Navajo Nuggets: February 15

Dear Friends,

Sometimes I take those weird little quizzes on FaceBook, such as “What should your name really be?” (Victoria) or “Can we guess your occupation?” (doctor). Yesterday I took one on obscure measuring words. I got 2/10 and that was in the top 8%!

In honor of Presidents Day, here is a short quiz about the Navajo Nation Presidents (chairmen and presidents who have led the Navajo Nation.)

Four Questions to Test your Presidential trivia knowledge:

1. There have been two Bushes who have served as the U.S. Presidents. To distinguish them apart, George H.W. Bush is referred to as “41” while his son, George W. Bush, is referred to as 43 (indicating he was the 43^rd President.) If we did that with Russell Begaye (the current president), what number would we call him?

1. Answer: Russell Begaye would be “17” because he is the 17^th person to serve as a tribal president or chairman.

Kelsey Begaye

2. Which tribal leader spent part of his early adult life living on the streets of Los Angeles before deciding to turn his life around and enter tribal politics?

2. Answer: That would be Kelsey Begaye, whose early life would make him the least likely person ever to be elected to the top position in tribal government. After he left the U.S. Army in 1971, he was a 24 year-old man without a purpose. He later talked about those “wasted years” when he was homeless and spent all of his waking hours drinking and partying until one day in 1976 when he wandered into a revival meeting, found God and his life was turned around. Today, after serving as Speaker of the Navajo Nation Council and as Navajo Nation President, he still spends a lot of his time counseling others and singing in a gospel band.

3. It is well known that Peter MacDonald has served the longest of any tribal president or chairman (more than 14 years), but who served the shortest?

3. Answer. Thomas Atcitty served only four months as the tribal president. As Albert Hale’s vice-president, he took over when Hale stepped down to avoid prosecution by the tribal government. But Atcitty would also face charges that he took improper gifts, and he was removed, replaced by Milton Bluehouse.

4. Almost every tribal leader has been mentioned in one or more tribal Supreme Court cases, but only one has been honored to have his umbilical cord mentioned. Who was that?

4. Answer: After he lost the 1982 election to Peterson Zah, Peter MacDonald moved his family to Flagstaff where he was living four years later when he decided to run for office again. He came under fire because of a tribal code requirement that persons running for tribal chairman had to reside on the Navajo Reservation for three years. He fought back saying that his umbilical cord* was buried in Teec Nos Pos, and that apparently helped convince the Navajo Supreme Court to rule he could run in the tribal election.

To read the rest of the quiz see navajotimes.com (Tribal Leaders: How Much do You Know?)

The office of the President of the Navajo Nation was created in 1991 following restructuring of the national government into the three-branch system that exists today. Before that, the office was called Tribal Chairman, and Chee Dodge was the first Tribal Chairman, elected in 1923. The Tribal government was originally established 1923 to help meet the increasing desires of American oil companies to lease Navajo land for exploration.

The President is elected every four years and can only serve two terms of office.

President Begaye with VP Nez and Chuck Harper, director of
Western Indian Ministries.

On May 12, 2015 Russell Begaye (former NN council member and businessman) won the leadership after a contentious race that was dominated by a controversy over a rule that presidential candidates be fluent in Navajo.

The Navajo Nation is blessed to have Christians in both the President and Vice-President’s seats. We are praying for wisdom and strength for them. They ran on the platforms of encouraging economic development, wooing manufacturing plants, which would, in turn, entice other businesses, asserting control of mineral and water rights and ability to prosecute non-Indians for all crimes on the reservation. They also spread hope by encouraging programs to slay the ‘monsters’ of depression, suicide, obesity, poverty, greed, and apathy.

Thank you for your prayers and gifts that further our work with the Navajo children at Hilltop Christian School.

*After the child is born, the umbilical cord and afterbirth are returned to the earth in a special place around the home site to ensure that the child will nurtured by their spiritual mother for the rest of his or her life. That spot will always be sacred to that child – the place where the child will be psychologically oriented.