Native American Issues

From left to right: Incoming first lady Jasmine Blackwater Nygren, incoming President Buu Nygren, incoming Vice President-elect Richelle Montoya, incoming second gentleman Olsen Chee. Image from Nygren Campaign

Preliminary Navajo Nation Election Results: Nygren wins Presidency, Yanito and Daniels lead in council delegate races

by David Boyle News Director The Navajo Nation held Elections on November 8. Diné voters visited the polls to vote to elect a president and representatives to the Navajo Nation Council. Unofficial results have been released showing that Buu Nygren has defeated Incumbent Jonathan Nez in the Navajo...

A home in Westwater community with its lights on thanks to new power poles connecting the community to the electric grid. The 30-year effort to electrify Westwater was finished this month and celebrated by parties who helped make it happen at a dinner on September 16. Photo courtesy of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Electricity arrives in Westwater community

by David Boyle News Director Members of the Westwater community and officials from half-a-dozen organizations celebrated the arrival of electricity to their community at a dinner at Utah State University’s Blanding campus on September 16. Westwater residents have done without continuous electricity...

Inter-tribal coalition publishes Bears Ears Land Plan

by David Boyle News Director Members of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition recently published a 101-page Collaborative Land Management Plan for the Bears Ears National Monument. The document lays out tribal priorities and goals for the comanagement of the monument with federal land agencies,...

Bear Dance at White Mesa

The annual Ute Mountain Ute Tribe White Mesa Bear Dance is returning to the White Mesa community this weekend starting on Friday, September 2, and concluding on Monday, September 5. The event is open to the public for the first time in two years. Last year the bear dance was limited to tribal...

Road grater located near the Navajo Mountain Chapter House

Navajo Commission talks Navajo Mountain chapter house, road maintainence

by David Boyle News Director Members of the Navajo Utah Commission passed a resolution asking for matching funds for the Navajo Mountain Chapter Building Renovation project and also discussed road needs on the Navajo Utah strip at their latest meeting. At the August 22 meeting of the Navajo Utah...

Indigenous casting call for western film

A casting call for Kevin Costner’s western film Horizon is taking place in Monument Valley on Saturday, August 20 for Indigenous actors and extras. The film, set in the American west in 1861, has extra roles for indigenous men, women, and children of all ages, along with roles for men aged 18 and...

Navajo Nation Primary results set up Presidential, Council races for November

by David Boyle News Director The Navajo Nation held Primary Elections on August 2. Diné voters will return to the polls to vote to elect a president and representatives to the Navajo Nation Council in November. Unofficial results from the Navajo Elections Administration became available on August 3...

Navajo Utah Commission talks Bears Ears land management plan, Native American summit

Members of the Navajo Utah Commission (NUC) heard from the Utah Division of Indian Affairs, discussed the Bears Ears National Monument Management Plan and heard from Republican candidates for office at their latest meeting. At their July 12 meeting members of the NUC heard from Richard Begay,...

Navajo Nation Primaries set for August 2

Navajo Nation Primary Elections are approaching with Navajo Nation Council seats and the office of the President on the ballot. Absentee ballot requests for the primary must be received by July 18. Early voting is active now at election offices including in Shiprock and Tuba City. On election day,...

Keynote speaker Eugene Brave Rock addresses the conference. UNHS photo

Inaugural Indigenous Men's Conference held in Montezuma Creek

The Inaugural Indigenous Men’s Conference took place in Montezuma Creek on June 30, with fifty people in attendance and thousands tuned in to listen. The event sponsored by Utah Navajo Health System (UNHS) brought Indigenous men to speak at a first-of-its-kind gathering for Indigenous men. In an...