good governance

The More Indigenous Nations Self Govern, The More They Succeed

Year

Harvard Kennedy School Professor Joseph Kalt and senior director Director Megan Minoka Hill say the evidence is in: When Native nations make their own decisions about what development approaches to take, studies show they consistently out-perform external decision makers like the U.S. Department of Indian Affairs. Kalt and Hill say that’s why Harvard is going all in, recently changing the name of the Project on American Indian Economic Development to the Project on Indigenous Governance and Development—pushing the issue of governance to the forefront—and announcing an infusion of millions in funding.  

When the project launched in the mid-1980s, the popular perception of life in America’s indigenous nations—based largely in reality—was one of poverty and dysfunction. But it was also a time when tribes were increasingly being granted increased autonomy from the federal government and were increasingly starting to govern themselves. Researchers also noticed that unexpected tribal economic success stories were starting to crop up, and they set about trying to determine those successes were a result of causation or coincidence. Kalt and Hill say the research has shown that empowered tribal nations not only succeed economically themselves, they also become economic engines for the regions that surround them. The recent announcement of $15 million in new support for the program, including an endowed professorship, will help make supporting tribal self-government a permanent part of the Kennedy School’s mission.  

Resource Type
Citation

Ralph Ranalli (Host). (June 8, 2023). The More Indigenous Nations Self Govern, The More They Succeed. Harvard Kennedy School PolicyCast Ep. 254. Harvard University. Audio podcast episode. Retrieved from: https://www.hks.harvard.edu/faculty-research/policycast/more-indigenous…

Transcripts for all videos are available by request. Please email us: nni@arizona.edu.

Indigenous Governance Speaker Series: How to Build a Nation with Susan Masten (Yurok)

Producer
Native Nations Institute
Year
Susan Masten (Yurok), former Chairwoman and valuable leader of the Yurok Tribe, joins the Native Nations Institute's Executive Director, Joan Timeche (Hopi), for an engaging discussion on Native nation building, specifically, how she actually helped build the nation. She was critical to the fulfillment of the requirements of the Hoopa-Yurok Settlement Act, including developing the criteria for the first base roll and a tribal council. Susan shares her insight on how the tribe developed their own tribal constitution, which included an attempt to ensure everyone was equally represented with the formulation of districts where the villages were located. Another struggle she faced in the building of the nation was clearly defining the powers of the government. She speaks on how cultural values inform how decisions are made at a governance level and the value of keeping the branches of the government separate from council. Her definition of good governance includes transparency and ensuring the peoples' buy-in and confidence in government. Other tidbits of wisdom:
  • How to learn from the successes of other tribes
  • The value of developing policies and ordinances and who should write this legislation
  • How to prepare leaders for their role in the tribe
  • Governance challenges and accomplishments of the Yurok tribe
She ends the discussion with her reflections on leadership and developing strong leadership skills, especially the value of focusing on individuals and holding yourself to a higher standard. In her experience, there are still disparities between how people treat women in leadership roles vs. males and she shares how she has attempted to change the status-quo. Her final message includes the importance of traditional knowledge and how it guides the process of nation building.
 
Currently, Susan is the co-president of Women Empowering Women for Indian Nations (WEWIN), an organization she co-founded in 2004.
Native Nations
Resource Type
Topics
Citation

Native Nations Institute. "Indigenous Governance Speaker Series: How to Build a Nation with Susan Masten (Yurok)". Native Nations Instititue, University of Arizona. Tucson, Arizona. February 24, 2022.

Transcript available upon request. Please email us: nni@arizona.edu.

Karen Diver: Native leadership and Indigenous governance

Producer
Native Nations Institute
Year

Karen Diver is a former Chairwoman of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and former Vice President of the Minnesota Chippewa tribe, while also served as an adviser to President Obama as his Special Assistant for Native American affairs. Her incredible career as  renowned Native leader for her tribe, in her community in the surrounding Minnesota area, and advocate for indigenous communities at the highest level of Federal government has offered her a truly unique perspective on what is required for strong indigenous governance. Karen’s strength as a Native leader led her to her recent position at the College of St. Scholastica Faculty Fellow for Inclusive Excellence where she brings her intimate knowledge on Native inclusivity to a broad community of high education. In this interview with Native Nations Institute, Karen Diver relays the many facets of putting leadership into action and making change for tribes at any level of indigenous governance.

People
Resource Type
Citation

Native Nations Institute. "Karen Diver: Native leadership and indigenous governance.” Leading Native Nations, Native Nations Institute, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, January 29, 2019

For a complete transcript, please email us: nni@email.arizona.edu

Good Native Governance: Lunchtime Keynote Address

Producer
UCLA School of Law
Year

UCLA School of Law "Good Native Governance" conference lunchtime keynote speaker, Joseph P. Kalt discusses research in the areas of good Native governance. 

This video resource is featured on the Indigenous Governance Database with the permission of the UCLA American Indian Studies Center.

Native Nations
Resource Type
Citation

Kalt, Joseph P. "Lunchtime Keynote Address." Good Native Governance: Innovative Research in Law, Education, and Economic Development Conference. University of California Los Angeles School of Law, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, March 7, 2014. Presentation.

Good Native Governance Plenary 1: Innovations in Law

Producer
UCLA School of Law
Year

UCLA School of Law "Good Native Governance" conference presenters, panelists and participants Carole E. Goldberg, Matthew L.M. Fletcher, and Kristen A. Carpenter discuss law and the issues that Native nations deal with. Goldberg explains the recommendations of the Indian Law and Order Commission and the implications for good Native governance. Matthew talks about tribal disruption in the United States as a good thing. Discussing her work with Angela Riley, Carpenter presents on international human rights and the indigenous rights movement. 

This video resource is featured on the Indigenous Governance Database with the permission of the UCLA American Indian Studies Center.

Native Nations
Resource Type
Citation

Goldberg, Carole. "Innovations in Law." Good Native Governance: Innovative Research in Law, Education, and Economic Development Conference. University of California Los Angeles School of Law, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, March 7, 2014. Presentation.  

Fletcher, Matthew. "Innovations in Law." Good Native Governance: Innovative Research in Law, Education, and Economic Development Conference. University of California Los Angeles School of Law, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, March 7, 2014. Presentation.

Carpenter, Kristen A. "Innovations in Law." Good Native Governance: Innovative Research in Law, Education, and Economic Development Conference. University of California Los Angeles School of Law, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, March 7, 2014. Presentation.

Good Native Governance: Keynote Address

Producer
UCLA School of Law
Year

UCLA School of Law "Good Native Governance" conference keynote speaker, Kevin Washburn, Assistant Secretary — Indian Affairs for the U.S. Department of the Interior, examines how Native nations are engaging so well in self-determination through good governance. 

This video resource is featured on the Indigenous Governance Database with the permission of the UCLA American Indian Studies Center.

Native Nations
Resource Type
Citation

Washburn, Kevin K. "Keynote Address." Good Native Governance: Innovative Research in Law, Education, and Economic Development Conference. University of California Los Angeles School of Law, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, March 7, 2014. Presentation.

Good Native Governance Breakout 1: Cultural and Natural Resources Protection

Producer
UCLA School of Law
Year

UCLA School of Law "Good Native Governance" conference presenters, panelists and participants Reginald Pagaling, Marcos Guerrero, and Marshall McKay discuss their experience with cultural preservation and cooperation with the local and state governements. Reginald addresses the areas of concerns for the California Native American Heritage Commission. Mr. Guerrero represents Jason Camp, the Tribal Historic Preservation Officer for the United Auburn Indian Community of the Auburn Rancheria. His presentation focuses on the role of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers (THPO) in California. Chairman McKay discusses the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation experience in preserving a sacred site.

This video resource is featured on the Indigenous Governance Database with the permission of the UCLA American Indian Studies Center.

Resource Type
Citation

Pagaling, Reginald. "Cultural and Natural Resources Protection." Good Native Governance: Innovative Research in Law, Education, and Economic Development Conference. University of California Los Angeles School of Law, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, March 7, 2014. Presentation.

Guerrero, Marcos. "Cultural and Natural Resources Protection." Good Native Governance: Innovative Research in Law, Education, and Economic Development Conference. University of California Los Angeles School of Law, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, March 7, 2014. Presentation.

McKay, Marshall. "Cultural and Natural Resources Protection." Good Native Governance: Innovative Research in Law, Education, and Economic Development Conference. University of California Los Angeles School of Law, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, March 7, 2014. Presentation.

From the Good Native Governance: Innovative Research in Law, Education, and Economic Development Conference

Producer
UCLA School of Law Conference
Year

Assistant Secretary Kevin Washburn provided a snapshot of Native nations engaging in self-governance reinforcing the notion that "almost anything the federal government can do, tribes can do better" through good governance. 

Native Nations
Resource Type
Citation

Washburn, Kevin K. "Keynote Address." Good Native Governance: Innovative Research in Law, Education, and Economic Development. UCLA School of Law Conference. Los Angeles, California. March 7, 2014. Video.

Honoring Nations: The Politics of Change - Internal Barriers, Opportunities and Lessons for Improving Government Performance

Producer
Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development
Year

Moderator JoAnn Chase facilitates a wide-ranging discussion by a panel of Native nation leaders and key decision-makers about internal barriers inhibiting good governance and opportunities and lessons for improving government performance in Native nations.

Resource Type
Citation

Belone, Cecilia, Dodie Chambers, Vernelda Grant, Julia "Bunny" Jaakola, Beth Janello, Aaron Miles and Gary Nelson. "The Politics of Change - Internal Barriers, Opportunities and Lessons for Improving Government Performance." Honoring Nations symposium. Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. Sante Fe, New Mexico. February 8, 2002. Presentation.

JoAnn Chase:

"Good afternoon everybody. Thank you for that very generous introduction. And it's a pleasure to be here. It's always wonderful. This is one of the meetings over the course of the year that I so look forward to, is the Honoring Nations Advisory Board meeting. Many of you know that for several years I had the privilege of serving as the Executive Director of the National Congress of American Indians and, as Andrew [Lee] said, have now gone on to do some work in the field of philanthropy and have always enjoyed my time with the National Congress of American Indians, but so much of the time we spent working -- and that we collectively as Indian people spend -- is really fighting off a huge hostile audience, whether it's the Congress, sometimes it's the state governments. And so many times, we're reacting to things that are coming our way and really engaging in battle if you will, and often it's like hitting your head against a brick wall time and time and time again. One of the ways I was able to sustain my involvement with NCAI and enthusiasm and be rejuvenated was to come often and participate in these meetings and be so encouraged by the really truly innovative and creative and amazing things that are happening on the ground within our tribal communities of the truly exemplary programs that are being developed and implemented and the good governance that does exist. So it's always good to be back in this arena.

I'm excited this afternoon, we have...I think you're going to have a very compelling discussion, excellent participants. I thought the way we'd get started this afternoon is just ask each of the participants to briefly introduce themselves, your tribal affiliation, and maybe a sentence or so about the program that you're with and then we'll start off with some dialogue on some difficult questions. Maybe Beth, if you would start."

Beth Janello:

"Good afternoon, everybody. My name is Beth Janello. I'm the Environmental Director for the Pueblo of Sandia here in New Mexico and we have water quality standards, which we won an Honoring Nations award for in 1999. I'd like to invite everyone to come to the pueblo tomorrow and view our Bosque Restoration, our Rio Grande Restoration Project...

As I was saying, I'd like to invite everyone tomorrow to come down to the Pueblo Sandia and view our river restoration project. We have been a very active participant in trying to protect the Rio Grande and we've had some, definitely some problems working with our federal trustees, certainly the EPA [Environmental Protection Agency]. We're trying to educate them and trying to get help from them and from the State of New Mexico to protect the river, but it's not always an easy task and I hope today that I can share with you some of the things that we have learned and answer any questions you may have about protecting your own waterways. With that, thank you very much for this opportunity. I appreciate being here and I look forward to you coming out tomorrow to the Pueblo of Sandia.

Aaron Miles:

"Good afternoon. My name is Aaron Miles. I'm from the Nez Perce Tribe. I'm a tribal member and I work for my tribe as the Department of Natural Resources Manager. I've been on the job for a little over two years now and it's been very interesting, learning a lot and I think it's exciting to work for your own tribe in investing. So coming back home was a good thing for me. My background is in forestry. I graduated from the University of Idaho in the fall of 1995 and I worked for the other school, Washington State University, for a couple years as the tribal liaison in the provost's office. There's a lot of neat experiences I'm excited to share with you.

Dodie Chambers:

"Good afternoon. My name is Dodie Chambers with the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians in Michigan. The project we had gotten an award for was for planning and development for our tribe. Our tribe had never had a planning and development department so I was part of the initial setup of the planning and development department. Probably like some of you our projects were exceedingly overrun as far as budgets and the proper people weren't doing the proper jobs. And the contractors that were available knew that they were going to get money from the tribe and from the government, therefore skated on a lot of the absolutely mandatory things. About that time is when our chairman decided that we needed a planning and development department so that's how we began our start up. And because it was a first time for us of ever having a real planning and development department it's what we had won our award for. Not only was I the first department manager for planning and development, I was first tribal chairperson of our tribe, I was the first self-governance director of our tribe, I was first housing director of our tribe; so there was a lot of firsts. And of course planning and development was another challenge I had to take. So that's how we got started and we continue to work well with the planning and development department. Now I'm on the council again. I was 20 years ago and back on it again. We can do nothing but move forward now. Thank you."

Julia "Bunny" Jaakola:

"Good afternoon. I'm Bunny Jaakola and I represent the Fond du Lac Band of Minnesota Chippewa. That is my home band. I have been working almost 15 years as the coordinator for the Social Service Department there within the Human Services Division. Prior to that, I worked 15 years in juvenile justice. In our area, so many of the children, the youth that came through that court diversion program are now the parents of the kids and the families that we work with on the reservation. So I think everything that's been said about continuity really holds true. I think my familiarity with my own people and then working outside in a county/state kind of program and coming back to the reservation, everybody knows who I am and I've had people working with me now for several years. And for the first time in our history and probably some have not even heard of this year, we have people calling our Social Service Department and saying, 'I want to talk to a social worker.' When I started in social work, it was difficult for me to say that I'm a social worker because of our history with social work. So I think that anything's possible when we've got families who are in dire need making the call and asking for help. That's progress. And I'll talk more later."

Vernelda Grant:

"[Apache Language] My name is Vernelda Grant. I'm San Carlos Apache and I work for my tribe as the Tribal Archaeologist and Director of the Historical Preservation Archaeology Department. I work closely with the Elders Cultural Advisory Council, who I'm with here at this symposium. I primarily work with the national, state and tribal legislation on cultural resource management and work with the Elders Council on language and community education projects on cultural resources."

Gary Nelson:

"[Navajo Language] Hello. My name is Gary Nelson. I'm the Town Manager for the Kayenta Township. About a year ago, I came up to talk with [then-Navajo] President Kelsey Begaye about my interest in helping the Navajo Nation in the area of commercial industrial development and also one of the larger farms that the Navajo Nation has, it's actually probably the only real large farm we have and it's one of the largest farms in the nation, and that's the Navajo Agricultural Products Industry. Surprisingly, both what I asked for seemed to have fallen into my hands.

Kayenta Township is one...something that I really desire to assume, to contribute in that area but also in other areas. The township was awarded and recognized also probably a year, two years ago, and since that time also we've made great progress. We're doing new developments. We're currently going to build a 40,000-square-foot office building. Also 100,000-plus square foot of new shopping center. We assessed the township for need for new office space as well as the market area to see just what kind of population existed within the 50-mile radius up to 75-miles radius. We found that there was like 40,000 to 50,000 people that resided within that kind of distance from the township. With some of those numbers and knowing where some of the people shopped, we determined a need that we could easily support another shopping center or additional services that currently aren't there.

So the challenge is there and we're also pressing to really begin to make some legislative changes. Navajo tribal law as well as federal law, laws that currently are in place that prohibit our goals, we want to remove those stumbling blocks or barriers so that our people really move forward in the area of economic development and to build their economic strength and become a politically powerful people. I guess our vision and our understanding is that as long as our people are poor they're not going to have the sovereign strength or the economic strength or be in subjection to other powers, dominant governments, other races, whatever you want, but really economics has a lot to do with our sovereign rights and the power that's going to come behind it. Thank you."

Cecilia Belone:

"[Navajo language]. For my people, [Navajo language]. I am Cecilia Belone, the Division Director for the Division of Social Services within the Navajo Nation. We have a project, the Navajo Child Special Advocacy Project program that was recognized in the year 2000 for serving children who are victims of sexual abuse and working with their families, providing family-centered services and also applying cultural and traditional functions to providing these services. We're collaborating with really resources that are necessary in order to help heal children and families.

My mother had always said and my elder had always said that I was a current leader. I didn't really think that they meant being before people but eventually I was going to come before people and I had to watch what I say and I had to pick my words carefully. I never knew that...really knew what they were talking about until I started to work with child sexual abuse. And it's something that many of us deny that it exists, but on the Navajo Nation I feel like it's something that we have acknowledged that it does exist. And it's not so much talking about the existence of it, but the language by which you talk about it within the Navajo Nation and that was a challenge. And as somebody had said earlier that when you become recognized and receive an honor that just gives you a greater challenge and we've taken that challenge. And this program is only a part of a larger system, the social service system that involves a lot of other social and behavioral issues. And I have taken on that challenge and my boss, the president of the Navajo Nation has made it a priority. And having to have the Navajo Nation Council acknowledge that has just been a tremendous challenge and it's something that I'm very honored to be a part of. We will talk further about some of the issues that we have encountered in getting to meeting that challenge.

I would like to say thank you to the Harvard Honoring Nations program for acknowledging that there are many, many good things happening out there among our people and I would like to honor all the programs that are up here that have been recognized and all those who have gone before. They have set the standards for us and for us, with the Navajo Nation, we're pretty encouraged for our people. Thank you."

JoAnn Chase:

"Thank you to all of our participants. As you can tell, we have a great diversity in experience and I think we can have some really provocative dialogue for this afternoon. I want to concentrate and ask maybe you want to respond on part of the title of this panel, 'The Politics of Change.' And change is...it's difficult implementing change, creating change and then implementing change comes with lots and lots of challenges. The old saying that everybody wants to get to heaven but nobody wants to die I think has some meaning as we try to think about pushing boundaries and changing ways and meeting challenges.

As we talk about the politics of change and in what you have experienced in developing these programs and implementing these programs, certainly as we talk about some of the components in creating successful programs and examples of good governance, you might talk about some of those components that have contributed to the positive creation, but in so doing I'd encourage us to really speak candidly about some of those barriers. As I reminded myself of the programs I was struck by some of the tremendous challenges, sometimes our own tribal communities, our own tribal governments, challenges of tribal politics, dealing with hostility and misconceptions and even overt racism in outside communities, dealing with federal regulatory or state regulatory schemes that are in place that for years and years and years have been oppressive in trying to break those down and create partnerships. It's a tremendous amount of challenges that we certainly do have.

And so maybe I ought to ask Dodie, since Dodie you have served as a tribal councilperson in a variety of capacities with your tribe and now this program. If you might start us off in dialogue and ask folks to weigh in and talk again about some of those specific barriers, how those barriers you've broken down in getting through the first phase, which is creating successful programs."

Dodie Chambers:

"Well, I think for our tribe specifically, our tribe is fairly recognized only for 20 years now, 21 or 22, but we were Indians in the community and in the area and were dwindling. Like there may have been only about 10 families left in the 1960s. So the outlying area people, the founding people, the state people, the townships didn't want to recognize us as a government and even to this day they don't think we have the kind of government that...the government they have. So that was one of the big barriers was once we became recognized, once we start getting federal dollars into our tribe, once we were available to offer even our two-percent monies to the area, townships and county people, they still...we still had a little problem with them wanting to recognize and acknowledge that we are a government and we can run...we can have our own sovereignty and provide our people with our programs the way we want to. They still don't want to acknowledge that; we're still not quite as good as they are. That continues to be a smaller problem. It was huge 10 years ago even, but today it's a smaller problem but it still exists and we are still not 100-percent people when we go into town. So that continues to be a barrier. It has been, but we've knocked down some of those walls and unfortunately those walls came down because of the two-percent money from our gaming industry. That was one huge barrier that we overcame and continue to overcome and still work on today."

Aaron Miles:

"Some of the barriers that I see the internal things like me as a manager interfacing with the policy people, the elected leaders, getting on the same page as them is quite difficult. I think when you look at the different values, when you look at the diversity on the council, you have those who have just come out of this post era of the BIA [Bureau of Indian Affairs] running the show and so their institutionalized thinking is, 'This is the way it's always been done and it will continue to be that way.' And then I think some of the younger generations that I interact with it's more of 'How do we relearn the value system that was in place before pre-European contact? How do we gain a better understanding of protecting the resources that contribute to our culture and way of life in that context?' And so that's one of difficulty because right now the tribes aren't really...when you look at our tribes were forced into this era back to really become American citizens, to become this equal, but now I think tribal members now in this new age are really trying to...how are we going to be different? We want to remain unique among the American citizenship and our right to remain unique. And sometimes the things that we do are quite un-American, our way of thinking, our way...the way we do things and it's unintentional. How do we as Indian tribal people begin to implement something like that? But we still have to get on the same page it seems like internally before we can address those problems."

Beth Janello:

"I'd like to mention a barrier that I see in terms of trying to implement a scientific program and that is a real difference in values. Trying to establish water quality standards that protect traditional uses perhaps of the river. It's really hard to explain that to the EPA or to the New Mexico Environment Department. So having very different values for the protection of a resource can become a barrier if you don't have education or if you have ears that don't want to hear it, or economic value is the only value rather than habitat protection or water protection or ceremonial or traditional protection. So that's something I've found to be a real barrier in terms of implementation is a difference in core values."

JoAnn Chase:

"Beth, could you just take that a step further perhaps and talk about how you dealt with that. Clearly the difference is there. Was it dialogue, was it inviting folks to come be with you? Is it something that you're still continuing to deal with?"

Beth Janello:

"Yes, we deal with it every day and the most effective way that we've found to deal with it is through working through...perhaps maybe working through the laws. For example, we set our water quality standards under the Clean Water Act. We got treatment as a state, we followed the process, the legal process and so then it becomes very difficult for people to argue with that. One thing we've also done in the last couple of years that's been very effective is we collect data, we monitor the river on a weekly basis so we know what's in there. It's very hard to argue with fact. We know and actually we're discovering that not only are our water quality standards in some cases being violated, but so are the state water quality standards. So the potential uses for the river are not meeting state uses, not just tribal uses. So our data has become very effective. So sometimes it means, unfortunately, working in the system instead of trying to...for years I think we talked about, 'You don't understand you're not meeting the water quality standards,' but not until we had the data to back it up did people start listening. And we had the regional administrator from EPA come in and talk to the tribal council last month. So the Pueblo of Sandia has had water quality standards since 1993. We applied for them in 1991. So it's not really very new, but our EPA officials only came out in December. So it's an ongoing issue and I think a very effective means of dealing with the barrier is to have data and back up documentation."

Gary Nelson:

"I'll speak to you more in the area of business and economic development. Kayenta Township, the community of Kayenta, town commission, having gone through all the normal process for organizing itself into a township structure and doing all the necessary planning, master planning in preparation to really do economic development and then entertaining new businesses and to go through the process of this local review and local approval, having exercised this local governance, what we experience is that we still have a barrier in the way and it has to do with the existing law. There comes a point that the law, the structure, the current law is really prohibitive and it must change and that's really what we're experiencing. Listening to the business associations or the community, what they want, their desire, they want the economic freedom just like any community outside the Navajo Nation, the ability to gain equity, value in their businesses, the ability to sell that business or to utilize that lease hold interest to leverage capital. All those things are prohibited under existing law and it's really come to a point we have to say, 'No more. If our people are going to prosper, this law is not allowing it.' And so that's where we're at.

And we are currently involved with the Navajo Nation Council, some of the attorneys and economic development committees and divisions entertaining a new regulation, new ordinances that would govern Navajo Nation law from this time forward. The Navajo Nation also has been successful in getting congressional support and in entertaining the idea of forming their own business leasing approval without intervention anymore. But the challenge is that the Navajo Nation must develop these regulations, BIA still has to approve of it to see if it's going to be fine. But in the end, the Navajo Nation can't just duplicate the same law; it's not going to work.

So really what's happening is that we have gone out to the grassroots people, the local communities. We've asked for input. Kayenta Township, having had numerous years now as a township and a government structure, having probably more business development in recent years than any of the communities on the reservation, it provides some excellent direction and some of those are in the booklet that you received today. The bottom line is that BIA and the Navajo Nation must let go of authority, delegate that to the local people, let us determine our own destiny, how we want to do business or what we want to do with the lands that are available for development, whether we want to leverage the value of that land to get capital investment or those things. Those are the barriers.

The barrier also is that the current lease, they're okay. Many of the provisions can remain the same but let us do rent negotiations like any other off-reservation communities, cities, towns. And that's based on land valuations and improvements, the value of those things and determining a rate of return on those things as rent, but not a structure that the government has that is discoursing to outside business. We have a gross minimum annual rent that would be in place for the term of the lease whether it's 25 years or if there's a certain lease that's 99 years and that rent is there, or if the business is doing well then the other rent that would become effective would be a percentage of gross receipts. So if a business is doing two million dollars a year or even higher and they have a gross receipts percentage set at five, six, seven percent, usually that business will be paying $100,000 or more a year, whereas the value of the land is...the rental payment if it was based on land valuation could be one fourth that amount or even less.

So the more you penalize businesses we find that they're not going to come out to the Indian communities to do business. So our whole mission and focus now is to really create that environment that is favorable for business activity and that would allow our people and anyone who wants to do business to get into business easily and without much trouble. That's really where we're headed with what we want to changed, specifically."

JoAnn Chase:

"Bunny and Cecelia, you both deal with among the most precious of our resources and the reason why so many of us do the work we do, our children. And I'm sure that in implementing the amazing and effective programs you both have dealt with which are different programs there have been a number of barriers both within the tribe among our own people and certainly outside. I'm wondering if you might both make any comments specifically on some of those challenges with respect to the specific programs you've both dealt with."

Julia "Bunny" Jaakola:

"First, I want to be sure to thank the planners of this symposium, because one of the biggest barriers that I've run into within the tribe, within the county, within the state is the credibility. People just refuse to give one another credibility and I feel it more so on the state level and the county level here in Minnesota, but it's hurtful within the tribe. And we were awarded two honors awards from the Honoring Nations and one of them was a foster care program off reservation, very different, very unheard of, and the other was an online pharmacy billing program, very successful. But when you come up with the ideas, and I was not the one that came up with those ideas, but when people do bring ideas forward they need to be heard and encouraged. And the way that I've found to combat that is with education -- educating the community, educating the other co-workers, educating the county people and on the state level, wherever. It's a constant education process. And in fact I've said in kidding ways that before I went to social work school I should have gone to teaching school so I could help people to understand what we're trying to do. One thing that I didn't hear mentioned from the leadership perspective this morning was I found that to be a two-way street. I want to be able to rely upon my leadership for support and understanding and encouragement, but if they don't know what I'm doing or if they don't know what people are doing out there, they're liable to react to some things in a different way than if they were fully informed of what it is we're doing out there in the community, out there with the county, with the state, whatever it is. And I think that's very important, especially in a community where you are...this is home. Half the people are relatives and the other ones are in-laws so you need to be sure to protect your back. The way that I try to help the youth, the younger people that I'm mentoring is to look for that proactive stance wherever you can. Bring the information there. If you hear of a hot idea that's going to be different, be sure you let them know where you're going with that, because fear drives a lot of things and sometimes it's simply that fear of the unknown that brings about that resistance or that 'no' at first glance. Thank you."

Cecilia Belone:

"I have to agree that many times it's because people don't know and our social service issues are not physical. They manifest themselves physically maybe, but somebody talked about addressing deep-rooted issues, so you're talking about multi-generational issues that you're trying to address. But we seem to...our social service approach seems to be the band-aid addressing the symptoms and we all know that the symptoms are because of a lot of previous issues. And those issues are non-tangible, you can't see them. It's not like creating jobs. It's one of the most popular programs within the Navajo Division of Social Services, child care centers. You're doing great if you're putting up a bunch of child care centers. You're doing great if you're providing a lot of cash assistance. We're doing our own TANF [Temporary Assistance for Needy Families] program now from the three states and that's more popular than some of the non-tangible programs like the child sexual abuse program that we have. So for us, it's more internal because we're larger enough and we're sovereign enough to exert that authority. Most of what we deal with with the state now is just like working together on Indian child welfare issues, Indian Child Welfare Act issues. All the other services are provided through the tribe. So most of it is internal. Having to coalesce around these non-tangible issues requires a lot of education, a lot of outreach, a lot of communication, and you have to start right from the get-go. Are you going to work with these politicians, your tribal leaders or are you going to butt heads with them? I chose to work with them and actually get some things done, because if you start just right adversarial from the beginning that doesn't help you any. So you have to be aware of the dynamics within that leadership not just your immediate committee members, but the total council and everything...all of the other boards and whatever else there is. And you have to be able to collaborate within your own system, because it does not work and you cannot do it alone. And our social workers burn out, most of them are already burnt out, in two years, four years, and if they are there by 15 years, wow! Who's going to last 15 years in such a job, being out there among the people? And it's got to be a very dedicated person who does that. And most of all your people have to be committed because you can't go out and do...protect a child and deal with the family issues on a daily basis if you're not committed. Otherwise, you just become a part of the process. And it's very important for our people and our leaders to know that and educating them and working with them on those issues. We have the council actually acknowledge that the issue does exist and they actually committed some dollars to it in order to supplement the Bureau of Indian Health Service funds that we were getting. So this is not something that is created in a year, created in five years. It's something that started 20 years ago, that the foundations were being laid and you were really educating on basic issues. And it's coming to fruition and it has and we want to expand on that to include the entire...all of the social services issues, not just child sexual abuse."

Vernelda Grant:

"I sort of listed...since my job and the work I do with the Elders Council pertains to working with the past living cultures, the archaeology and prehistoric cultures and also the present living culture, living community, we have a wide working communication with just many different kinds of people from political leaders to community members to tribal programs to the Bureau of Indian Affairs agencies to federal agencies off the reservation, museums and whatnot. But I sort of -- just based on a working communication with those people -- I sort of listed barriers and I just kind of listed it now because this is like what I see overall just within our community. I'm just going to list them out. There's a lack of...there's cultural barriers, there's language barriers, there's a lack of self-identity, self-awareness, which kind of leads to lack of respect and there's barriers with the lack of technical expertise within tribal programs and a lack of communications with regards to economic development, commitment, the lack of the practice of good sovereignty and the lack of dedication. I sort of see this door opening interrelated in some sort of way and how we try to make those things positive, because we deal with it daily, is we sort of use our cultural, our Apache cultural beliefs and background, and we use that to basically focus on, I guess, objectives that we work with within our program. I'm just throwing that out."

JoAnn Chase:

"Thank you, and I actually want to take this a step further as well. We've heard some of the ideals and principles that have gone into planning and creating programs including communication, collaboration, dedication, commitment, pure tenacity. As you read through these programs, this didn't just start yesterday or the day before. It started 20 years ago and people have stuck with it. Education is a two-way street. Not only is it important to educate people that we are working with in order to create and develop programs, but it's also important ourselves to be educated about who it is we're trying to deal with and communicate with, and then both qualitative and quantitative. You mentioned Beth, facts speak volumes as part of breaking down these barriers and overcoming the programs. So we've created the programs, some of you have implemented the programs or are continuing to implement the process and probably facing certain challenges of implementation. And so I'd like to ask you also to comment on now that we've created these very innovative and wonderful programs, some of them rather new, how are they sustained? What measures need to be taken? How do we define and measure success? What can we do to ensure that this work continues perhaps as some of you go off to do other things and continue to be effective and valuable services to our people and to promote an advancing tribal sovereignty? I'll just open it up to the panel whoever would like to respond to that."

Julia "Bunny" Jaakola:

"I had mentioned mentorship a little earlier, and I think that's one sure way of continuity is being sure that the younger people, the newcomers are involved and because they will become committed as they feel the excitement of growth and development. There are formal ways to develop the mentorship, but there are easier informal ways of doing this and it's like taking someone under your wing so to speak. I like the comments this morning about the youth council. Those kids are going to be the leaders of tomorrow and the more they know about what's going on in their community the better participant they are going to be."

Dodie Chambers:

"Excuse me, I had to swallow that candy first. I think another way of ensuring that our programs will continue, like this morning, the Grand Traverse Band Junior Tribal Council is much involved and as we mentor them and allow them to shadow us in our programs, that will help...that's one way of sustaining our programs. Also within our tribe we have internal program directors training and within that training all the employees, all employees take this training where they learn everything about any program including budgets, report forms to the federal government, to the Bureau [of Indian Affairs], to Indian Health [Service]. This program directors training could help ensure that when I leave my program the next person who has learned the exact programs and rules and regs and requirements. Then when I leave then the next person, whoever it is, can step right in and that would be another way of sustaining our programs is to have the next person who has learned the exact rules and all the budgets and all of that per program and per agency and per federal government agency too. That's a way of sustaining some of the programs that we have.

I think also that tribes should insist on education for the young people. Too many people these days want to step into tribal government, just step right into it, with no prior training or knowledge or internal workings of the tribe, of the tribal standards and we need to insist that our kids at least get a minimum high school education, minimum, and encourage going on to college and then coming home to work and not starting at the top the minute they come home. Because that's what a lot of the kids today are demanding that when they get out of college and they come home they want to start at the top, and then if they start at the top then they step on toes and find out they don't know about tribal life. So although we encourage our kids to go on to school we have to kind of take them in at the entry level at least and let them learn for a minimum of a couple years at least, two years at least, tribal government and tribal ways. So yes, we need to pursue their education goals, but once they come home then we need to mentor them also for a year or two.

And I think also a fourth way of sustaining our good intentions and our good works, from this day forward, I would hope that the councils pass ordinances, makes it a law that the next generation of tribal council members have enough sense to go back...look backwards in the books and see if there isn't a law already or if there isn't a way to do things already. Because again, today too many of the kids automatically want to step up and assume something new without realizing they might be breaking an old law of some kind. So I think that would be a fourth way of sustaining programs is to ensure that ordinances are passed and that that book of ordinances is passed on to the next council so that anything that's in place is followed or anything that needs to be changed we would know where it needs to be changed, what paragraph, what section, whatever.

JoAnn Chase:

"Aaron, maybe as you address this question too and I know time is getting short on us here, but let me add a little twist to this to actually create a tie to some of the dialogue that took place this morning in terms of continuity of tribal governments themselves as well and how do the programs that we work with and how are they affected...?

Aaron Miles:

"Some of the things that I have seen with our gray wolf recovery effort is that we're in a totally different arena now that we not only serve the tribal membership, the general council now, but we also serve the general public. I mean the State of Idaho citizens now are stakeholders in wolf recovery and wolf management. So now a lot of my duties are to work with the state's entities and that's a whole new ballpark for the Nez Perce Tribe. And it was just recently in 1980, when I was growing up as a child, we fought the state, the Army National Guard at Rapid River in the central part of Idaho with the Fisherman's Committee, the state was trying to regulate us. And so when I come back to the tribe I go a whole 180-degree turn from not liking the state to having to work with them and so that was a different thing for me because my family had been adamant about not liking the state. And so finding common ground is where we're at right now. When you take a look at the Pacific Northwest, we're all in the same battle each...every...what is called the 'lord of yesterday,' the ranching, mining, farming, all that. We're all trying to protect our own heritages and we as Indian people are in the same boat. So we've got to find that commonality of how do we build our strengths from one another, rather than finding ways to oppose each other? That's kind of where the tribe...I think where tribes need to be, how do we protect each other rather than fighting and that common ground, hopefully, will make the tribes more visible because that's what we need right now. I was listening to Billy Frank, Jr. recently. He was saying, 'We've got to embarrass the hell out of the federal government for their past...the wrongdoings that they did to us.' Because right now we're...I was listening this morning, we are in a state of emergency of trying to protect our sovereignty and that's going to take educating non-Indian folks about who we are. It's very important. But I think also with that the tribe has to figure out ways to build leadership internally. What I see happening is that like for the Nez Perce Tribe, only the chairman can speak on behalf of the Nez Perce Tribe. Well, that leaves only one person being able to speak about the Nez Perce Tribe and there's a number of capable individuals on council or even managers that could speak on behalf of the tribe and start building that leadership so you have more individuals rather than just one. Attitudes in the workplace, there's different things that have changed the work environment from 20 years ago, 10 years ago and so tribes maintaining or keeping up with those...technology, the flow of information is so readily available, it's so different than yesteryears so we've got to keep up with those times, too. And I think tribes have been actually ahead of the game in many respects, especially with resource management. We've...like the Nez Perce Tribe, it's been the Nez Perce way of thinking that's been bringing back the species that belong in our Nez Perce country. It's not the science, it's the science that is meshed with the way the Nez Perce think, not just science alone. So that's the way I think most Indian tribes are operating and we've got to continue on like that."

JoAnn Chase:

"Comments by other panelists? Gary."

Gary Nelson:

"In order to preserve what we've worked hard for or even at the tribe certain values and things, first there has to be a strong identity and a national pride that comes probably before you can really say you have vision, commitment and all those things. I sat next to a Japanese man one time coming back from Chicago and I began to ask him questions. I started off by saying, 'You know, the Japanese people as a group are highly intelligent, capable, competitive, almost maybe you're equal, on par with the white race. What do you...what is your philosophy? What do you teach your youth?' His answer was fairly short and simple and he said, 'We teach them they're better than anybody. We teach them national pride, to believe in themselves.' It's the same thing what my grandmother taught me as a youth. '[Navajo language],' she says. 'Having confidence in yourself is a quality trait to have.' And so with our youth, all the things happening among them, the violence and the drugs and stuff, and then also I hear the elderly saying our youth don't know our cultural stories anymore but then it has to go further beyond that. Even the elders, or as a people, what does our culture mean or what does it...what's the interpretation of those things? Because you can't gain the identity without understanding what it means, and so that's something I've struggled with all my life. And I've seen my grandmother pray a certain way and how we're supposed to pray as the Diné and how she would say certain things to the thunderstorms but she had certain things she would say and I always wanted to know those things and I sought and searched myself and I finally came to realize what it is. So when you really realize where you fit in the human race and that you're not inferior, that you have a great heritage, it's a whole new world. The confidence that it gives you, that's what our youth need today. And to preserve that, I think the Kayenta Township, we have to build that into the system, the educational system. We have the strong desire at the community level for the Kayenta Township to continue. There was great effort to do away with it, to squash it, to limit it. There were strong forces out there that wanted to see it end but there was enough community vision, community support that stepped up and fought to keep it. Today with the new development, we're looking forward to tripling our tax revenues and the best way to sell is to show results. I'm a strong advocate for that. If people see the end product, how the new revenues or what it's paid for or new developments and new revenues and the kind of new services that the township might be able to help fund. So with that, the organizational structure, the right structures have to be there, a stable government. I think those are some of the components, I'm sure there's more but I think preserve something and to build that pride it will go. So if you do create this environment for business and if we do all the other things that help it, we know our people are going to get into business, they're going to...we'll see them doing business just like any off-reservation community."

JoAnn Chase:

"I'd just like to remind the panelists we're running a little tight on time, so if you have some comments about what it takes to sustain and courage to make those comments and then we'll wrap up and move on in the agenda. Vernelda."

Vernelda Grant:

"Just real quick. With the line of speakers this morning, I thought it was pretty interesting because I don't think I'm a conference Indian but I do go to conferences and I hear a lot of people speak and I try to sit back and keep my mind open to a lot of things that they have to say. But this morning I thought it was pretty interesting because it seems like each individual that was up there spoke on elements, well, like specifically Mr. [Robert] Yazzie and Mr. [Oren] Lyons, and I apologize but I didn't get the name of the doctor that spoke during lunch, but they all pointed to elements that make and sustain a leader and what a leader is and what a leader goes through. And you don't hear that much and it kind of points back to that self-awareness, the leader, the person who knows themselves and where they're going to go, where they've been and what they can do and who they can influence. So I think something like that that was pulled out, that's what I saw. I don't know if I'm just way out there, but I thought that was really interesting because we need that, we need that leadership and strength, I think, in our communities. We're lacking it with our tribal leaders, we're lacking it with our youth, we're lacking it with, I hate to even say this but in some communities with the elders, too. It's just everybody and I think that's...that leader, whatever field they may go into, governance, the cultural arena, dealing with money, different types of management, they can be successful no matter what they go into and like I said, they're all interrelated, not one works without the other and a person who's more whole, a person who's more...who can let their guard down and know who they are can go anywhere and like I said, can lead anybody anywhere. So I think that's what I wanted to stress about what I got out of this morning's line of speakers."

Aaron Miles:

"One of the concerns I had as well when I heard this morning's speakers was leadership. My concern is that in today's society, we have to teach our kids -- or there's this perception that we have to teach our kids -- how to be aggressive and get out there and do things, take initiative and direct people to do things in more of a military-type leadership. I was always brought up to always respect my elders and those characteristics to always be last in line or always offer your help, the humility, the things that servant leadership is really about in Indian Country sometimes don't mesh with the leadership in today's corporate world or whatever. So am I actually, when I teach my young kids, I have four kids, am I giving them a disadvantage if I don't teach them those ways? And so those are some of the daunting questions Indian people will be facing right now and in the future so who's leadership are we talking about and that's kind of where I'm coming from."

JoAnn Chase:

"That may be a very appropriate way to conclude our dialogue this afternoon. We are actually right at our time limit but this morning we had a chance to ask some questions and I encourage people in the audience, there's such great value and richness in the exchange that occurs to keep up the dialogue and ask the questions of the folks as we have a little bit more time together. But before we close this afternoon's session, does anybody have a particularly pressing question that they just need to ask before we let this panel go and move on along in the agenda?

We could be here all afternoon talking about some of these issues. These are great questions and again I appreciate the candor and the spirit of the dialogue among the panel. This will probably go...this is a question that raises some issues that need to continue to be talked about, not just a simple answer to a question but the kind of questions that we need to continue to raise and debate in our communities. And specifically, how do your programs address issues related to gender including sexism? I think it's a very provocative and important question and as I say, we need to continue to ask, and what is the distribution of leadership positions between men and women. So those issues of gender equity, certainly dealing with issues of sexism and probably added to that at some point important questions about racism both within our communities and the racism we face as well as various other -isms that are challenges to our communities. But in closing, does anybody want to talk about the gender issues with respect to their programs and within the leadership of their programs, whether it's excellent..."

Aaron Miles:

"We need more women in our leadership in Nez Perce."

JoAnn Chase:

"Anybody else have a response to that question? Bunny."

Bunny Jaakola:

"At Fond du Lac, unfortunately women are scarce in the leadership roles. The one position that's very important is the executive director in the structure that we have and that happens to be a female. However, it's my opinion that because the council members are all male, they see it easier to have a female in that position. So it's not...I don't really respect that and I'm wondering if you coordinators other than in nursing, the others are mostly male and the division directors are mostly male."

JoAnn Chase:

"Thank you for the question. Certainly those are important as I say questions that we need to raise. I again appreciate the candor of the panel discussion. I think if we don't raise the difficult questions sometimes and address them and talk frankly among ourselves, then they don't get addressed and the kinds of progress that we can make both within our programs and collectively is thwarted as a result of that. I also thank you, I've learned such a great amount in listening to each of you. We talked about some of the elements in terms of creating programs. We've talked about some of the elements in terms of sustaining programs and certainly one of those elements is the personalities involved and so each of you should be commended for your hard work and your personal commitment and dedication to really making a tremendous contribution not only within the tribe and your neighboring areas but collectively to the community as a whole."

Honoring Nations: Robert Yazzie: The Navajo Nation Judicial Branch

Producer
Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development
Year

Chief Justice Emeritus Robert Yazzie of the Navajo Nation Supreme Court talks about the Navajo Nation Judicial Branch's application of Navajo common law in its jurisprudence as an example of the importance of Indigenous cultural values and common law into the governance systems of Native nations.

People
Native Nations
Resource Type
Citation

Yazzie, Robert. "The Navajo Nation Judicial Branch." Honoring Nations symposium. Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. Sante Fe, New Mexico. February 8, 2002. Presentation.

Andrew Lee:

"Thank you, Steve [Cornell]. Now I'd like to call to the podium Dr. Manley Begay, who's also a co-director of the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development and he's also the director of the Native Nations Institute at the University of Arizona who will introduce our next speaker."

Manley A. Begay:

"Good morning everyone. Hope everyone had a real nice sleep. I did. For those of you that are about six feet, three or four inches or taller, I have a real important question to ask you. How do you stand underneath those showerheads? It's a real funky showerhead. Did you guys notice that? When you turn it, it turns off and you have to have it going down. I thought it was kind of interesting.

Let me just sort of say a little bit about what Steve mentioned. When I joined the Harvard Project back in 1988, it was really quite interesting that these two white guys were out running around Indian Country trying to figure out things. And they were actually lost. And when I showed up, I showed them the way. Sometimes I regret it. I've known these guys for so long, we joke about one another. They joke about me. They say, 'We've known him for so long that we remember when he had dark hair.' So I say, 'Well, I remember when they had hair.' It's very interesting how things have occurred down through the years.

This next presentation, what's every interesting about this is that you have essentially, under some trying circumstances, an individual or a group of individuals that rose to the occasion to really set up a mechanism by which to ensure that government, the Navajo government in this case, had a checks and balance system and had a separation of powers. And it was really an outgrowth out of some trying circumstances, essentially a mini revolution. It's unbelievable to hear the stories underneath the story. The amount of courage, the amount of tenacity, and the amount of foresight that was used by Chief Justice Robert Yazzie and the other judges in the midst of some turmoil in the Navajo Nation, and it's not unlike countries throughout the world. And in this case, in the world's most wealthiest nation, you have these problems and issues. And interestingly enough, the Navajo Nation, through the leadership of Robert Yazzie and others, rose to the occasion and handle issues, resolve disputes that were pressing to Navajo Country and they set their mark.

It was really a story about how we as Indian people can resolve our own issues without outside interference. And stories we hear about problems and turmoil throughout the world really points to the make or break characteristic of nation building, which is a strong and independent judicial system with strong and also well trained leaders. And I think the Navajo Nation court system is an example of that among other court systems as well out here in Indian Country. I would venture to say that the Navajo Court System is as strong or stronger than some of the best court systems throughout the world. And it's because of that the Navajo Court System was recognized. And interestingly enough, Robert Yazzie and others stood their ground and created for all of us an innovation, a creation that will last for a very, very long time rooted in Navajo common law as the law of the land, which is the way it should be. It's really an example of a culturally appropriate leadership as well as a culturally appropriate institution.

And with that I'd like to introduce Robert Yazzie. He is Bit'ahnii, that's his mother's clan. His father's clan is Tódichí­í­ní­í­. His nalí­, or his relatives on his dad's side, is Kinyaa'aanii and on his mother's side is, his mother's father's clan is íshiihii. So íshiihii and my clan, Ma'ii Deshgizhnii are the same clan so we call each other Cheí­í­ or grandfather. Chief Justice Yazzie has been on the bench for 16 years and has been a chief justice for 10 years. He's a graduate of the University of New Mexico Law School back in 1982 and also is a graduate of Oberlin College back in 1974. So with that, the Honorable Chief Justice Yazzie.

Robert Yazzie:

Yá'át'ééh! I was going to say como esta? I have to say something like that in Santa Fe. I wish to thank Mr. Andrew Lee -- and I always have to look up to him when I talk with him -- for this opportunity to invite the Navajo Nation judicial branch to give...to make comments about the contribution of the branch to good governance.

As an opening I would like to talk about Justice [David] Souter's concurrent opinion in Nevada v. Hicks, which is very troublesome to all of us. He said, when this past summer, Associate Justice O'Connor, Sandra Day O'Connor and Justice Breyer came to the Navajo Nation to observe the Indian justice in Indian Country. And much of what they said is different from what the way Justice Souter said in his concurrent opinion. He said, 'Non-Indians are in danger of unwarranted intrusion on personal liberty in Indian courts.' And he gave a basis for that and said, 'The U.S. Bill of Rights does not apply to Indian nations. And when you look at the Indian Civil Rights Act, it does not include all its guarantees. Indian courts apply customs, traditions and practices.' And he said, 'This is very difficult for non-Indians to work out, to understand.' He said, 'There is no appeal of a tribal court decision in state or federal court or removal to the federal court.' And the last one he said is, 'Tribal courts are often subordinate to political branches of tribal government.' All he's saying and all what Justice O'Connor and Breyer said, 'We don't trust you, period.' So it's interesting what Justice Souter had to say in his concurrent opinion. It flies in the face of the work being done by the Harvard Project on American Economic Development and its members. While that's the case, if you read the reports, the studies, testimonies of the project, and what we just heard just now, it works. And that's how we see it and that's our position and it's very important and the only thing that we need to do is go to Congress to undo what the U.S. Supreme Court did to us. We have to show to Congress that we have evidence that sovereignty works. If federal court doesn't trust Indian courts, then Congress must.

It is interesting that the contributions of the Navajo Nation judicial branch has made to good governance involves the very thing Souter complains about: customs, traditions and practices, and we call it Navajo common law. He said, 'This is unusually difficult for outsiders,' and I don't agree with that whatsoever. When we look around we see people, people who are of fine mind, people who are distinguished, who say that the approach, the traditional Indian law, is the best you can ever have when it comes to approaching problems. And there are articles, for example the American Journal of Comparative Law, Robert Cooter, Wolfgang Fickinger of the University of California at Berkeley. They praise the system and there are other writers who say that when you look at the Indian world, you find models like Navajo peacemaking is a leading model. And if you look at our Navajo common law jurisprudence, you will see that we have something in common with state courts of last resort decisions.

In [the] 1970s, U.S. Supreme Court gave a very strict reading to the U.S. Bill of Rights. They denied certain civil rights and liberties. State courts reacted and said, 'Well, then, we're going to read similar provisions in our state bill of rights in a way that will better serve the rights of our citizens.' And when you look at the Navajo situation, you will see that we do have a Navajo Nation Bill of Rights. And if you just look at the Navajo notion of basic rights, you will see that there's more protection given than what the U.S. Constitution has to offer. The Navajo, the 1985 Navajo Nation Bill of Rights, guarantees the right to life, liberty and property as fundamental right and we have the Equal Rights Amendment to guarantee gender equality.

Life, liberty and property, who's definition should we use? When American law talks about life, it talks about situations where the government takes someone's life. When we [Navajo] talk about life, we say iiná, and iiná is not just about living. It's about a way of life. Iiná is located in the west and if you have life after you prayed about it and reflected to form good thoughts from the east Nitsáhákees, the thoughts. Your mind starts from the east every morning and if you develop a good plan based upon prayer, reflection and discussion, what we call nahat'á from the south direction. So life means much more in Navajo thinking than it does in American constitutional law. What about liberty? In Navajo we say t'áá bí­ bóhólní­í­h, t'áá bí­ bí­déét'i'. It means, 'it's up to him.'

The Navajo Nation Supreme Court has made it clear in several opinions that the Navajo concept of liberty guarantees more freedom than the Anglo concept. And when we talk about property, I have seen paranoia in discussion over Navajo Nation economic development because people say they are afraid of the Navajo Nation council messing with home site leases that are mortgaged. Some refuse to recognize the Navajo Nation courts would not permit that under our Bill of Rights. In addition, we recognize customary property rights and Navajo common law is very concerned about individual's right to property. So as the Navajo Nation, we've talked about individual rights, we also talk about collective rights, and those two are not isolated. They work hand in hand and they work very well. As it is with several states, we give a more expansive and better reading to our Bill of Rights. It is one which responds to Navajo expectations. The Navajo Nation Supreme Court has said that the expectations of the Navajo people are a source of law under our due process clause. So a question here, do American courts say the same thing about the expectations of American people in decisions.

In 1982, things weren't working out quite as well with the courts. The cases were going up and up. Today we have 76,000 cases and people are becoming more and more dissatisfied when we as judges render decisions, lawyers are forever fighting. So what about looking at what we used to have 200-300 years ago? There is a system that lived, that was in existence at that time. Locked out was just locked behind closed doors. When we look at the system that was there from time immemorial, we saw that there were decisions made about people. Who makes the decisions about important aspects of people's lives is an important aspect of Navajo common law is what we learned in 1982. While we adopted an adjudication system, adversarial system where judges make the decision, or all decisions, we also had a method for people to make their own decision and we find out that the more you do that there's good decisions, there's strong decisions, there's better decisions, decisions that last a long time, something that does the job, something that gets to the bottom of things. So we have referred cases to that system where the people can look at it, make the decision. Something that we couldn't resolve in court we'll resolve over there.

So who would have thought in 1982 that by the year 2002 the United Nations would be looking at a traditional Indian method of dispute resolution as a model? Who would have thought that today legal scholars would be taking a serious look at traditional Indian law as a source of law and justice and vengeance? One of the very positive aspects of the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development is the fact that it not only promotes Indian nation sovereignty, it points out to Indian traditions as a source of economic success. So when we talk about good governance movement, we have to be serious because it is something, it is a movement that's going on at the international level. There are positive aspects of it in the international law as people are talking about subjects such as inclusive government, participatory democracy and the rules of law.

What contributions did we make to good governance in the Navajo Nation? Now you see Navajo legal terms and opinions, legislations and law articles. When we look at our Bar Association, we have 400 members; we have non-Indian, non-Navajo, as well as Navajos. So as a justice when we hold oral argument, we now can see that people are bringing claims for defenses based on Navajo common law and they even use Navajo legal word or two in oral argument in court. We now have a body of case law in published opinions that answers Justice Souter's concern about understanding traditional Indian government. We spell it out clearly in decisions written in English that are available for any interested reader. As for federal judicial review of the fairness of decisions, what is there to review? Our decisions are clear. They show the principles which apply and why and they give predictability to court decisions in the future and people are very happy about that.

At end, what we call sovereignty isn't something given to us, you or I. When you read the law definition, it's pretty bad because it talks about absolute power, absolute authority. Our definition is quite different. It speaks to the dignity and individuality of everyone. It talks about sharing and caring. It embodies respect for the individual. It promotes participatory democracy. Question: do we face any dangers? Answer: certainly. There are some people who forget the role of a court is a step between the individual and his or her government when there are abuses. There are those who would deny that judges have a sacred obligation to uphold fundamental rights guaranteed in both Navajo Nation Bill of Rights and Navajo common law. There are a few who mock our interpretations of due process from a Navajo point of view. They are not Navajos. If due process is fairness, then what is fair? There's a saying in a cartoon. The character says, ask the magic mirror, 'Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?' The answer, 'The Supreme Court.' We like to think it's the Navajo Nation Supreme Court. That is our challenge: what's fair [and] what our traditions and sacred wisdom tell us as they have handed down to us in our oral traditions.

We were honored by an award based upon the Navajo Nation judicial system's promotion of Navajo common law principles and procedures. That is a high honor indeed. As you know, the late Al Harris received that honor. He's no longer with us today, but he did his best to get us where we needed to be. It is somewhat frightening too because the honor is a challenge to maintain our efforts. The first justices of the Navajo Supreme Court have now retired. They have set the high standards for which we were honored. I follow them, others will soon follow me. I can only hope that the standards we have put in opinions, court rules, judicial policies on Navajo common law will stand the test of time and I think they will. Why? If Navajo common law itself has stood the test of time, surviving imposed government systems, imposed courts and other imposed standards and the tax on our sovereignty, it will survive. People like Kit Carson are alive and well, and all that stands between us, and a distinction as Indians, is our law. That is why we fought for it and put it in place in our judicial system.

What is good governance? If you make reference to your Indian mind, in our case to the Navajo mind, you can look at all four directions and you can read things and one thing that you can read for sure is when you look at yourself you know who you are, you know where you've been, you know where you're standing, you know where you're going, that you are a reflection of what's out there, the four directions. It is the Navajo common law principle of order within the four sacred mouths. So we say bee haaz aanii and that's a word to say it's Navajo, it's law. But if you look at the term bee haaz aanii and ask the question, what does it mean? It'll take you a lifetime to explain what it means. Simply it...life comes from it. Bee haaz aanii does not mean you cannot do this, you cannot do that and you cannot do that. Bee haaz aanii means, what is permitted. Bee haaz aa. So if we stand with that, we know where we are, we know our foundation, we know our future. Thank you."