MONTEZUMA CREEK — From the northernmost tip of the massive Navajo Nation, 13-year-old Elsha Black surveys the arid expanse of his grandmother's property in San Juan County.

Black has strong ties to Utah's Indian Country. He is one of the few young people who speak fluent Navajo. He learned it living with his grandmother on the land where she was born. He says he'd prefer to live here now and swears he will come back. But for now, this young man must live off the reservation. He needs a good education. His mom needs a good job. His family says neither can be found here today.

A few years ago, Black was attending the local school in Montezuma Creek and living with his grandmother. Back then, his mom was living off the reservation in Farmington, N.M., during the week and coming home to the Navajo Nation on weekends. Sue Philemon's security job at a local college paid a better wage than anything she could find on the reservation.

Black remembers fifth-grade, when his fellow students were learning remedial words like "cat" and "bat." The textbooks were ancient, and even at age 10 Black knew he wasn't getting a good education.

So his mom moved him to New Mexico. Now she carts him to the Curtland community west of Farmington to the best public school she could find. The boy is flourishing in middle school, his mom says, getting good grades and making plans for his future.

Black wants to be an FBI agent. He wants to work out of the Shiprock, N.M., office to help members of the tribe and solve crimes.

"I want to be close to my people. I don't want to be anywhere else," he says. "This is still my homeland."

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