Navajo hopefuls face off in debate

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. — About 1,000 people turned out Tuesday night to listen to a debate featuring nearly a dozen Navajo Nation presidential hopefuls who are each aiming to be the next leader of the country's largest Indian reservation.

Each candidate was given five minutes for an opening speech, and one candidate used his time to announce that he was dropping out of the race and would support current President Joe Shirley Jr.

Jon C. Reeves, an oil field inspector from Kirtland, N.M., said his views are similar to those of Shirley.

"The path that we are taking now is the right path," he said. "We have balances, we have progress, and I'm not going to stand in the way of that."

Other candidates blasted the leadership of Shirley and Vice President Frank Dayish Jr., saying the two had made promises when they were elected but haven't followed through.

The candidates cited Shirley's plans to improve education, but noted that the tribe's Head Start program has come under fire from federal officials.

Funding for the program was suspended in May by the federal Administration for Children and Families. The agency said the tribe failed to perform background checks and that an investigation turned up dozens of employees with criminal records.

The tribe last month submitted a proposal to the agency seeking a partial reinstatement of funding, but a spokesman for Shirley confirmed Tuesday that the plan had been rejected.

When asked why the problems had not been fixed sooner, Shirley instead focused on the opening of the Early Head Start program and said officials were hopeful that the rest of the Head Start program would open soon.

The candidates answered a range of questions from a group of six panelists.

Tom Arviso Jr., publisher of the Navajo Times, the newspaper sponsoring the debate, said he had only one requirement for the questioning — "that it is important and relevant to the Navajo people and Navajo voters."

The candidates also spoke — some of them in Navajo — about the need for teamwork among Navajo leaders as well as the importance of making sure that the tribal government is accountable to the people.

"It's time for the people to set the priorities, not the presidential candidates," said former tribal council delegate and presidential hopeful Ernest Harry Begay of Rock Point, Ariz.