What's it take to do business on the reservation?
BIA Director Gover says he wants to make it easier
Jim Maniaci
Diné Bureau
WINDOW ROCK — The top U.S. Indian affairs official promised the
Navajo Nation Friday he would do everything he could to give the tribe
the sole right to approve business leases.
Kevin Gover, assistant secretary to U.S. Interior Department Secretary
Bruce Babbitt, made a rare appearance before the Navajo Nation Council
to talk about business site leases and other matters.
This is his first visit to the council in his current position.
Gover is a former Albuquerque lawyer who has worked on a number of
legal matters involving the Navajos.
A native Pawnee from Oklahoma, Gover said that the Navajo Nation should
take over the business site leasing process and that it would not
diminish the federal government's trust responsibilities.
The U.S. Congress must change federal law so that once Babbitt approves
the tribe's list of rules, the United States would not have a say
in approving leases. Currently businesses must get 57 separate tribal
and U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs approvals to open up shop on the
reservation.
He promised that if grazing regulations for the Navajo Partioned Lands
"are nearly complete. We will get them out this year."
Gover warned the tribe not to expect help from the federal government
in hiring rangers to enforce new tribal environmental laws.
"Environmental cops won't be a BIA priority," Gover cautioned.
He said there are not enough police officers for the tribal department
to expand into that area.
He suggested tribal officials look to the popular Community Oriented
Policing Services "as an option."
Gover said he would inquire about Navajo complaints that the tribe
will have to give up its sovereignty to meet a federal requirement
for environmental clearances to get Native American Housing Assistance
and Self-Determination Act funds up to $90 million a year from the
U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department.
The assistant secretary suggested a cross-deputization program might
help solve the complex jurisdictional problems caused by the checkerboard
ownership of land in the Eastern Agency. Neither New Mexico nor the
Navajo Nation would win if either pressed its case for exclusive law
enforcement jurisdiction, Gover said.
"I just don't see a resolution on the horizon in the checkerboard,"
he said.
Gover predicted he will end up having to make the decision about a
revised funding formula for roads. But he supported the Navajo position
that the bigger tribes should receive the biggest allocations of money.
Transportation and Community Development Committee members have said
the Navajo could lose almost $20 million a year if the present "relative
needs" formula is altered.
Under the formula, half the money comes from the estimated construction
costs, 30 percent from the number of miles of roads and 20 percent
from the population of the reservation. There are about 9,000 miles
of dirt roads in the BIA's Navajo Region, one of 12 such areas in
the United States.
Told that the Navajo Nation needs $15 million for court buildings,
Gover admitted the U.S. government "has never been close"
to providing enough money to house tribal courts.
He said he can't get support in his own department for the effort,
but suggested tribal leaders seek money from the U.S. Department of
Justice.
Gover said he fully supports the Navajo position against the state
of New Mexico's taking 95 percent of the federal impact aid dollars
for public schools.
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Detective sees justice served
Editor's Note: This story is part of a series of articles on the Navajo
Department of Law Enforcement that will run occasionally.
Nancy Watson
Diné Bureau
GALLUP — It may take five years, but Sam Akeah eventually sees
justice served.
That's how long, Akeah, a criminal investigator with the Navajo Police
Department, spent in his quest to bring justice to three Navajo women
two of them in their 70s who were brutally raped.
Akeah described the rapist, Calvin Dean Peters, as the most intelligent
and most dangerous person he's helped put behind bars.
"He has said that if he ever gets out," Akeah said, "he'll
kill me."
The rapist, from Sheep Springs, avoided police for several months
before he was caught. Trials and appeals took up the rest of the five
years before he had his last day in court.
In court, the rapist sometimes defended himself during his trials
and two appeals. When he chose to have an attorney, he selected women.
"He is very clever and cunning," said Akeah.
Because the case was a felony, it was handed to the FBI after the
initial arrest, but Akeah was called to help the prosecution that
lead to the man's sentence of 105 years.
He was more than happy to help.
"I empathize with the victims," he said, "I know what
they go through."
Akeah has been a criminal investigator in the Shiprock district for
more than 20 years.
Navajo Police Chief Leonard Butler described Akeah as a "Jim
Chee." Chee is the fictional Navajo detective in Tony Hillerman's
mystery novels.
"Sammy doesn't leave a leaf unturned," Butler said.
Akeah said he was on his way to apply for another job 20 years ago
when he stopped in Window Rock and saw job postings for police officers.
He filled out an application and was hired that day.
But all the uniforms the department had came only in large and extra
large. Akeah weighed 140 pounds at the time.
He brought the uniform home and said his mother spent the night altering
it. He had to start work the next day at 8 a.m.
As for training, he said, "I just used common sense."
His police vehicle had a standard stick shift, no commercial radio
and a one-channel police radio that often didn't receive or send out
a signal.
"I'd have to run to the highest hill to make a call," said
Akeah, "and then run back down to the scene."
There was no formal report system in place at the time. Reports were
written as memos and had to pass through sergeants, lieutenants, captains
and then to the chief of police for approval.
Because he could write legible reports, he was offered a position
as criminal investigator, which sounded fine to Akeah, who was hindered
on patrol by his small size.
"I was getting tired," he said, "of being beaten up
out there."
He has been a criminal investigator for the tribe since then, except
for a four-year period when he worked as an investigator for the U.S.
Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Although Akeah frequently solves crimes, three homicides that have
occurred in his career remain unsolved.
Two girls who were given a ride from Gallup to Shiprock were shot
in the head and left by the road. A sheepherder was also shot and
left along the roadside.
It still bothers Akeah that he has not been able to solve those crimes.
Some crimes take a lot of time to investigate.
"It's not television," said Akeah, "where a crime is
committed and someone is handcuffed within an hour."
With an increase in crime on the reservation, Akeah's workload multiplies.
The crimes are also becoming more violent, said Akeah's supervisor,
Dorothy Fulton, chief of the tribe's criminal investigation unit.
"There are 1,000 major felony-type crimes (some involving death)
out there every year," Fulton said. "Right now, there are
10,000 cases we should be handling."
But each of the seven Navajo Police districts only has five criminal
investigators not enough to adequately serve the public.
The FBI is involved in the investigations of serious cases, but the
federal agency decides which cases it will investigate.
"It's not set in stone," Fulton said. "It is decided
case by case."
Akeah and Fulton agree that the Navajo Nation needs an improved criminal
justice department.
"We need more investigators, more prosecutors and more jails,"
said Fulton.
Detectives do not have time for property crimes or burglaries unless
someone is seriously hurt. Cases involving the health and security
of people have to be the priority.
Nor is there time or manpower to investigate bootlegging and the drug
problem on the reservation.
There are four major highways running through the reservation. Because
of the lack of policemen, drug runners easily slip through the reservation.
Butler, Fulton, Akeah and the officers that work under them are also
aware that planes land on the reservation.
Vehicles meet the planes, and then the planes take off before police
are able to respond. The law enforcement agency has assumed these
planes are dropping drugs.
But there's not enough officers, time or money to do more than meet
immediate reservation needs.
Therefore criminal investigators and the police feel unappreciated.
"We hear complaints that the police are not doing (its) job,"
Fulton said, "but they respond, respond, respond."
These are people with impressive backgrounds, and they know what they're
doing.
"Their efforts are not recognized," she said. "Who
wants to handle a dead body and the evidence? Who can sit down with
children who have been sexually abused and maintain their composure?
It takes a special person. They deserve to be commended. Their job
is not easy."
Although the FBI frequently gets the credit for investigating cases,
Navajo criminal investigators work on the case until it's closed.
"They (the FBI) are Anglo," said Fulton. "They have
to be introduced to the culture. They can't even get around. We are
critical and crucial in closing that gap."
Akeah concurs. "They don't know the people, the terrain, the
area," he said.
"We are fortunate that their hearts and roots are here on the
reservation," Fulton said of her investigators. "With the
low pay they receive and the lack of resources, they might leave."
Akeah will leave when he retires in a few years. After that, he'll
spend some of this time fishing.
Fishing, he said, is what has saved his sanity during his years as
investigator.
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Navajo Council says no to term limits
Jim Maniaci
Diné Bureau
WINDOW ROCK — The Navajo Nation Council has agreed to do away
with term limits for all positions except for president and vice president.
But proposed education code changes such as forbidding delegates from
serving on federally funded school boards got hopelessly tangled in
a legal and parliamentary jungle and was tabled to the council's summer
session in July.
However, another piece of legislation that would allow delegates to
serve as county commissioners or supervisors still may be discussed
Monday.
Three veteran delegates Ben Shelly of McKinley County, Wallace Charley
of San Juan, N.M., County and Mark Maryboy of San Juan, Utah, County
currently serve as commissioners. None of the 13 Arizona supervisors
in Apache, Coconino and Navajo counties would be affected.
The proposed series of education code alterations created a conflict
of interest for 33 of the 88 delegates. Chief Legislative Counsel
Steve Boos advised that if delegates participated in the discussion
or voted they would violate the Navajo Nation Ethics in Government
Law.
By a 65-6-1 vote Friday, the council eliminated the prohibition against
federally funded school boards, district grazing committees, farms
boards, the Eastern Agency Land Board and the Board of Election Supervisors
from serving more than two consecutive terms. The former law allowed
a person to sit out a term after serving two terms and then run again
for the same post, but now that won't be necessary.
The council also made the change retroactive to Feb. 2 and authorized
write-in candidates for the Aug. 1 general election. They now have
a deadline of June 19.
Eunice Begay, chairwoman of the elections board, said 809 seats are
up for election. More than one-third 330 are for chapter officers.
But no one has cleared the certification to be on the ballot for 147
of the seats. Half those vacancies are for district grazing committees.
Supporters of the change said removing the restriction would allow
those already having served two terms to help fill the vacancies.
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Man's mission is to help Indians
Bill Donovan
Diné Bureau
GALLUP — Tom Gantt arrived on the Navajo Reservation Friday,
and this time he brought his own music.
Gantt, who makes three or four trips a year to the reservation, is
bringing some 16,000 pounds of Bibles, clothes, toys, small kitchen
appliances and food this trip. He's also bringing a couple of heating
stoves and, for the first time, a piano.
A minister and trading post operator from Cassville, Mo., Gantt has
been coming to the reservation for the past 10 years with a mission
to spread the word of God through the distribution of free Bibles,
some of them in the Navajo language, and to make life easier for his
Navajo friends.
After years as an alcoholic, he was walking to a local lake to drown
himself when he came upon a Bible and picked it up to give himself
a few more minutes. Instead, his Bible readings gave him the courage
to change his life, and since then, he has committed much of his time
to helping Navajos and other Indians in the United States and Mexico.
Driving his distinctive white van with the cartoon characters painted
on it, Gantt plans to spend the next few days on the Navajo and Hopi
reservations before heading to the Tohono O'Odham Reservation in Arizona
and then on to Mexico.
His current plans have him in Chinle tonight preaching in a tent behind
the Imperial Mart.
On Sunday, he plans to be at the Canyon Family Worship Service at
10:30 a.m. and then in Pion that night. On Monday, he will be in Del
Muerto, Tuesday in Blue Gap, Wednesday on the Hopi Reservation and
Thursday at Rock Point.
As usual, most of the things he is bringing have been donated by people
in the Cassville area. Some donated cash, which will be used to purchase
candy and other things that were not donated.
"I'll be coming back this summer," Gantt said Friday afternoon
in Gallup just before he headed off to the Chinle area. He expects
to bring a lot of donated items then but continues to wish he had
a bigger van.
"If I did, I would be able to bring a lot more donated food,"
he said.
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Area in brief
Directors meeting
WINDOW ROCK — The DNA-Peoples Legal Services Inc. will hold their
board of directors meeting at 9 a.m. Saturday April 29 at the Holiday
Inn, Hwy. 66 in Gallup. Information: (520) 871-5631.
Song and dance
GREASEWOOD, Ariz. — The Greasewood Springs Community School will
sponsor a song and dance. Registration starts at 1 p.m. with grand
entry at 3 p.m. April 28.
Rescheduled meeting
CROWNPOINT — Crownpoint Chapter House has rescheduled their regular
meeting to 1 p.m. Sunday, April 30...
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Indian architect matches his designs
to culture
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — American Indian architect Louis L. Weller
wants his designs to fit the communities where they are built.
He's been so successful matching buildings to their communities that
he won the 2000 Whitney M. Young award from the American Institute
of Architects. It goes to those who show exemplary leadership in contributing
to minority communities.
The Albuquerque architect is the first American Indian to receive
the award. Weller, who was born on the Navajo reservation at Shiprock,
where his father was a coach and school adviser, is descended from
Caddo and Cherokee Indians...
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Old trading post still going strong
Christian Oberholser
Special to the Independent
CUBERO — In the early 1940s, Villa de Cubero Trading Post was
the first place where tourists driving west from Albuquerque on Route
66 could buy groceries, fill up their gas tank and rent a motel room.
In fact, it was the only place between Albuquerque and Grants, a distance
of some 80 miles.
Don Gunn's first assignment was skinning onions from a 48-pound bag
in the family-operated trading post when he was 5 years old. Now,
as grocery department manager for Wal-Mart in Grants, Gunn continues
the family tradition of selling groceries...
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Teen shot on Good Friday pilgrimage to
New Mexico church
CHIMAYO, N.M. (AP) — Two teen-agers making a Good Friday pilgrimage
together to a church reputed to contain healing dirt were found shot
to death several miles apart along one of the most popular routes
for the annual trek to the Roman Catholic shrine.
"I can't recall there being an incident like this" during
the annual pilgrimage to El Santuario de Chimayo, which draws tens
of thousands each Easter season, said state police Capt. Carlos Maldonado...
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Navajo Council actions
Diné Bureau
WINDOW ROCK — Here is a summary of Friday's actions by the Navajo
Nation Council, which will complete its spring session Monday.
Tabled until the July session, by 41-8-2 vote, changes to the education
code that would forbid delegates from serving on tribal school boards.
Currently 33 of the 88 either serve now or have filed for tribal school
board seats. The matter got hung up Thursday night, when those who
serve in both entities, had to disqualify themselves because of a
conflict of interest, causing the speaker to lose a quorum to conduct
business...
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Pay phones will help in an emergency
Bill Donovan
Dine Bureau
GALLUP — The Navajo Reservation may become a safer place to live,
thanks to a new program now being implemented by the Navajo Housing
Authority.
NHA Director Chester Carl said pay telephones are now being installed
in most NHA subdivisions, so that residents will have a way to get
in touch with friends, call tribal offices or phone the police in
case of an emergency.
"This is a serious safety concern in many Navajo communities,"
Carl said.
Few of the NHA subdivisions have public phones, This has led to complaints
that whenever emergencies occur, people have to hunt for a phone to
call police...
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Deaths
"Tommy" Thompson
GALLUP — The funeral service for "Tommy"Thompson will
be held at 9:30 Monday, April 24 at the Little Sisters of the Poor
Chapel of Villa Guadalupe. Father Jim Walker will officiate. Burial
will be in Sunset Memorial Park in Gallup.
Thompson died April 19. He was born Oct. 29, 1905, in Columbus, Ohio.
Thompson was well known for owning the Spud Nut Shop and Indian Trader.
He served in the U.S. Army and was a veteran of W.W.II. He was an
avid bowler and bowling instructor before going into the service,
and was a life member of the Gallup Lions club.
Survivors included his granddaughters, Gretchen Bigley and Katie Duncan,
both of Gallup, Marg McCunniff of Albuquerque; and eight grandchildren.
Thompson was preceded in death by wife, Lillian Thompson; father,
Edward Thompson; mother, Mary Thompson; Stepsons, Langdon Snell; sisters,
Margaret Schneider; sister Gertrude Thompson; stepson Ben Snell and
one grandson.
Pallbearers will be Eddie Ortega, Dan Shepard, Steve Tomijanovich
and Tom Wick.
Rollie Mortuary of Gallup is in charge of the arrangements.
Norvel D. Scyrkels
GRANTS — Graveside services for Norvel D. "Sam" Scyrkels,
83, will be held at 3 p.m. Monday April 24 at the Grants Memorial
Park. Visitations will be held at 2 p.m. Monday April 24 at the Grants
Mortuary.
Scyrkels died April 21 in Grants. He was born 1916 in Savanna, Okla.
Scyrkels served in the U.S. Army during W.W.II in the European and
African theater of operations. He moved to Grants in the 1930s, where
he was a truck driver in the logging and gypsum mining industries.
Survivors include his wife, Dora Scyrkels of Grants; sons Jim Scyrkels
and Richard Scyrkels, both of Grants, and Delbert Scyrkels of Trona,
Cali.; daughter, Carolyn Foreman; sisters, Roseila Penrod and Hazel
Tenis, both of Phoenix; and nine grandchildren.
Scyrkels was preceded in death by son, Zane E. Scyrkels; brothers,
Elbert, Harvey and Sherman Scyrkels; and sister, Mary Darby Massey.
Donations may be made to the Grants Good Samaritan Home.
Merle Kenny
LUPTON, Ariz. — Graveside services for Merle Kenny, 19, will
be held at 10 a.m., Monday April 24 on family land in Red Lake, Ariz.
Kenny died Feb. 17 in Gallup. He was born Nov. 11, 1979 in Fort Defiance,
Ariz. into the Overhanging Rock People Clan for the Clumped Tree People
Clan.
Survivors include his son, Quentin D. Kenny of Tohatchi; parents,
Laura Charley of Lupton, Ariz. and Jasper Kenny of Navajo, N.M.; brothers,
Regison Charley and Matthew Charley, both of Lupton, Ariz.; sisters,
Aurelia Yazzie, Marlorie Tsosie and Cheryl Kenny, all of Lupton, Ariz.;
and a grandmother, Nellie Kenny of Navajo, N.M.
Pallbearers will be Rodney S. Kenny, Stewart Kenny, Roger Kenny Sr.,
Jamie Connelly, Anderson Connelly and Regison W. Charley.
Cope Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements.
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