchantment
Region showdown win over Ganado Tuesday night before a packed crowd.
In the girls game, the Winslow Lady Bulldogs clinched second place
with a 57-51 win over Ganado.
"It was a key turnover," Winslow head coach Danny Gonzalez
said. "We were up 57-56 with 25 seconds with an in-bounds play
and we got called for a five-second violation...
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Kirtland knocks off Shiprock, 83-49
SHIPROCK — The Shiprock Chieftains are still looking for a district
win after losing to the number two team in the state, Kirtland Central.
The Broncos defeated the Chieftains 83-49 and improved their record
to 13-3 overall and 3-0 in district.
The Chieftains are now 8-9 overall and 0-3 in district...
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Dad faces child neglect charges
Staff Report
GALLUP — An intoxicated Gallup man staggered all the way to jail
Saturday after police arrested him for leaving his two children in
charge of their infant brother.
Police initially were dispatched in reference to a neighbor's complaint
that Leroy Bowman, 30, was making threats and rude gestures toward
her 17-year-old son whenever he was drunk. The neighbor told police
the suspect was inside his residence and was very intoxicated.
When police went to question the suspect, they found Bowman displaying
signs of being extremely intoxicated his eyes were bloodshot, his
speech slurred and his breath had a strong odor of alcohol...
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Motorist dies from accident injuries
Staff report
GALLUP — A Fort Defiance, Ariz., man died Tuesday night at University
Hospital in Albuquerque from injuries suffered in an accident Monday.
He had been in critical condition.
Clement Anthony, 56, was transferred to the intensive
care unit after his vehicle hit a pool of water and spun out of control
on State Road 264 in McKinley County. His vehicle sustained heavy
damage to the driver's side.
Anthony was traveling westbound about 11 a.m. when his vehicle spun
out of control and crossed the median...
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MainStreet Project wins state prizes
Fjord named top volunteer
Tom Purdom
Staff Writer
GRANTS — The city's MainStreet Project walked away from the 1999
state MainStreet awards program in Santa Fe with first-, second- and
third-place honors for projects this past year.
In addition, B.R. Fjord, a member of the Grants MainStreet Project
Board of Directors, was named Grants volunteer of the year for the
work he did on two MainStreet promotions last year.
The Grants MainStreet Project won a first place award for the "Hub
of History" in the public improvements design category...
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Drama attracts support
Nancy Watson
Staff Writer
BIG MOUNTAIN — The men and women mostly political activists began
arriving in small groups on Hopi Partitioned Lands as far back as
December. By Tuesday, their numbers had swelled to the hundreds.
They came singly and in small groups, but their goal was the same:
to do anything they could to help the Navajo resisters chopping wood,
herding sheep and especially monitoring the activities of Hopi rangers
and the ever-present airplanes that would fly over the HPL at all
hours of the day.
They cook, wash dishes, make pots of coffee and most importantly provide
emotional support to the last of the Diné people who are fighting
for land they believe was given to them at the beginning of creation...
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Gallup Catholic sweeps Lynx
Robert Arrieta
Staff Sports Writer
GALLUP — The Gallup Catholic Panthers completed a series sweep
of district rival Rehoboth Lynx Tuesday night with a 61-52 win in
boys' prep basketball action.
This time, the Lynx made a strong run at splitting the series with
the Panthers, closing their lead late in the game to just two points.
"I want to give a lot of credit to Rehoboth's coaching staff,"
Gallup Catholic coach Vince Lonetree said. "I was really impressed.
They have really improved since the last time we played..."
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