Navajo Times (Newspaper) - March 31, 1982, Window Rock, Arizona WINDOW ROCK ARIZONA By Donovan Navajo Times nl WINDOW ROCKNa vajo tribal judicial of are hoping that members of the tribe who take advantage of the first Navajo Justice Day will realize just how much Navajo Justice Day highlights progress of judicial system progress the Navajo judicial system has made in the past few We now deal with issues as complex as those handled by any of the state courts and we are required to be as informed about legal matters as most other said the nations only female Marie of But as the judges meet with members of the tribe Thursday as part of the Justie Day there is still the lingering feeling that the image of the tribal judiciary system is still just a little bit Tom one of the newer has been on both first as an ad vocate for 10 years and now as a district judge in Window When I was an ad vocate I heard people say that cases were decided not on the basis of what the law was but on who you he shaking his as a judge and being in so to I realize that this is not the way it The judges care that justice is given and want their image to reflect Thai is said the judges were all behind the holding of an open house on this We are hoping that people who assume that justice is unfair will come to the ask us any questions they may have and view first hand what tribal justice is he Homer a 10 year veteran on the court who has been practicing in the Chinle district for the past 10 feels that peer pressure is one reason why the tribal court system has been im proving over the past few Continued to page 4 BIA Plan To Benefit Na vaj os Four Corners Power MacDonald confronts Bush on budget WINDOW ROCKNa vujo Tribal Chairman Peler MacDonald is scheduled to meet today with United Stales Vice President George Bush in an 10 mitigate the effects of the current federal economic policy on the Navajo The meeting will focus on major issues of long and short term assistance lo lessen im pact of Reagans budget cuts on the as well as chairmans specific recommendations to the Administration on lhc development of a federal Indian MacDonald will also discuss with Vice Presdicnl other major areas of concern regarding the meeting will climax a series of meetings held between key government officials and delegates of the Navajo Tribe over the past several months to counteract some of the im pacts of the federal budget cuts and to sensitize the federal government to unique situation of the Nations largest Indian The Washington The Washington initiative was developed around the A Matter of Life prepared by the Navajo Nations Budget Task to make known the impacts of federal budget cuts and 10 present special recommendations to he President and The 24 page report details effects of the cutbacks in em ploy basic human economic development and and provides the historical for the peculiarly counter productive of the Ad overall Economic program lor the Navajo The report recommends the definition of a federal safety net in the context of Continued to page 3 Official denies administration tampered with election laws By Duane Beyal General Editor WINDOW reau of Indian Affairs of from addressed a special session of the Navajo Tribal Council March 24 on the proposed reorganization of the a subject which has spawned many rumors and fears about the effect the proposal would have on the Navajo BIA Deputy Assistant Secretary John the architect of the proposed ted recent rumors that the Navajo Area office would be transferred to Albuquerque and said because of the special situation of the Navajo an office especially tailored 10 the needs of the Navajo Nation would be setup The rumor that the Navajo Area office would be to Albuquerque is a fabrication of the said after the marathon council session that left him exhausted and shaking his head ai the misconceptions and questions displayed during I he In the past much has been said of the BlAs activities to the point of said Navajo Tribal Council Chairman Peter Mac Donald in opening that maybe a doomsday is on the horizon for all of It was for this MacDonald that the request was made by the tribe to bring officials Irom the Washington of fice to explain the BlAs Accompanying was Gabe director ol Indian Education within the to explain developments con education on ho The education program on the reservation is separate from the BlAs other programs and The special situation of Navajos The proposed announced Interior Assistant Ken Smith will im prove management ef reduce personnel in central and area offices by 20 percent and overhead costs by million in fiscal year The reorganization will replace area offices nationwide with regional service Before adopting the agenda for the the council added an item calling for direct input of the council HUG the reorganization and Fritz said thai this is right on rack with my flic said essentially creates a Navajo Regional service an he thai supports one people instead of many The Navajo area is so Continued to page 3 muel executive assistant to denied allegations ihal tribal administration had refused to place proposed election law revisions before the tribal council during the winler li is unfortunate that I he newly installed mem bers are attempting to misinform Navajo people by claiming the revisions were not being presented by the chair he that is simply not The revisions contained numerous grammatical and typographical errors and there were in consistencies with some he The Navajo Tribal Council cannot be expected 10 pass such he This will be a law of the Navajo kind ol work is The allegation that the chairman omitted the limitation on chairmans terms was denied The present law simply slates thai there is no limit 10 chairmans The commission failed to justify why it limitation should be said Already the government is being accused by certain individuals that the people have no limitation should be decided by the people rather than impose a law thai could be considered To the question of whether the laws do need Pete noted some areas that need im The provision to lower the age for can to 25 is he The area of campaigns and expenses needs revision due to the economic conditions of he and there have been several problems at chapters because council delegates dont attend he The question of the nonattendance of elected officials is what type ol remedy is needed to adjust that said when disputes arise between chapter of there is no provision to address that A division bet ween chapter officials results in a lack of representation for the he The criticism thai the laws do indeed need revision is not disputed by Continued lo page 3 Bureau of Indian Affairs Deputy Assistant Secretary John Friiz left v education within the and Navajo Area Director Donald V ln inbal council March 24 to explain the BlAs plan lhc DNA joins uproar over New Mexico reapportionment DALTON DNA Director Peterson Zah reported on the recent DNA lawsuit filed against the New Mexico State Legislature challenging the new reapportionment and laws opponents of the ill discriminate Americans ind other minority The class action led on behalf of all voters in New Mexico and all eligible in Jew Mexico is lhc third suit fled in District Court in The law suits charge that the new laws violated the constitutional guaran tee of equal representation and discriminate against groups which traditionally nave had a low voter tur The criticism is aimed at the method used by the New Mexico Legislature to determine population rather than basing its population count on the 1980 the legislature used the num ber of votes cast in each district during the most recent election as the basis for determining the total population of the This ratio formula robs people in districts where voters turnout was low of an equal voice in the critics The first lawsuit was sponsored by the South west Voter Registration Education together with the National Indian Youth the Coun Legal Southern New Mexico Legal and a number of in on behalf of all New Mexico voters and all eligible New Mexico minority The second lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Both lawsuits and the DNA lawsuit charge that the voter turnout for mula violates the one one vote rule required by federal law which requires ap proximately the same number of people not voters in each and results in the un of people who have traditionally had a low turnout in particularly Native Americans and other The dramatic injustice caused by population from votes cast for these groups can better be understood when considering that among minority group There are more people under the age of 18 who are ineligible to vote Of those eligible to vote there tends to be a lower num ber of registered voters and Of those there is traditionally a lower percentage who ac tually Both the and the DNA lawsuits are charging that the voter turnout formula draws district lines in such a way as to minimize the voting strength of For the redistricting throws Shiprock into the same Senate district as Los Because of the dense voting population in the Los Alamos it is unlikely that Navajos will be able to elect an Indian It is probable that a senator will continue to be elected from the Los Alamos an area with interests so different from interests the people of Shiprock will be without It is the objective of the DNA Zah to see that Native American voting rights are protected in court and then exercised people will truly get the equal representation they are promised in the In the DNA lawsuit is challenging the New Mexico legislatures decision to extend the four year terms to seven Continued to page 3
