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Although there were a handful of complaints about the newspaper's coverage of this issue filed online with the stories themselves, those who chose to write directly to me were overwhelmingly supportive of The Daily Times effort to report this story and learn more. Taxpayers, Navajo tribal members, teachers ... all expressed anger that at least 362 people claiming ties to the Navajo Nation traveled to Hawaii for an education conference, many of them on public money intended to help schools and students.
We never did get access to or a reply directly from Navajo President Joe Shirley.
His spokesman fired off the op-ed printed on Page D2, apparently unsure of whether our work is sloppy journalism or worthy of an award. To me, his commentary is what it is: A politician's spokesman reacting to a call for accountability.
We have no clue what President Shirley thinks. Still waiting.
Regardless, instead of responding to the claims of why the newspaper did this story, we thought we would let the people respond.
Here is but a sample of the e-mails sent to me after the column was published:
Good morning to you! Great article!! I agreed with your article about the Navajo NationNation's going to their "conference" in Hawaii. It must be nice to use up your people's money. I thought this article hit the nail right on the head. It wasn't about being racist, or trying to make the Navajo officials look bad ... what you said is true. And I am sorry to say that that's not the first time the Navajo Nation has been corrupt in using the tribe's money for personal use or on things they don t need.
wasn't it just a couple of months ago that the tribal leaders used money unwisely and bought themselves some rings? I am not trying to speak against my own people, but geez, 362 people?
That money should have been used in other areas of the Navajo Nation — for our children especially. And I'm sorry to break it to you, but you will not hear from any Navajo officials explaining their actions or behaviors ... believe me, I've tried. What you will get is a lot of tribal workers on vacation, leaving work early, in a "meeting," or, oh yeah, spending what little funds we have available on themselves.
R.J.
I'm a Navajo tribe member and I appreciate the story on how the funding for our youth is being spent. That kind of misuse is more common than we would think. it's hard to tell our leaders because they are usually guilty of misuse of money also. I hope your newspaper does more stories about this subject to shed a light on our officials and maybe keep them in line. There are also many officials that are doing a great job helping our people; also, not all officials are dishonest. Thank You for your story, and I think you made some people aware and nervous.
E.K.
As a Navajo, I commend you and your people on your articles in the Times. I appreciate it when someone has the nerve to step up and speak the truth. It is too bad that I come from one of the biggest Indian Nations and yet I had to leave the reservation for my education. Maybe if they put more money to the Nation's education, I might not have to leave and would have actually stayed on the reservation and finished my education.
I thank the public schools closest to the reservations for what they have done to "cover" up the failures of the Reservation school. Right now I work in Farmington... and commute daily to work. I can't find any jobs close to home because people that know people on the inside get those jobs first, even if they don t have the skills or experience. I applied for several jobs in Arizona and I was told that I was not experienced. But really it boils down to who you know.
Back to education. ... I live near my in-laws, so daily they take my son who is in kindergarten to the bus stop. It is about 2 miles away. Then they have to drive my daughter to the Head Start, which is 15 miles in the opposite direction. They told me that they did not have the funds to add my daughter on the bus run since she lives too far out. But yet they drive to other directions which is the same distance out as us. My in-laws drop my son off in the morning, drop my daughter off in the morning, pick my daughter up in the afternoon, and finally pick my son up in the afternoon so my kids can get a "quality" education. Phooey...!! I don t think so.
In the end, thank you for the attention you have brought to this education conference.
L.B.
You deserve kudos for a great article. Why should the Navajo leadership think that their policies should be above public scrutiny? FYI, I am not against the Navajos. I have spent 221 2 years working on the rez and have come to appreciate them as a people very much. Every race has its bad and good apples.
D.C.
Thank you for the article you have written. It means a lot to me see such an article in the manner you have written. Thank you for making my day.
T.W.
I very much appreciate your today's editorial. Thank you for giving a justifiable argument to further enlighten and understanding for the important questions that are being addressed of our public officials in spending a large amount of money whether it be federal, public, and/or private funds earmarked for the education of Navajo school children on the reservation.
Sam
I totally agree with what you guys are doing. As a member of the Navajo tribe and graduate from NMSU, I cannot believe what has been going on up there. We do need answers! It seems that the voice of the people has been going unheard for so long. The leaders who are in these positions need to understand that they have a commitment to fulfill for the people, not themselves.
If they were compassionate of the people they would have sent the elders, our real teachers, to Hawaii. I am curious to see the outcome and the benefits of the trips and what these people will contribute to the educational system. I am a daily online reader of The Daily Times and I support your periodical 100 percent.
C.F.
I have to applaud your stance in the article written that questions why so many representatives from the Navajo Nation supposedly attended the NIEA conference. As a Navajo person living off the reservation, I often read The Daily Times, Navajo Times and Gallup Independent to stay informed of what is happening back home.
The articles referring to this topic have all been informative and in no way racist, but do give a voice to the Navajo people that should be questioning what is happening within the tribal government and where money is being spent. Actually, the fact that so many representatives from the Nation attended this conference would have gone unknown to me if it weren't for the articles printed in this newspaper. Again, I applaud the newspaper's decision to question the spending of the Navajo Tribe.
Kim
That was a damn good story.
it's spending like that is the reason why my dad sometimes doesn't get paid.
A.J.
I read Cory Frolik's article (Nov. 3) and I thank you for reporting this information because I do feel that my tribal leaders do spend money without much forethought sometimes. I honestly don t know how they justify this travel and great expense. It seems that if they wanted this information on education that they could hire or pay some specialist to come and speak on the Navajo reservation at a lesser expense.
I also read another similar article recently about extraneous funding for "Super Bowl-like"commemerative rings for every council delegate at a cost of $50,000 paid by the Navajo Tribe. Look into that as well ... My parents still live on the reservation without running water or indoor plumbing while these so called "Tribal Leaders" continue throwing money away.
It infuriates me to no end. They could have used some of these funds for so badly needed education scholarships. Please keep working to uncover answers ... if there are any to be had. Thanks again.
Navajo woman living
in Denver
It has been reported, and a quote from CCSD Interim Superintendent Charles Hayes, that nobody has attended an Indian Education conferences in recent history, therefore the justification for sending so many to Hawaii.
If everybody does their homework, they would find that ... at least two ... attended the same conference in Alaska two years ago...
Did the Alaska trip produce any noticeable effect for students? No. It seemed to have more to do with bragging rights on who got to go where that year.
News tip
I think that your article wasn't biased whatsoever. Our tribal leaders need to hear things like this in the media because they do NOT listen to their own people. They simply march to the beat of their own drum, and not of the people they represent. I have more to say but I ll keep my opinions to myself, but thank you for writing the article.
T.P.
Good morning,
I'm a full-blood Navajo and one of the many that were furious as to the high numbers sent to the conference in Hawaii. These days the Navajo government seems eager to spend the money that was meant for the benefit of the Navajo people on frivolous luxury.
First the rings and now a trip to Hawaii. Mr. Shirley probably thinks the line of credit for his casinos will save the people. I thought he was trying to help the nation; it seems rather that he is laughing as the government digs the hole deeper and deeper.
Anyway, I'm sure that you know all this, I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you for writing in defense for the paper and for the children who could have used the money.
People who send Hate mail unsigned are cowards. When they make wrong decisions and are recognized for their mistakes by others, they always tend to lash out with racist accusation. it's a wall to hide behind and counter for their mistake. Maybe I'm in the wrong business; I need a trip to Hawaii. Once again thank you for the story and the facts. Know that the paper indeed has faithful readers and would indeed vouch for it!
Sophia,
A daily reader
Good morning. I understand from your article you are frustrated. Please know that your work is greatly appreciated. I have moved my family away from the reservation to attend NMSU, my husband and me read The Daily Times online to feel at home while 400 miles away.
The quality of work The Daily Times provides is very informative. The idea of 300-plus representatives of my people attending an education conference in Hawaii is embarrassing. After speaking with my parents and family we did come to the conclusion that if it wasn't printed in the newspaper, we would not have heard of such spending. We would later hear there is no funding, and where did it go?
You know. Thank you, no matter what others may say, let your employees know from the reporters to the printers "Keep up the good work and the truth will persevere."
T. Henderson
I really enjoyed your column today on the Navajo-Hawaii issue. Powerful stuff; I was most amazed at Shirley's stance, or apparent lack of one. A true display of "hands-off" leadership style.
N.E.
Dear Sir: Thanks for the article that put the spotlight on the theft of Diné children's education. For too long, not only tribal employees, but also school districts and other government-funded entities also have taken trips to nearly everywhere in North America. It seems that the only interest, ahead of securing next year's funding, is expending their work hours to "justify" cost for trips. If only they spent a fraction of energy helping end economic/social problems through education, the many problems would become few.
As for Joe Shirley, like Peter McDonald, his office makes sure that only information that they want him to get, gets to him. As for the charge of bias reporting, I see that as the employees employing the Art of Deception.
P.D.
I think it awesome that you guys write these stories about our Navajo people, about our young Native athletes and other areas of interest to our Native people. I feel like someone does need to answer to why we sent so many people to Hawaii on a conference; we don t even have that many schools on the Navajo Nation! Navajo Nation funds need to be better spent. I hope The Daily Times keeps on top of this, I would like to know, and for everybody's information, I'm a Dineh from the Dineh Nation.
Buck
I am a Navajo, born and registered on the Navajo Reservation. I was not schooled on the reservation until my high school. However, my children did and are going to school on the reservation. Sadly, I must send my son to live with his older sister in a city where there are extracurricular school activities that reservation schools do not provide.
When I read the article in yesterday's Daily Times regarding the Hawaii Conference, it angered me that money was once again abused by those who should be role models toward our children. I'm sure there were a few who were serious about the conference and took home hopefully knowledge of how to build our children's education. But the image of tribal official sleeping during the conference (as they do in their council meetings), or shopping at a Hawaii Mall/Wal-mart or sipping cocktails at a "wiki tiki" bar is all I see.
Tribal officials often don t account for what is being spent and now I know why ...
S.J.
I read the article from yesterday and your response today and I cannot agree with you more. As an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation I am disgusted at the blatant abuse of unregulated authority of which allowed so many people to attend one conference. Just last week America watched a young man who created the indoor heating element from cans and a radiator get a new house built for him and his family on ABCs "Home Makeover."
That same night America watched another young man (Jacoby Ellsbury) help his team win the World Series.
Yes, these were two young "Navajos" who took it upon themselves to rise above the level of confusion that my Navajo Nation leaders have routinely demonstrated ...
Kyle
Mr. Turner,
Hey, you did good! as they say. And that's from an old guy who remembers working for news editors who taught that asking tough questions, listening well and getting all major sides of the story wasn't anything special — just the norm.
it's good to see that in Navajo Country and elsewhere the Fourth Branch of Government is letting the chips fall where they may.
JAS
Altoona, Wis.
Hooray for you! I enjoyed reading your article. I am Navajo and I don t agree that it was due to racism or bias that the Hawaii trip was reported. I'm glad that I know about it. It just goes to show how ignorant some people (even important ones) can be.
L.B.
Teacher
Thank you for writing the article. My first reaction to the article was the number, 362. I am just astounded that we need that many representatives! Are some of these people educators from remote communities? And is anyone REALLY going to change our education system? I hope somebody came home with some very good ideas.
Yes, as a taxpayer on the reservation I should feel outraged and bewildered.
A Concerned Diné
Hi Troy,
That was a nice editorial that you wrote about the Navajo Nation sending all those people to Hawaii. And that was a darn good article that Cory wrote the other day about it, too.
Thank you (a lot of people on my end are glad that it's out there, too).
AJM
Troy, you did a good job in reporting this governmental abuse by the Navajo Nation. What I do not understand is they are asking for donations for the needs for the kids and this funds could have been better spent.
Shirley, himself stated he is not an administrator and his wife is not an educator so how does it benefit them other than a free vacation? An audit should be done of the exact amount of funds spent and they should have to pay it back. How can they see this as nothing be wrong with this picture. Especially, their claim that the children are so poor and in need of supplies. Half-million is a big chunk of change. They, too, can be considered as wasteful spenders.
Aspen
I wanted to quickly comment as a result of reading your recent article "Navajo schoolchildren deserve better" referencing the Navajo contingent (or rather the size of it) that attended the recent NIEA conference in Honolulu. I was also in attendance at the conference representing (private business).
I had the opportunity to meet many people, including some of those from the Navajo Nation, I didn't know of course at the time the size of the group and frankly it didn't make much difference to me since the Navajo Nation and the states of Arizona and New Mexico are on our list of areas we would like to conduct business...
We work with Tribal leaders, educators, elders, students, state departments of education and the community at large to produce 21st century culturally specific learning applications. So, when thinking about how many people showed up from the Navajo Nation, for me it was because of my ability to meet a number of different people from the Navajo Nation, educators, school trustees etc that there may be the potential for some of the most impressive learning material projects that the Navajo Nation and region has ever seen.
The folks I met were working very hard and proud of their message and work, attending workshops, conducting workshops (there were too many good ones being put on by Navajo community members to attend just by myself), sitting at booths I can't speak for every single community member attending of course just the ones I met in person I found them to be passionate about education and very pleasant people in general. ...
This may be a bit off topic AND sound like a commercial, however, it's only intended to communicate that because it could be said that these and ALL children deserve better we should zero in on generating new results and exploring new solutions — in this case, a result of (our company) meeting the Navajo Nation at NIEA
Corporate VP
Mr Turner, I want to thank you for your bold coverage of the Navajo Nation trip to Hawaii. I have lived in Aztec for almost three years, and I have been on a huge learning curve about Nation politics. I have become appalled that so many people live in unnecessary poverty, either through poor Nation public policy or outright graft and greed.
I am even more appalled that my tax dollars support such a corrupt governmental system. I understand that injustices were rampant in the past, but it is time for the Navajo government to step up, take personal responsibility, and move on. Hopefully, serious Federal investigation of the misuse of these funds will open the door to real accountability.
Sus
Thank you for your latest article. I didn't read the first article, but I wish I had. We don t get the Farmington Daily Times here in Flagstaff. Some one e-mailed this copy to me.
It would be interesting to know how many of those 362 actually attended the conference and stayed to the end. I mean actually attended every session. Out of the 362, at least 18-20 were council delegates. Most of the time the very people that should be questioning such actions are the ones participating. I am sure this is not a one-time occurrence. There are Indian education boards using JOM funds that travel to all conferences, the farther away, the better.
A few years ago here in Flagstaff, the board traveled to Alaska to attend a conference using JOM funds, but the students at the Flagstaff dorm that wanted to attend had to raise funds by having Navajo Taco sales.
G.L.
Flagstaff, Ariz.
Because as Navajos, we do not have any rights, thanks to "Sovereignty," it could mean my job or benefits to my family. However, I just want to congratulate your paper for voicing what needs to be voiced by citizens of the Navajo Nation!
This isn't the first time funds intended to help our "third-world" status people are squandered and none dares to say anything.
I do not feel that your paper is racist as you might've been accused of especially when you helped exposed the recent travels to Hawaii by politicians, school boards, committees that have nothing to do with education per sé.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH!
Office manager
Greeting Sir, Boy do I strongly agree with your article in The Daily Times. Could I say "Bullseye!"
I'm a Navajo and member of that tribe. I strongly believe that these "362" representatives that were sent, or should we say that, they just wanted to go? They had no probable cause to justify that amount of people to attend a educational conference in Hawaii, my opinion. Moreover, I just want to know, why wasn't I invited? :)
In all seriousness. Enough with this kind "Pork Barrel spending." Thank you for your journalistic reporting on these kinds of important issues at hand.
A.C.
Tempe, Ariz.
I read your article, well said. I'm Navajo or Diné. I agree that more of my people need to voice their demands for equality and quality education they rightfully deserve. They tried to assimilate us and failed, so they re trying to sweep the needs of native people under the carpet. What attempted genocide? Sure we re conquered people but we still speak our language and we still pray to the holy people. Most of us anyway. Ideally I think the native people of this country should become one voice.
I think it's sad that a lot of people who went are not teachers or educators. Thank you for drawing attention to the wrong that has been done to our children.
In solidarity,
I.T.
Diné Nation
