An epidemic of violence: Tribe looks for answers
Larry Di Giovanni
Staff Writer
WINDOW ROCK— Brutally violent acts by Diné are worsening
on the reservation and a rapidly increasing caseload of domestic
violence episodes are a harbinger of worse to come, Navajo Nation
directors were told Friday.
"We're in a denial state," said Bernie Yazzie, who works
in the tribe's Data Resources Center. "Nobody wants to admit
that these problems exist."
Last fall, a group of young Diné men from the Round Rock
area were arrested for the murder of four people, including a
grandmother from Fort Defiance and her 9-year-old granddaughter.
The accused face trials on a slew of federal indictments including
murder and carjacking. Two of those slayings were said to involve
dismemberment.
The brutality doesn't stop there. On New Year's Day, a single
mother from Klagetoh took the lives of her three oldest children,
shooting them with a rifle as they slept. The next day, Jan. 2,
a teenage girl from Tolani Lake was arrested for allegedly killing
her teen-age brother with a knife.
These issues weigh heavily on the hearts of Navajo President Kelsey
Begaye, his division directors and key staff members.
More than 50 of them met Friday morning at the Navajo Nation Inn
conference room, with the discussion turning introspective. At
issue were gut reactions from those who spoke freely about what
the tribe is doing wrong and needs to correct in the area of providing
social services support to those who have lost their way and need
help.
One employee who works in the Historic Preservation Department
said the tribe's spends about $7 million annually out of its $80
million Division of Social Services budget to send those in need
of substance abuse treatment and other crisis-related services
off to large cities for rehabilitation. When they come back sound
mentally and physically, the temporarily cured are once again
exposed to the same social problems as before. Follow-up support
from the far-away center is nowhere to be found.
"It's like you have something to dry and you dry it off,
then stick it back in the water," the employee said.
Cecilia Belone, Division of Social Services director, said a society
that allows "violence and oppression is a society that's
not going to function like a normal society."
"You define what's normal," she said. To Belone, what's
not "normal" is seeing the Diné elderly continually
exploited for their fixed incomes, severe crimes committed by
youths, and a proliferation of truant problems and gang memberships.
Those are signs of a society going in the wrong direction.
The Division of Social Services' $80 million budget is 95 percent
funded through contracts and grants from external sources. There
are strict limitations on what types of services the funds must
be spent.
"We all lack resources," Belone said. "But we should
re-evaluate where those resources are going."
President Begaye said one area the resources should not be going
is off reservation. The $7 million spent to send rehab clients
to places like Phoenix and Houston is better left on the Navajo
Nation, the president said. He advocates developing a major treatment
center in Chinle, Ariz., and talked about the need during an interview
with the Independent. The center must be capable of Navajo traditional
and conventional faith-based healing, and must have a strong vocational
element that will make idle hands strong through trade and skills
learning, he said.
"Chinle could be a beautiful site. Chinle is the heartbeat
of the Navajo Nation ... and nature is there to help," Begaye
said.
A number of recommendations were put forward Friday, the responsibility
of Richard K. Begay, the president's deputy chief of staff. The
president and vice president should make site visits to each Navajo
agency to discuss Social Services concerns at the local level.
Parenting skills need better promotion. A crime prevention proclamation
should be drafted, involving support from the legislative and
judicial branches. Begaye should work with Council Speaker Edward
T. Begay and tribal Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Yazzie
on that issue. Cultural and traditional views on crime must be
taught to the youth, and medicinemen should be enlisted for that
effort. The penalties and consequences of crime should be delivered
through the media.
The role of the media as it relates to reports on Diné
crimes needs to be improved, according to the recommendations
list.
"News media should change their reporting strategy and focus
more on the positive issues," read one recommendation.
There have been reports from Klagetoh and Phoenix that Elvira
Charley, the 31-year-old mother who killed three of her children,
went to the President/Vice President's office multiple times for
assistance, and met with tribal Social Services workers, but did
not receive help. One of those who made that claim was Charley's
mother.
"We shouldn't be blaming at this point in time," Begaye
told his directors and staff. "Let's get beyond that."
Alarming trend
Begaye was asked if he believes the brutality of crimes is worsening
on the Navajo Nation, and what must be done to stop that trend
if it exists.
"We're hoping that we're in a (temporary) phase right now,"
he said. Addressing the sheer brutality of some of the more heinous
recent crimes, he added, "That is not Navajo."
The president has taken a faith-based and community empowerment
approach to the crime glut, saying that family values must be
restored to the people— not just by parents and grandparents,
but by community leaders. They include elected chapter officials,
medicinemen, Native American Church members, pastors, ministers,
educators and any adult who can help any youth who otherwise might
not receive guidance.
Begaye is well aware of the social conditions facing his people,
exacerbated by the lack of such basic needs as running water and
electricity. Accompanying family stress factors are brought on
by low incomes, unemployment, lack of economic development and
a proliferation of single-parent homes. He cited some of the related
statistics during his presentation at last month's tribal energy
summit in Denver.
These factors lead many tribal employees to refer to their reservation
as a "third world country."
"Our relatives, our brothers are not our enemies. We should
be addressing other enemies such as unemployment, stress,
depression, declined mental health," the president said.
"These are the enemies of today."
Community ownership is the key to curb crime, Begaye said. Community
leaders must instill in families a sense of local pride that simply
does not tolerate crime. Community closeness must tighten.
The Diné need to retrace and reinforce the harmonious society
of their roots, "where we check on each other. We have to
get back to where we see kids in the streets and playing in our
yards, and start thinking of them as our own kids and care as
such. That's all part of community ownership."
Begaye, known to be a devout Christian strongly influenced by
church leaders, said one of his favorite stories of Christ involves
him being asked by an expert of the law what the most important
commandment is. Begaye noted that Christ's answer was "love
of my God" first, and second, "Love thy neighbor."
Perhaps one of the most eloquent responses concerning the problems
of escalating youth violence and its root causes came from a Navajo
woman not present at Friday's meeting, Carol Kirk Perry—
director of Navajo Election Administration.
Noting the recent trend of horrible crimes committed by the young
on other Din, she said,"There's anger, but underneath the
anger, there's pain. There's an expectation of something that
didn't happen."
Perry said there is a large segment of the Diné youth population
no longer able to decipher what it means to be Navajo. The peoples'
inherent language is fading, and along with it, cultural ties,
she observed. There is a cavernous disconnect between young Diné
and Navajo traditional practices, with an overall feeling from
youth that they face abandonment at each level of the society
in which they are forced to live— disconnected from their
parents, other relatives, schools, chapters and the tribal, state
and federal systems.
Perry and other Navajo adults have observed that youths are actually
ridiculed by Diné elders at chapter meetings if they attempt
to speak Diné and make even slight mistakes. The message:
"You don't belong here if you're not fluent." Yet youths
under the age of 24 make up the majority of the growing Navajo
population.
"I feel like we're all responsible," she said.
Perry, who recently turned 50, said she was raised in an educational
system where "being Navajo was the worst thing, and we needed
to change ourselves at any cost." The educational philosophy
has changed somewhat for the better, but the damage was done,
she said.
"That self-hatred was planted as a seed, and now we're seeing
it full blown," Perry said.
An issue paper from the Division of Social Services was distributed
during Friday's division directors meeting, titled "Regarding
the Recent Violent Incidents within the Navajo Nation."
Bar and pie charts accompanied the narrative containing crime
statistics facing the division and officers within the Navajo
Department of Law Enforcement. Contributing factors to domestic
violence and other types of crimes were cited as the "cabin
fever" effect of the winter months when people are more at
risk of committing or receiving violent acts, poverty, unemployment,
single-parent homes, children left unattended (latchkey), and
alcohol/substance abuse. More than four of five ( 85 percent )
of reservation crimes referred to Social Services involving child/adult
protection and/or domestic violence are linked to alcohol,
substance abuse or both.
"Recently, a rash or incidents have occurred on the Navajo
Nation involving deaths of children," the issue paper reads.
The leadership of the Navajo Nation has brought this to the forefront
of concern and are asking what the Navajo Nation government is
doing to address and/or curb the social problems of our people."
Crime doesn't lie
Tribal Department of Law Enforcement statistics from 1998-2000
demonstrate the skyrocketing escalation of domestic violence cases
over a three-year period. There were 1,775 domestic violence calls
in 1998, 2,112 in 1999 and 2,816 in 2000, a total of 6,703. The
number of domestic violence calls for 2001 was not available in
the report.
As of Thursday, the date the report was prepared, Social Services
is working on 3,566 reported abuse cases, with the following abuse
categories most prevalent: neglect cases, 57 percent, sexual abuse,
14 percent, physical abuse, 12 percent, abandonment, 5 percent.
By type and numbers of calls responded to by tribal law enforcement
officers from 1998-2000, they were domestic violence, 6,703 calls,
child abuse, 874, elderly abuse, 457, dog bites, 257, and police
assistance, 191.
Speaking of all crime, with an emphasis on recent brutal acts,
Begaye said, "The loss of these innocent lives continues
to weigh heavy on my mind and in my heart. There is no real way
to describe the remorse and pain I feel regarding these situations.
My heart goes out to the families and relatives of these victims.
Most importantly, my heart and my prayers go out to these very
innocent lives that were lost unnecessarily."
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SWIF's 7.4 million catalogues pay off
2 million more than last year
Bill Donovan
Staff Writer
GALLUP— For several weeks after September 11, officials at the
Southwest Indian Foundation (SWIF) were seriously worried about their
decision to mail out a record number of catalogs this Christmas season.
Just a few days before the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington,
SWIF had mailed out 7.4 million catalogs, up from 5.1 million the
year before.
The charitable organization had spent most of its annual budget on
the mailings and for three weeks after the attacks, said director
Bill McCarthy, nothing came in.
McCarthy said that SWIF, like other mail-order companies, sweated
through the period after the attacks and then the anthrax scares,
hoping that Americans would get in the buying mood.
SWIF relies on catalogs (although it does receive donations) and their
profits from the sale of Indian-made arts and crafts to fund programs
that benefit Native Americans in need in McKinley County and on the
nearby reservations.
Although it has four mailings during the year the largest is at Christmas
when almost everyone on the list gets a catalog.
SWIF's computer is programmed, said McCarthy, to look at the buying
habits of people on its mailing list.
If SWIF sent someone a catalog in February and they don't buy for
six years during that time of the year, their names will be taken
off that list but will be kept on other lists for times of the year
when they do buy, thus allows the organization to reduce the number
of catalogs it prints as well as saving on postage.
This past summer SWIF officials decided on a massive mailing at Christmas,
feeling that in a recession, people may be more prone to buy from
a catalog than go to the malls. But the terrorism attacks threw all
of these predictions for a loop.
McCarthy said it wasn't until almost mid-October that the orders started
coming in and by November the numbers kept getting larger and larger.
It ended up with SWIF's net going up this year because of the extra
catalogs that were distributed.
"We averaged about the same per catalog as we did last year,
but we grossed more because we sent out more catalogs,"
McCarthy said.
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Secretary dazzles police department,
receives award
Andrea Egger
Staff Writer
GALLUP— She looks about 22 but doesn't want anyone to know she's
got quite a bit more, uh, life experience.
Put it this way. Gallup Police secretary Lucita Shirley, 2001 Employee
of the Year, ain't 22.
Always smiling, brown eyes sparkling and long, layered brown locks
shining, Shirley is a shy, natural beauty at the department, hiding
her looks underneath her red and black jacket and dark slacks. Little
makeup is needed on that face.
But she's far from the department token gorgeous female. She's a busy
bee, helping just about every officer, the public, and her co-workers
with her easy attitude, hard work mix. She's on-the-ball.
Which is one of the reasons office staff chose her as Employee of
the Year at the Public Safety Banquet, held Dec. 22 at Red Rock State
Park. Dinner and dancing accompanied the event. She received a plaque
with her name on it and the honor.
Shirley said Friday she's worked at the police department for four
years, but it seems as if she's forever been part of the scenery there.
She's always answering the phone or the demands of detectives and
other supervisors. She's also always willing to deal with a sometimes
not-so- positive public.
And she does it with a killer smile. Wow.
"She's great. She's goo-ood," joked Detective Sgt. Rick
White. "Just a big asset around the department. She makes good
copies of reports for us, she handles things for us if we need something
run on the computer."
That "something" is usually known as a Triple-I, which stands
for Interstate Identifications Index. It tells police a person's criminal
background nationally.
It's confidential information, not public record, meaning Shirley
is being trusted never to tell anyone else what she finds. And often,
it's pretty meaty.
"You just get used to it after a while," Shirley said of
knowing so much information about Gallupians.
Another check she does is the National Crime Information Center, which
also has confidential information on suspects' convictions and arrests.
She said she also often runs license plates for detectives and other
officers.
Shirley comes to work weekdays from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. and works straight
through the day, with only a lunch break, often eaten at the department
with one of her valued co-workers, who also work hard and deserve
awards, officers say.
When she arrives at 7, she hurries to gather all the reports from
the night before, print the list of calls, gather citations officers
issued, as well as crash reports, DWIs. Then she makes a tally of
all calls made over the 24- or 48-hour period.
This, she does in an hour so Lt. John Allen has the information to
divvy out to detectives and to prepare copies of reports about which
media representatives might take interest.
Then she puts a crime code on each report and types in the computer
which officer made the report, and types names of suspect and victim,
whether intoxication was involved, possible injuries of victims and
what hospital treated them."Everything except the narrative,"Shirley
said.
She then makes copies of reports for the district attorney, school
resource officers and juvenile probation officers, when these agencies
request the items. Each police report is placed in a separate manilla
folder with an incident number and a sheet on which she records each
time she copies the report and what agency received a copy.
This takes up the whole morning, usually. Then, from 2 to 4 p.m.,
she performs clearance checks for residents who need this done for
employment or to get an apartment.
Sometimes, Shirley turns to an officer to make an arrest on a person
who has a warrant for their arrest. But most clearances go through
without a hitch.
Shirley loves her job, but she's toying with the idea of getting her
bachelor's degree in criminal justice. She started for this at the
University of Arizona in Tucson and didn't finish.
One day, she'd like to own her own business and have employees to
do her work for her. "I want to spend more time with my daughter,"
Shirley said.
That's Erin Arviso, 12, Shirley's pride and joy. Arviso has learned
from Mom how to keep busy. Arviso has a brown belt in karate and is
just two years from getting that much-desired black belt.
She takes guitar lessons in Gallup. And she's a good student at Rehoboth
Christian School, where she is a seventh grader.
Although Shirley doesn't regularly take her daughter to church, Shirley
is "in the know" about schools to avoid.
"I'm afraid of the public schools. I work here. I see some of
the stuff kids bring to school,"she said.
"Stuff" being drugs, knives and even guns. "And I think
with the little schools, they get more attention," she said of
children.
Shirley now has a significant other, who would rather remain anonymous.
Mysterious? Not really. Remember, Shirley works with cops, confidential
information, knowledge she can never reveal. Secrecy is a given in
her line of work.
She's not afraid to name her daughter's doggie, tho. Smudgy, a small,
purebred Chinese Pug. Her older sister, Lucinda of Fillmore, Utah,
breeds Chinese Pugs.
"My sister gave (Arviso) that dog. When (Lucinda) described what
the dog's face looked like, she said, 'Oh, like a smudge.' So he became
Smudgy," Lucita Shirley said.
The dog lives with Arviso's father, who remains active in his daughter's
life, because Lucita Shirley isn't allowed to have pets where she
and her daughter live. Smudgy became "famous" in Gallup
when Shirley's relative put a tiara with "2000" on it, and
a photo of the adorned dog appeared in the Independent on Jan. 1,
2000.
Born in Fort Defiance, Ariz., to Lucie and Anselm Shirley, Lucita
Shirley spent most of her life in Crystal, near Navajo, N.M., where
her mother still lives. Her father lives in Sawmill, Ariz.
She has one sister and three brothers. She is the second to youngest
child.
Asked to describe the Gallup Police Department in one word, Shirley
simply said, "Busy."
She's seen positive change with the new chief of six months, Daniel
Kneale, such as new computers for the secretaries, much faster than
the old ones. Much more efficient, she said.
Compared to former chief Danny Ross, Kneale's practically an angel.
"He's a lot friendlier. He comes in and talks to us. We see him
a lot more. He'll just come in and ask us how we are. He jokes around
with us. He knows us all by name," she said.
This comment brought some giggles from the other secretaries working
at desks near Shirley. Ross never knew his staffers' names, they said.
As for Kneale, he peeked in the office during her interview in time
to remind Shirley of the December dinner/dance. "She's a good
dancer," he joked.
"That was a fun night,"Shirley said.
Shirley hasn't seen much of the world, and she's not sure she'll stay
in Gallup forever, but she likes Gallup, she said.
Receiving her honor at the banquet came as a shock to her, despite
Gallup Police Officer Owen Pena's comments days before the announcement.
"Pena was teasing me. He kept saying, 'You're going to be Employee
of the Year. I'm campaigning for you,'" she said.
Just a typical comment officers make about Shirley, the department
Super Woman.
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Gallup survives road war, beats El Norté
Santiago Ramos
Staff Sports Writer
ALBUQUERQUE— The Gallup Bengals are learning to win.
Gallup overcame crucial turnovers with a last-second shot underneath
by junior forward Jared Montano as the Bengals pulled out a thrilling
52-51 non-district win over Del Norte Friday night.
The Bengals (8-4) wasted away an 11-point fourth period lead as the
lowly Knights (1-11) battled back and nearly posted an upset.
Gallup will travel to Albuquerque High next Thursday in its district
opener before hosting West Mesa next Saturday.
"We had some turnovers that cost us at the end of the game,"
Gallup head coach Ryan Cordova said. "Del Norte got into a three-quarters
trap. I told my players to just get over the half court and go to
the sidelines. We had some turnovers at the end that Del Norte turned
into points."
The Bengals carried a 42-31 lead into the final quarter against the
Knights.
Del Norte's John Knoell buried a trey but Gallup countered as Domonic
Romero hit a nice spinning turnaround jumper off the glass coming
off the break that made it a 10-point Bengal lead.
But the Knights narrowed the Bengal lead down to just three points
with a 7-0 spurt that was fueled by a pair of Bengal turnovers. The
Bengals were able to regroup on successive scores by B.J. Estrada
and Robb Erickson inside.
But Del Norte again pulled to within three points, 50-47, with Knoell
and Nick Martinez nailing treys from the corners as the Knights penetrated
the Bengal man defense before kicking the ball out to the corners
for the three-pointers.
It was a one-point game, 50-49, when Martinez went inside for another
score. Then Del Norte stole the lead for the first time since the
beginning of the game with 2:10 left when Dominick Meadows fed the
ball inside to Ricardo Maldonado for a 51-50 Knight lead.
Bengal junior guard Jeremy Lewis then committed a crucial turnover
when he was called for traveling with 1:54 remaining in the game.
Coach Cordova pulled Lewis out of the game.
"It just wasn't about the turnover but he didn't hustle back
on defense after the turnover," Cordova explained.
However the Knights had the one-point lead and the ball but turned
the ball over with 32.4 seconds when Knoell threw the ball out-of-bounds
on the inbounds play.
Gallup took possession and ran the clock down to 20.5 seconds before
calling its final timeout.
On the final play, the Knights threw a tough trapping defense and
it appeared that time would expire before the Bengals would be able
to get a shot off.
But with just seconds left, Romero found Montano open underneath the
basket and fed the ball to the 6-foot-1 forward who laid the ball
in for the eventual winning score.
Del Norte's Ben Back tried a last-second three-point heave that fell
short as the Bengals celebrated its latest victory, their second over
a Class 5A team.
"It's a play we had worked on," Cordova said of the winning
basket. "All the guys played a good game."
Gallup had three players, Domonic Romero, Robb Erickson and Jared
Montano each with 10 points.
Del Norte's leading scorers were Ricardo Maldonado with game-high
scoring honors of 17 points while Nick Martinez chipped in 13 points.
The Bengals shot 43 percent from the field (23-of-54) while the Knights
shot 52 percent (22-of-42). From long range, Gallup shot 18 percent,
4-of-22 with Del Norte 3-of-13 for 23 percent.
Looking to next week's important district opener, Cordova feels that
his Bengals are ready for the second season.
"Our record is now 0-0," he said. "We're ready for
district. Four of the six teams in our district are ranked in the
top 10. We play in the toughest district in the state.
Behind top-ranked Clovis and No. 2 Hobbs, a pair of southern powerhouses,
Gallup has to contend with No. 3 Cibola, No. 4 Rio Grande, No. 5 Valley,
No. 8 Rio Rancho and No. 10 West Mesa.
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Man charged after threatening brother
Staff Report
GALLUP— Being accused of picking up a puppy by the neck and throwing
him against the wall was the least of a Gallup man's problems Monday
evening as police arrested him for pulling a knife on his brother.
Gallup Police met with Donovan Becenti, 27, of 1501 W. Aztec Ave.,
around 5:48 p.m. at his home. Becenti told officers his brother, Eric,
23, of the same address, threatened him with a knife and a long fork,
according to a police report.
Their mother, Lucy, had just told Eric Becenti she was tired of his
drinking and if he didn't stop coming home drunk and causing trouble,
not to come home, according to the report...
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Richardson announces for governor
SANTA FE (AP)— Former Energy Secretary Bill Richardson enters
the New Mexico governor's race on Saturday, pledging to end political
gridlock caused by eight years of conflict between a Republican
governor and Democratic-led Legislature.
Richardson, 54, a former congressman from northern New Mexico, was
to officially kick off his campaign for the Democratic nomination
for governor with announcements in the state's three largest cities.
He starts in Santa Fe, his political base when he was in Congress
from 1983 to 1997, then heads to Las Cruces in southern New Mexico
and ends the day in Albuquerque, which is home to about a third
of the state's population.
"I believe it's time for all New Mexicans to work together,"
Richardson said in a recorded telephone message to voters this week
inviting them to his campaign announcement...
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Snowbowl considers snowmaking
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP)— Ski resorts throughout the West are
suffering this season due to little snow, and Arizona Snowbowl is
no exception.
The resort's general manager, J.R. Murray, is looking for ways to
solve the problem, including an idea to make snow to keep the mountain
open and keep visitors coming to Flagstaff.
Arizona Snowbowl's success is critical to Flagstaff's economic success
in the winter, Murray said. A guaranteed ski season would supply
the city with about 400 jobs between November and April.
"Arizona Snowbowl's visitor impact affects everyone in Flagstaff,"
said Gary Vallen, a professor at Northern Arizona University's School
of Hotel and Restaurant Management. "Snowmaking would offer
us a more certain opening day and extended season. The economic
benefits of that are clear..."
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Navajo County Supervisor will resign to run for
Congress
Jim Maniaci
Dine' Bureau
HOLBROOK— Navajo County Supervisor Lewis Tenney will resign
Monday to run for a new Arizona Congressional seat— a position
two high-profile Diné also are expected to seek.
District IV Supervisor Tenney has recommended his predecessor, Pete
Shumway, be returned as his successor. The board has the replacement
on its agenda for Monday's regular meeting at the county complex
at the junction of Ariz. Routes 77 and 377 on Holbrook's south side.
Navajo Nation Executive Branch Chief of Staff Derrick Watchman and
Arizona House of Representatives Member Debra Norris, who represents
a southern Arizona district that includes the Tohono O'odam Reservation,
are also expected to seek the Democratic Party nomination in the
Sept. 10 primary...
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Navajos: Where's our checks?
NAGEEZI, N.M. (AP)— Elderly Navajos are struggling to pay bills
because they haven't received monthly oil and gas royalty checks
since November thanks to a computer shutdown at the U.S. Interior
Department.
Navajos gathered in a chilly gymnasium Friday to demand their money
from Navajo and federal officials.
More than 40,000 American Indians have not received royalty payments
since the Interior Department was ordered to shut down its royalty
accounts computer system Dec. 5 because of evidence it is vulnerable
to tampering.
In New Mexico, thousands of Navajos who own what are known as land
allotments receive monthly oil and gas drilling royalties on those
lands. The monthly payments range from several hundred to several
thousand dollars...
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Tribes will battle to save projects
Jim Maniaci
Dine' Bureau
PHOENIX— Navajo and Hopi leaders will have their hands full
starting Monday when the 45th Arizona Legislature opens its second
session under the copper-domed Capitol.
With a projected budget deficit of about $800 million, the 90 lawmakers
will consider virtually every service for slashing.
The House and Senate had to go into special session in November
and December to remove about $650 million from the current year's
budget that will end June 30. Although Arizona recently converted
to a two-year budget cycle, lawmakers decided to tackle only the
first half during the special session, leaving the second half until
this month.
Arizona's regular legislative sessions are open-ended, in contrast
to New Mexico, which limits its 112 lawmakers to 30- and 60-day
regular sessions. But Arizona's leaders try to finish in 100 days
or less...
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Deaths
Calvin Y. White
CHILCHINBETO, Ariz.— Services for Calvin White, 38, will be
held at 10 a.m., Tuesday, Jan. 15 in Chilchinbeto. Burial will follow
in Chilchinbeto.
White died Jan. 8 in Gallup. He was born Dec. 22, 1963 in Chilchinbeto
into the Near the Water People Clan.
Survivors include his son, Vernen Nez; daughter, Tasha Nez; mother,
Sally White; brothers, Johnny White Sr., Loyd White Sr. and Bernard
Honie; sisters, Lillie Lee, Vickie Ann DeForest, Alice Albert and
Lena Austin.
Pallbearers will be Gerold Nez, Lloyd White Jr.,Bernard Honie, Johnny
White Jr., Michael DeForest and Eric White.
Tse Bonito Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.
Nora Blackgoat
OLD COAL MINE— Services for Nora Blackgoat, 66, will announced
at a later date.
Blackgoat died Jan. 10 in Gallup. She was born April 2, 1936 of
Old Coal Mine.
Cope Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements.
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