Posted on 12/15/2009 1:21:36 PM PST by Santa Fe_Conservative
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — Navajo President Joe Shirley Jr. is back on the job.
A Window Rock judge issued a permanent injunction late Monday against a Tribal Council resolution that placed Shirley on leave, saying lawmakers acted outside of their authority in passing it, according to attorneys in the case. A council spokesman said an appeal is likely.
The ruling came on the eve of an election in which Navajos will vote on reducing the number of tribal lawmakers from 88 to 24 and giving the president line-item veto authority.
Lawmakers voted 48-22 in late October to place Shirley on administrative leave, pending an investigation into so-far unsubstantiated allegations of ethical and criminal wrongdoing involving two companies that held tribal contracts. The tribe's attorney general has recommended the appointment of a special prosecutor for further investigation.
forgot the source link: http://www.krqe.com/dpp/news/pueblos_tribes/judge-reinstates-navajo-president
Very true, I did some growing up in Four Corners. Now in my late 60s, when we make a looping trip through the NN, I don’t see much improvement. I sure see (from a distance) some fancy lookin’ gambling places, wonder where all that “revenue” went??
Sort of like Texas’ lottery % to go for “education”, yeah, okay, roger that.
Anyway, some years ago tried working with some Tribal Council members to start doing SOMETHING and finally learned that they really weren’t open for help, suggestions or anything else, thank you very much. I’ve noticed more WHITES (Belacana) on the NN Police force, now, why is that?? Oh well, ain’t my problem but then again all those drunks driving the highways (like the former 666) sure ‘nough does create some problems.
Yeah but where in the hell does a judge get off telling a sovereign tribe that they cannot suspend their chosen leader. that is about the same as telling the dims that J.Kerry can no longer be in the party.
This is a bad decision just flat out wrong
I believe the term you meant was belagana -—and just for the record it isn’t a very nice reference to those of a paler color
Corrupt Indians going OUT SIDE of their own tribal soveriegnty to ask a (corrupt?) US federal judge to impose law on them?
That’s insane.
With the exemptions these reservations have from Federal laws tey should be little islands of gold in the US- to show what happens when you have freedom
Instead the feds have regulated them into poverty since forever
You are correct and I’m well aware of the connotation. As I used to make my contacts among the Tribal Police (the guys on the beat, not the desks) we were brainstorming ideas about the alcohol problem, how it can be addressed, the age old questions.
We came to the conclusion that GOVERNMENT did not have the answer (we were all in LE at the time) but many independent folks were addressing the issues at hand, very committed, many faith-based groups doing hard work in that regard. We also decided that it would only improve one person at a time, so it’s going to take awhile.
The nation turning to a Fed judge?
The irony. LOL
Yup. Alcoholism and its nasty effects are rampant on the rez. Throw in diabetes and a few other types of diseases and the tendency to avoid wesern docs and life is short and difficult.
Trust is still a big issue. Doesn’t help much that ‘community organizers’ like The One fill young heads with false stories trying to get them to hate the outside world. Tough situation all around. Sometimes the corn has to be left to soak in lye before it can be useful
No kidding. We used to work with the Navajo tribe with housing. We finally quit, because they always came up with some way to not pay their bills. Chicago corruption has nothing on that bunch. Shirley was always in Washington with his hand out, but they pay no sales taxes nor income taxes. Money only goes one way on the Rez,,,down the rabbit hole.
When you go out there, you will notice that the tribal council members all have nice new homes and fancy vehicles. The rest of the people are hitchhiking, walking, or driving junkers, and once you get out of Window Rock and out on the rez, the people are living in squallor and dire poverty. Not so for the tribal council members.
***Very true, I did some growing up in Four Corners.***
So did I (1954-56 & 1973-77). I wish I was there now! Visited there back in October, went up Choke Cherry canyon on Glade road again!
New Walmart on the west side of town where the twin drive in theater used to be.
Regarding the “more whites” on the NN tribal police I’ve heard from Navajo officers themselves that when they stop other Navajos they are treated with the utmost CONTEMPT so much that the detainee refuses to be taken in by another Navajo. Due to some misfortune circumstances of some high profile cases the opinion of the NN tribal police is very low. Better to get caught off the rez and claim discrimination involved although those cases are going away(and rightfully so).
Thanks for that insight. We’re in Central Texas and how I heard about the NN hiring more “whites” for Tribal Police was from a young man that had been hired on.
A couple of us old-timers had lived in NM for years and dealt with NN affairs in our younger days so we were very interested. We also sympathized with the tribal police’s huge challenge, it seems almost overwhelming.
We don’t want to see a “write off” of these folks but would like to see some progress in that regard. Very interesting, thanks again.
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