The struggles of Navajo Nation

Dear Readers, We all love this country. Yet, as proud as we are of our accomplishments, we forget to nod in the direction of the original occupiers of this country – Native Americans.

After all, our Founding Fathers modeled our government on the Constitution of the Iroquois Confederacy.

I had the pleasure of a summer spent working as a law clerk for the Navajo Nation in Tuba City, Ariz.

My professional career never brought me back, but this experience sensitized me to a “blind spot.”

The moral blight of slavery hangs over us, a still sadly racially divided nation, like an evil shadow. However, we spend almost no energy contemplating the equally repugnant blight of our treatment of our Native American brothers and sisters.

The “Manifest Destiny” of Euro-American expansion from the colonial Atlantic Seaboard to the Pacific Ocean nearly exterminated the Native American tribes.They survive in hard-scrabble reservations “given” to the great tribes as a barren salve for stealing historical tribal lands.

We brought disease, war, poverty, dislocation and death to peoples with vibrant cultures, languages and a love of the land we pave over.

The final insult was the Bureau of Indian Affairs (“BIA”). In jingoistic paternal blindness, our Federal Government coalesced around the goal of stamping out all things Native American as a way of saving Indians from themselves.

In the interests of “helping” the original Americans adjust, we attempted to render mute Indian culture by banning the teaching of rich languages in BIA-run boarding schools to tribal students, trying to eviscerate the umbilical cord to cultural heritage and identity.

This tested the resolve and resilience of the tribes. Some succumbed and died, burying the once-great spirit of a people.

Today, surviving Indian Nations cling to distant memories of a glorious past and the spirits of their forefathers.

Ironically, our aversion to gambling has allowed some of the tribes to build casino-fueled tourist attractions, giving new economic relevance to the remaining tribes.

The great Navajo Nation, the largest of the remaining tribes, stretches in landmass from Northwest New Mexico, in a belt across Northern Arizona and into parts of Utah and Colorado.

It exists as a vibrant Nation without this gambling economic infusion. It is effectively suspended between its past, while struggling to secure a future.

Thankfully, we were never able to stamp out the stubborn Navajo cultural identity. It might surprise you that Navajo “Windtalkers” saved us in World War II. Using Navajo specialists speaking their tribal language, we were able to employ an impenetrable code, baffling our German and Japanese combatants.

Yes, had we successfully silenced the Navajo language, we might not have won WWII … ponder that for a moment.

The Navajo struggle for relevance mirrors that of their tribal cousins, but with a sturdier foundation.

There is an active tribal government and court system, although the fruits of self-governance has not seeded a promising future. Poverty, substance abuse and illiteracy still plague the proud Navajo Nation.

This is bringing about a clash between modernity and heritage. The Navajo Nation has an elected President who must interact with traditionalist elders of the tribal council, many of whom speak only Navajo.

And, the Navajo Constitution requires its elected President to be fluent in Navajo.

Chris Deschene is running for President of the Navajo Nation this November despite conceding he is not presently fluent in Navajo.

He is a former Marine, an engineer, and previously served part of the reservation in the Arizona House of Representatives.

In short, he is everything the modern Navajo Nation should want for itself, a successful Navajo on and off the reservation, proud of himself and his heritage. He pledges to become fluent during his term, if elected, and promises to bring modern economic successes to the Tribe.

This is an old identity conflict. It echoes the words of Chief Seattle from 1854 in a beautiful speech reportedly given before the governor and Commissioner of Indian Affairs of Washington Territory.

He spoke of how the Indian God no longer smiled on his people while the angry White Man’s God, the bringer of stone law, blessed the White Man’s conquests.

Local attorney Jim Rockefeller owns the Rockefeller Law Center and is a former Houston Co. Chief Assistant District Attorney, and a former Miami Prosecutor. Visit www.rockefellerlawcenter.com to submit confidential legal questions, and to review former articles and Frequently Asked Questions.

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