The Lifeblood of Navajo Nation, Ep. 4: The Vote

Summary

Reclaimed: The Lifeblood of Navajo Nation

Episode 4: The Vote

Release Date: December 9, 2024
Host: ABC News
Journalist: Charly Edsitty

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Introduction

In Episode 4 of ABC News' award-winning podcast series "Reclaimed," titled "The Vote", host Charly Edsitty delves into the pivotal moment for the Navajo Nation as they approach a significant milestone in their long-standing fight for water rights. This episode captures the culmination of years of negotiations, community engagement, and emotional investment as the Navajo Council prepares to vote on a groundbreaking water settlement.

Background: Decades of Struggle for Water Rights

The Navajo Nation has historically faced substantial challenges in securing access to water within their reservation boundaries. Despite being the original inhabitants and stewards of the land, the tribe lacked guaranteed rights to the vital water flowing through their territory. Previous attempts to negotiate settlements, such as the unsuccessful 2012 deal, left the community yearning for a resolution that would ensure their sovereignty and sustainable future.

Negotiations: A Complex Web of Stakeholders

The quest for water rights culminated in February 2024 when the Navajo water rights team announced a proposed settlement. Led by Bita Becker, the Chief Legal Counsel to the President and Vice President of the Navajo Nation, the negotiations involved over 30 parties, including state and federal officials, agricultural businesses, neighboring tribes, and local city governments.

Bita Becker ([02:06]):

"Well, let me be clear. We've always had to get it done. We just have to get it done."

The settlement aimed to address multiple aspects of water access, including prioritizing water rights and establishing extensive infrastructure projects. One of the key components was the Inahpa Patu Akatsu pipeline, designed to redistribute water to the reservation's northern and western regions.

Bita Becker ([03:42]):

"There's a beautiful school that was built in the eastern side of the Navajo Nation. It was an award-winning school, meaning the architecture was award-winning. And they couldn't flush their toilets because they didn't have the sufficient water supply."

Community Engagement: Educating the Navajo Nation

To ensure community support, the water rights team utilized local media, particularly KTNN, the Navajo-centric radio station. Crystal Tuley Cordova, the Navajo Nation's Chief Hydrologist, spearheaded efforts to educate the public through frequent radio broadcasts and public meetings.

Crystal Tuley Cordova ([09:17]):

"Describe the details of the settlement so that there's... no game of telephone from derailing the council vote."

Her dedication included traveling across the reservation multiple times a week, often with her young child, to address concerns and clarify the settlement's benefits and compromises.

The Settlement: Terms and Infrastructure

The proposed settlement granted the Navajo Nation fourth priority rights in the lower basin of the Colorado River, entitling them to all of the Little Colorado River and formalizing rights to underground aquifers. Additionally, the settlement proposed $5 billion in federal funding for eight major infrastructure projects aimed at improving water distribution and access across 110 Navajo chapters.

Crystal Tuley Cordova ([12:14]):

"The Inahpa Patu Akatsu pipeline will diversify our water portfolio."

These projects were envisioned to alleviate systemic issues such as housing shortages, lack of jobs, and the exodus of young people from the reservation by fostering economic growth and improving living conditions.

Opposition and Concerns: Voices of Dissent

Despite the promising terms, not all community members were in favor of the settlement. Melanie Yazzie, an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, and a member of the Dene Water Rights Coalition, voiced significant concerns about the deal's adequacy and the tribe’s lack of leverage.

Melanie Yazzie ([16:18]):

"We're being strong-armed essentially into accepting a bad deal. And the deal is bad because we are not respected as human beings."

She criticized the settlement for placing the Navajo Nation behind other large water users and questioned the fairness of tying federal funding to the acceptance of compromised water rights.

Melanie Yazzie ([17:37]):

"Indigenous people should never have to accept the best of a bad deal."

Her stance was echoed by the Dene Water Rights Coalition, which demanded higher priority on the Colorado River and clearer environmental protections.

The Vote: A Defining Moment

On May 23, 2024, the Navajo Council convened in Window Rock, Arizona, to cast their vote on the settlement. The tension was palpable as representatives, including Crystal Tuley Cordova and Bita Becker, awaited the outcome.

Crystal Tuley Cordova ([29:59]):

"Mr. Speaker, 22 in favor, zero opposed."

The council overwhelmingly voted 22-0 in favor, surpassing the required 16 votes needed for approval. This decisive vote marked a historic achievement for the Navajo Nation, reflecting broad support for the settlement's potential to transform the tribe’s access to water and infrastructure.

Bita Becker ([30:32]):

"And yeah, tears. Tears were definitely shed... it was a great day."

Earl Tooley, a long-time advocate and participant in the council, expressed profound relief and hope for future generations.

Earl Tooley ([31:16]):

"It felt really, really good."

Aftermath: Awaiting Federal Approval

While the tribal council's approval was a monumental step forward, the settlement still required federal ratification. Introduced on July 8th, federal legislation faced an uncertain future amidst political shifts and the advent of a new Congress. Concerns persisted that a change in administration could jeopardize the settlement's passage.

Crystal Tuley Cordova ([35:57]):

"Our hope is that they will [approve]. They will be able to see the opportunity that this provides..."

Personal Stories: The Human Element

The episode poignantly highlights personal narratives that embody the tribe’s struggles and aspirations. Kyle Lewis, a retired Marine, illustrates the daily hardships faced by many Navajo families still reliant on limited water access.

Kyle Lewis ([38:19]):

"We're still doing it. I'm about to go do it today. It doesn't stop."

His frustration underscores the urgency behind the settlement, emphasizing the tribe's desire for self-sufficiency and control over their destiny.

Conclusion: A Step Toward Sovereignty

"The Vote" encapsulates a crucial chapter in the Navajo Nation's enduring fight for water rights and self-determination. The tribal council's approval of the settlement represents both a triumph and a prelude to ongoing challenges as the tribe navigates federal processes and strives to realize the settlement's promises. Through dedicated leadership and resilient community engagement, the Navajo Nation stands on the brink of reclaiming its lifeblood—water—and securing a sustainable future for generations to come.

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Notable Quotes

• Bita Becker ([02:06]):

  "We've always had to get it done. We just have to get it done."

• Crystal Tuley Cordova ([09:17]):

  "Describe the details of the settlement so that there's... no game of telephone from derailing the council vote."

• Melanie Yazzie ([17:37]):

  "Indigenous people should never have to accept the best of a bad deal."

• Crystal Tuley Cordova ([30:32]):

  "And yeah, tears. Tears were definitely shed... it was a great day."

• Earl Tooley ([31:16]):

  "It felt really, really good."

• Kyle Lewis ([38:19]):

  "We're still doing it. I'm about to go do it today. It doesn't stop."

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This comprehensive summary captures the essence of Episode 4 of "Reclaimed: The Lifeblood of Navajo Nation," providing listeners with an in-depth understanding of the Navajo Nation's pivotal vote on their water rights settlement, the complexities involved, and the personal stories that highlight the profound impact of this historic decision.

Transcript

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[Narrator]

CT mobile.com it was the end of February 2024 when the Navajo water rights team made the announcement. They had a settlement deal on the table. This surprised a lot of Navajo people. They had no idea that a deal was so close. The last time the Navajo Nation had been this near to settling their water rights in Arizona was over a decade ago, back when the attempt failed in 2012. And now the same question remained. Would the people support this deal?

[Bita Becker]

Well, let me be clear. We've always had to get it done. We just have to get it done.

[Narrator]

Because the announcement may have caught some people off guard, but not Bitta Becker. She's the chief legal counsel to the President and VP of the Navajo Nation and a citizen of the Nation herself. She'd been working on this deal for a long time. She was in the conference rooms in phoenix, where the discussions had been simmering for years. But by the fall of 2023, things got real.

[Bita Becker]

Yeah, I remember we invited somebody into one of the room once, and he left saying, oh, my God, it's so intense in there. But it's. There's just so many interests there, and I forget how many parties there are to the settlement. Over 30. And so that's the hard part of it. The hard part of it is, is every interest walking out, saying, yes, I got the best deal I could.

[Narrator]

Those interests included the navajo team, of course, and officials from the state and federal government. But they also included representatives from agricultural businesses, Neighboring tribes, Even local city governments. Everyone who had a say in Arizona's water Needed to agree on how to share it. It was not easy to make a deal between that many people, Especially when it comes to something as precious as water. But bita knew her tribe depended on it, because without it, their development and really their future would continue to be held up.

[Bita Becker]

There's a beautiful school that was built in the eastern side of the navajo nation. It was an award winning school, Meaning the architecture was award winning. And they couldn't flush their toilets because they didn't have the sufficient water supply. So we just, you know, people just take for granted clean drinking water and how, you know, you just need it for everything.

[Narrator]

That's why it was so important to find a deal that everyone in that room could walk away from. If not happy, then at least satisfied. Compromises had to be made. That's how settlements work. If bita's team didn't leave the negotiations with a settlement deal, the only alternative was the litigation process that the tribe had started all the way back in the 70s. It would be decades more of waiting While families lived without water.

[Bita Becker]

Yeah, it's tough, But I never doubted that we would get there. I just think that the hearts and minds are there. It's time. It's just time.

[Narrator]

On that day in February, Bitta and her team announced that they had a proposed settlement. Now that the negotiations were over, the details could be shared publicly. She wanted people across the reservation to get up to speed on what the offer contained. But while bita and her team had months to come to terms with the deal and its compromises, the people of the Navajo nation did not. And now another negotiation would take place. This time between the water rights team and the people of navajo nation. The tribe had waited 12 years for a deal. But if they don't like what's being offered, they could derail it. They could tell their council representatives to vote against it and protest like they did a decade ago. And if the council vote failed, it would be back to square one for the water rights team. From the moment the deal was announced, they had just a few months to convince people this is an offer they should take. It's time. In this episode of Reclaimed, the lifeblood of Navajo Nation, we'll be diving into the terms of the largest settlement ever offered to the tribe, and we'll see if the tribe can accept it. Episode 4 the Vote KTN Window KTN FM Tohachi KKNAS Corralis When I'm back on the reservation, there's only one radio station that I listen to. That's ktnn. Everybody knows it, but it's really hard to categorize it. You're as likely to hear pop music as you are some old country crooners like a KTN classic that immediately springs to my mind is Johnny Paycheck singing She's All I Got. Please don't take her love away from me, I'm begging you. Praise Epic attention and unlike so much of the media we consume from other outlets, KTN is totally Navajo centric. District 6 they do a lot of their broadcasts in Navajo, and they talk so fast. My Navajo is pretty good, but I always try to listen just to get more practice and be better. They talk so quickly that sometimes by the time I catch a word or even a phrase, they've already moved on. Even from Houston. I'll listen online just to get a little taste of home. It's so much Navajo, from the weather report to PSAs about drugs and alcohol. They'll play traditional musicians and songs like Contest Song four from a band called the Tribe. KTN transmits from a studio on the outskirts of the capital of the Navajo Nation, Window Rock, Arizona. People get a lot of their news from ktnn, and some people only get their news there, elders especially, and others who feel more comfortable with Navajo than English. The water rights team knew this, so they used KTNN as a platform to reach as many people as possible.

[Crystal Tuley Cordova]

I have been on the radio now since I've last seen you talking about this settlement.

[Narrator]

This is Crystal Tuley Cordova, the Navajo Nation's chief hydrologist. You heard her in the last episode at one of the public information meetings, she spoke about praying at the Colorado river confluence with her baby in her arms. For her, the grueling roadshow schedule didn't stop when the settlement proposal was announced in February. For the next few months, she was still out on the road three times a week, bringing her baby along. And every Wednesday night, she was also on the radio to help tell the people what the settlement contained, in Navajo and in English, to be able to.

[Crystal Tuley Cordova]

Describe the details of the settlement so that there's. I don't know if you've ever played telephone, but sometimes you start one. One area and then you hear the end, and it's a completely different message.

[Narrator]

Crystal felt that the reason the previous settlement was rejected in 2012 was because people just couldn't understand what was in it. Misinformation spread because people weren't getting the message directly from the water rights team. So now, in person and on the radio, she was trying her best to stop a game of telephone from derailing the council vote to attend meetings. She would drive for hours across the reservation, often with her kids, to answer questions and these concerns. Visiting chapter after chapter was a sacrifice for the whole family.

[Crystal Tuley Cordova]

When you have kids in school, being able to take into considerations like, well, sorry, we're not going to be able to have a spring break this year because we're going to need to be at these chapters doing public education meetings. And I'm so grateful for my children who were able to keep themselves busy. I mean, literally, they knew the details themselves. They know where the Colorado river is. They know that it's a binational system, and so they even know the tributaries.

[Narrator]

Crystal's children know that in Arizona, the Colorado river flows along the western edge of the Navajo reservation. The Little Colorado river also flows through the reservation in Arizona. More than half of the tribe's reservation lands and population are in the state. These facts are just simple geography, but they're also why this settlement is such a big deal. The other settlement attempts dealt with one river at a time or left some water out to be determined at a later date. But this agreement, it could settle all of the tribe's rights in Arizona in one fell swoop. It also offered more federal support than any deals that had come before it. So let's dive into what the proposed settlement actually said, what Crystal was trying to explain to people in those meetings, and what the council would be voting on. Bita's team had negotiated fourth priority rights in the lower basin of the Colorado River. If you want to think of priority like a q. This put the tribe behind some big farming interests and town governments in the state. Also, the Navajo would be entitled to all of one of the Colorado River's tributaries, the little Colorado River. And the settlement would also formalize the tribe's rights to the underground aquifers. But at the meetings, Crystal wasn't just explaining how much water the tribe had negotiated for. She was trying to tell people about what could also come with the deal. Infrastructure.

[Crystal Tuley Cordova]

The Inahpa Patu Akatsu pipeline will diversify our water portfolio.

[Narrator]

This pipeline is the jewel in the settlement crown. It would make it possible to deliver water to the dry northern and western areas of the reservation. There's a total of eight infrastructure projects that Crystal has been working on. If the settlement passed, planned water pipes and treatment plants would send water north to south, east to west. Across the reservation, there are 110 Districts of Navajo Nation known as chapters. These infrastructure projects could positively impact almost half of them. Supporters of the settlement said that once they had access to water, figured out solutions to the tribe's other problems would follow. There would be more private investment and more businesses would be able to grow. Then they would see an improvement for the tribe's housing shortages, the lack of jobs, and young people leaving and not coming back. As part of the settlement negotiations, the federal government agreed to fund these ambitious infrastructure projects. But they aren't cheap.

[Crystal Tuley Cordova]

It's $5 billion, and that's a lot of money.

[Narrator]

But the Navajo would need to share that funding. Their neighboring tribes, the Southern Paiute and Hopi were part of the settlement negotiations too.

[Crystal Tuley Cordova]

That 5 billion is not just for the Navajo Nation. It's for all three tribes to build that infrastructure that they need to help close the clean water access gap in their communities.

[Narrator]

Nonetheless, over half of the money was reserved for Navajo only projects. And most of the rest was allocated to the big new pipeline. Without this settlement, the tribe might not have another shot at getting funding for big projects like this. But still, there's something about this settlement that makes some worried. What if the water they agree to live on isn't enough? What if the funding doesn't cover the amount of infrastructure needed to truly achieve a sustainable life for their people? And it's a real risk, since there isn't a second chance to negotiate. Once the council agreed to the terms of the settlement, there would be no going back. The settlement isn't perfect. Even the people who argued for it know that they did get funding for huge infrastructure projects. But some say the settlement falls short of what the Navajo need. After all, the Navajo were the first occupants of the land, and they still weren't being offered first dibs on the water. Bita and Crystal see this deal as an opportunity. But what about the people who see it only as a risk?

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[Melanie Yazzie]

We're being strong armed essentially into accepting a bad deal. And the deal is bad because we are not respected as human beings. Like our lives are simply not worth as much as the lives of like the populations in a place like Phoenix or Los Angeles.

[Narrator]

Melanie Yazzie is an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. She saw the 2012 settlement get squashed by the grassroots movement. When she read the terms of the 2024 deal, it still fell short of what she felt her tribe deserved. Melanie knows the history of the Navajo fight for water rights. She knows that there are legal precedents on their side for them to have first priority on the water. And yet she saw the Navajo accepting what she considers a poor compromise. And Melanie thought there was an obvious reason why the Navajo didn't have the power to ask for something better. The tribe needed these projects to be completed. They couldn't wait anymore. Melanie thought this urgency forced the hand of the tribe's representatives to accept an unequal deal in the settlement negotiation.

[Melanie Yazzie]

You cannot get money from Congress for water development infrastructure within the reservation unless and until you settle your water rights. And that's how the law is structured. Is that fair or does that make sense? Is a question I'm asking because I understand the larger history of colonialism. No, it's not. You're essentially holding indigenous nations hostage. You're saying we're not going to give you money to improve the quality of life of your people even though you're the first inhabitants of this land that we stole from you. We're not going to give you the money to do that until you settle your rights. And those rights that you're going to settle to this water are going to be minus. They're going to be a fraction of what you actually legally have a right to legally and morally have a right to. And you're just going to have to deal with it in perpetuity.

[Narrator]

Melanie remembers a Hualapai official describing how they felt after the tribe settled their claim to the Colorado river with Arizona a few years ago.

[Melanie Yazzie]

And that official, he said, we got the best of a bad deal. And I really think that that is a very good summary of the history of tribal water rights. We get the best of a bad deal and it's legally binding and we just have to live with it. And I know that our people need water. You know, I know that our Navajo Nation is trying to do the best by settling these terms, but just on principle. On principle, given what I just outlined, I cannot accept it. I do not accept the best of a bad deal. Indigenous people should never have to accept the best of a bad deal.

[Narrator]

Melanie wasn't the only one who wasn't happy with the settlement being offered. After the summary of the proposed deal was released by the tribal government in February, a grassroots group called the Dene Water Rights Coalition released a statement. The coalition thought the tribe should have first priority on the Colorado river rather than fourth. As for the Little Colorado river, they wanted the tribe's rights to be defined more clearly. They also wanted environmental protections for water promises to control pollution from upstream on the Colorado river and to conserve the Ice age aquifers. Melanie and the coalition seem to agree. The problem with the settlement is that it's intertwined with very western concepts of the value of water.

[Melanie Yazzie]

Human beings are not on the top of the pyramid. We're not on the top of the food chain. We are a relative in, you know, a circle and a constellation of relatives and nations. And we also need to make sacrifices for the well being and the good life and the livelihood of those other nations. And so this is where indigenous people are coming from. I would argue that many of the other parties to the Colorado river, all they see are the dollar signs that can be produced by that water.

[Narrator]

Melanie believes that if the Colorado river was under the stewardship of indigenous people, they would be able to protect the river more against climate change and the greed of big business. This isn't some utopian vision. A group of tribes in the river basin and national environmental Organizations like the Audubon Society and the Nature Conservancy have proposed a new plan for the river's future. It would be based on indigenous principles of sustainability and respect for the living environment. Melanie would go one step further. She'd like to see control over the river's future handed directly to indigenous people. For that to happen, Congress would have to transfer their power to the tribes, which she knows is unlikely.

[Melanie Yazzie]

Whether or not it's going to happen, I mean, I'm, you know, really skeptical, but I think indigenous people should be in charge. That's what I think. And that would really change everything. And I think it would guarantee the best outcome for everyone for, as we say, for seven generations into the future.

[Narrator]

A lot of Melanie's concerns are the same as they were 12 years ago, but her community's reaction is different this time around.

[Melanie Yazzie]

There is not the same kind of popular uprising, I would say, around this settlement as there was in 2012.

[Narrator]

From the people I've spoken to, I've heard a variety of responses to the settlement. Resignation, defeat, exasperation. But I've also heard people who were excited by the number of infrastructure projects. There were still grumblings, but Melanie's right. People didn't seem to be protesting the settlement with the same intensity as they did in 2012. This led the pro settlement team to hope that maybe this was a deal that could pass the council vote. So the details of the deal were released in late February, and the council vote was scheduled for May. The pressure was on the water rights team to move quickly, but not too quickly. If they move too fast, they may lose the public information battle. Building trust takes time, and the water rights team needed people to understand and trust the deal they had been offered. If they tried to rush it, the community may react badly, but moved too slowly, and the settlement risked being affected by a wider crisis. For the past two decades, the Colorado river has been in a megadrought. Unprecedented dry stretches make everyone nervous.

[Bita Becker]

So as flows lessen, it's even more important that our legal rights are clearly laid out so that there's no question about how we fit into the overall system.

[Narrator]

Bitta Becker and the water rights team wanted to keep the process moving. They knew that drought made all of these conversations harder. And what if the settlement didn't pass a council vote? If the tribe waited another 12 years, no one knew how much worse it could be. And there was another reason it was important for the Navajo rights team to move quickly. Arizona's politicians may not have helped the tribe in their water issues in the past, but they have an ally in the state's current Democratic governor, Katie Hobbs. They also have support from their senators, Mark Kelly and Kyrsten Sinema. If the vote passed the council, they'd have champions to take it to Congress for ratification. But if the council vote was delayed, these politicians may be caught up in other issues or their term may be over. The next politicians in their seats may not be as supportive. So the water rights team had to move at just the right pace to give their settlement the best possible chance. But they wouldn't know if they'd done enough until the day of the vote today.

[Crystal Tuley Cordova]

We do have a special council session. Today is May 23, 2024, and we did call this meeting to order at.

[Narrator]

9:12Am the vote was on a Thursday. A quorum was called in the council chambers in Window Rock. The tribe's government buildings sit in a low cluster in the shadow of a huge natural rock formation. A 200 foot high sandstone pinnacle with a hole carved into it by the elements.

[Crystal Tuley Cordova]

I was there in the council chambers in Window Rock, Arizona, and how I felt then was very nervous.

[Narrator]

While Crystal Tuli Cordova stood in the chamber, she wondered if they'd done enough to convince people or if this deal would crumble like the two proposed settlements before it.

[Crystal Tuley Cordova]

Like, how are people going to vote? You just never know. I mean, you can make estimates based on comments of how people talk, but you just never know.

[Bita Becker]

This legislation is final authority with nation.

[Narrator]

Council per nomination Council standing N Council Rules of Order Rule 9 legislation has.

[Bita Becker]

Been read into record by electronic.

[Narrator]

The council chamber is round. It has a high platform at the front of the room where the speaker sits and 12 long benches in front of her, each with a pair of council delegates. Every desk was packed with the delegates papers and belongings and had three buttons. Those buttons are how the council votes. There's a big screen at the front of the room that shows all the delegates as squares on a grid. When the vote happens, their square will light up. Green for yes, yellow for abstain, red for no.

[Crystal Tuley Cordova]

And we will put two minutes on.

[Narrator]

The board for the vote. And they are both 2 3rd legislation. So we require 16 votes.

[Crystal Tuley Cordova]

Colleagues.

[Narrator]

The council representatives weren't there to debate the settlement. That had been done across the reservation and in the chamber already. Everyone was there simply to vote on the Arizona settlement and a smaller New Mexico settlement. And they had to decide were the terms of the settlement acceptable to them and the people they represented. After decades of waiting, it would come down to just two minutes of voting to Decide the tribe's fate.

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[Crystal Tuley Cordova]

It was just interesting for the leaders that day just to say, okay, let's just get to voting.

[Narrator]

Crystal was toward the back of the room, hoping for a sea of green squares to come up on the board in front of her. The speaker put a timer on the screen, ticking down from two minutes to allow all of the members to vote.

[Crystal Tuley Cordova]

I was there with my parents. I was there with my daughter. And I mean, probably she was the youngest person in the room, just a few months old.

[Narrator]

We have about one minute on the board. The three generations of Tooleys waited. Crystal's dad, Earl Tooley, had passionately advocated for settlement. But it was Crystal's daughter's life and other young members of the Navajo Nation that would be most affected by what happened in the chamber that day.

[Crystal Tuley Cordova]

Colleagues, we have about 23 seconds on the board. Thank you, colleagues. Time expired and.

[Narrator]

And we have a final vote of.

[Crystal Tuley Cordova]

22 in favor, zero opposed.

[Narrator]

Mr. Speaker, not voting for both water rights settlements.

[Crystal Tuley Cordova]

Thank you very much, colleagues. Thank you for helping make history today. 25th Navajo Nation Council.

[Narrator]

Of 24 delegates. There were two abstentions. They needed 16 yes votes. What they got was 22. The settlement passed in a landslide.

[Crystal Tuley Cordova]

For.

[Narrator]

Crystal, her dad, Earl, and Bita Becker. This was the moment they had been waiting for.

[Crystal Tuley Cordova]

Seeing all the lights light up in green was just like a very emotional moment.

[Bita Becker]

And yeah, tears. Tears were definitely shed. I mean, you know, I've been with the nation since 2002, so how do you. How do you put 22 years in into words? We have an employee who's been here 40 years. 40 years. Imagine what he's seen and the emotional roller coaster. So, yeah, it was. It was a great day.

[Earl Tooley]

It felt really, really good.

[Narrator]

Here's Earl Tooley a couple of months after the vote. He was sitting in his garden just 20 miles from the council chamber, when he made the journey to watch this historic moment. Earl brought a sign with him, a slogan of support for the settlement.

[Earl Tooley]

Looking at and sitting in the council, we couldn't believe it. And I remember in sitting there when that hearing was happening, I said there was no protesters. I'm the only one with my sign outside the chambers.

[Narrator]

For Earl, the settlement marked a turning point for the tribe, a positive step toward a future in their homeland.

[Earl Tooley]

This is not for me. I've got more years behind me than I have ahead of me. I may not see that bucket of water, but my grandchildren will say, and it's the people who signed a treaty of 1868. This is a group of people that did not even know how to read or write. But they had prayer. They had faith. They had prayers and faith in songs. That's why we're. We're here now. If they didn't sign that treaty, we wouldn't be here.

[Narrator]

In the 1940s, a Navajo artist was commissioned to paint a mural on the council chamber's round walls. It's called the history and progress of the Navajo nation. It shows the journey of the tribe. It starts with traditional arts, people working on silversmithing and weaving. Then it depicts the genocidal march of Kit Carson and the signing of the 1868 treaty. The final panel, however, is more aspirational. It shows a schoolyard with Navajo children. It shows a young couple holding diplomas and a pipeline overflowing with clean, fresh water. This last panel is controversial because it was a hopeful view forward at the time it was painted. It suggested that conforming to colonial ideas would enrich the tribe. Instead, in many cases, the tribe has seen the opposite happen. Earl has seen the mural many times. He's looked at the overflowing water pipe and wondered if he would ever see that reality for his people.

[Earl Tooley]

Never in my life did I ever think that this. This would be. Somebody depicted that drawing, and we get to see the fruition of that. And I was this happy. I was this elated. And I just think that the people who signed the treaty, Article 7, basically saying that we were going to be farmers, and now we got 18 million acres. We can irrigate it, and we can be the breadbasket here in the Southwest. That's what I see that irrigation of water flowing, I get to see this.

[Narrator]

In his lifetime, Earl has seen his tribe transform. He came of age as the tribe grew their own power and advocated for their rights. More and more so for him, this vote is momentous. His people have created their own opportunity and then grabbed it with both hands. But there are familiar obstacles ahead. This settlement has been agreed to by everyone. The other water users in Arizona, the Navajo Council, even the Arizona state government. But it has one more hurdle to pass. The federal government. The government still holds decision making power over the Navajo Nation. And it's not a small decision. The $5 billion price tag is the highest amount ever proposed in a tribal water rights settlement. If the government decides that the price is too high, the future of the settlement is unclear.

[Crystal Tuley Cordova]

We can't tell our people that this is a sure deal because we don't. I mean, it's a large body of Congress. There's a lot of senators, there's a lot of House of Representatives. There's a new Congress coming in in January. No one knows how Congress will vote. No one knows if the President of the United States, even if Congress passed this, will sign it into law. Our hope is that they will. They will be able to see the opportunity that this provides to be able to help the 30% of Americans in the Navajo Nation that don't have running water, to be able to have that basic necessity that everyone in America pretty much has.

[Narrator]

On July 8th, federal legislation was introduced by four members of Congress and two senators from Arizona. So far, the bill has had one hearing by the Senate Committee on Indian affairs, and that was at the end of September. The bill now waits in limbo for its next steps. It might be sent to another committee or it might be approved and sent on. Then it would still have to pass a House vote, a Senate vote, and then finally be sent to the president's desk. But that's where things start to verge into the unknown. This process could take weeks, months, or even years. The tribe's lawyers fear that a Republican president wouldn't prioritize their bill or approve their funding. They hoped that Biden's administration would pass it before he left office, but that now seems unlikely again. The tribe is back to waiting for the federal government to decide their fate. We can't move on and we can't go back. We're stuck once again. But that doesn't mean we give up. Kyle Lewis, the retired Marine I visited, knows this feeling well. He still hauls water for his family's ranch on the reservation like it's 20, 24.

[Kyle Lewis]

We're still doing it. I'm about to go do it today. It doesn't stop. And it never stopped. Every single day for the past 130 years, like we've been doing that out there at Standing Horse.

[Narrator]

Kyle's tired of waiting. He's tired of having his tribe's future dictated by the US government. He says it keeps them in a vulnerable position.

[Kyle Lewis]

I always go back to my kids. I have three kids and they're all fairly young. And like, my youngest son is six. I taught him how to tie his shoes this past year in kindergarten. And I made him do it and I taught him and I taught him in mornings when he was tired. He didn't want to wear his other shoes or he just slides them on like, nope, wear that shoe. Wear that shoe. And he was proud of it and he did it, he tied it and he was just very proud of his shoes. I don't think we have that type of ownership on the reservation because a lot of our money comes from trust fund that goes into the community. That comes from the US Government. It's not our money. We didn't earn that money. But now I believe us as a people are dependent on the government because they're tying our shoes for us every day and we're not doing it.

[Narrator]

Kyle doesn't want to wait for the government to give them money or infrastructure. He wants his tribe to be able to tie their own shoelaces. But the tribe's future is intertwined with the United States government and that relationship is unlikely to change. We can't be self sufficient if we don't control our lives here and we don't have access to the basic necessities we need to thrive. So Kyle chooses to reclaim his power in a different way by choosing not to focus his energy on the federal government at all.

[Kyle Lewis]

When we blame the US Government, we basically are at their disposal of what they say and what they do. And we give up our power of choosing. Instead of blaming them and saying, oh, you do this, you do this. We give up our power by doing that.

[Narrator]

To me, it seems like Kyle just has this total lack of belief that anything will change unless he does it himself. So while the tribe waits for the government to act, Kyle makes this choice to be a sovereign nation of one. He believes so strongly in this idea of self determination that he's making his own plans for his family to thrive here. He'll make sure that his kids have a future in the place that he loves he wants them to know the peace that he's found there, the sense of belonging. With or without the government's help, I don't doubt that my people will always live in their homeland. Our bond to this land is too strong. We've endured genocide to be here. We've asserted our sovereignty and found a way to rise in a system that tried to crush us. We will always have a future here, but only time will tell what kind of future that will be. If Kyle's kids will know A life with water or a life without Reclaimed the Lifeblood of Navajo Nation is an original production of ABC Audio. The series was hosted by me, Charlie, Ed today. It was written by Madeline Wood. This series was produced by Madeline Wood, Camille Peterson, Kiara Powell and Amira Williams, with help from Emily Schutz and Marwa Milwaukee. Edited by Gianna Palmer Our cultural consultant was Heather Tanana. Arielle Chester is our social producer. Our supervising producer is Susie Liu. Music and mixing by Evan Viola. Special thanks to Liz Alessi and Lakia Brown. Josh Cohan is our director of podcast programming. Laura Mayer is our executive producer. And big thanks to my mom, Christine Howard and my aunt Arlene Howard.

[Earl Tooley]

Now.

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