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Navajo Council Delegate Rex Lee Jim reviews legislation Oct. 21, day two of the Navajo Nation Council's fall session.Photo by Joshua Lavar Butler/Navajo Nation Office of the Speaker

Navajo Council Endorses Obama

By Andi Murphy

LAS CRUCES, N.M. — As of Tuesday, Sen. Barack Obama has yet another tribal endorsement — the Navajo Nation.

"I am honored to receive the endorsement of the Navajo Nation," Obama said in a statement. "I look forward to partnering with Indian tribes, including the Navajo Nation, on a government-to-government basis, to address the special challenges facing tribes today, including access to affordable health care, economic development, energy independence, and education. Joe Biden and I look forward to working with the Navajo Nation and all of Indian Country to bring about the change we need."

The 88-member Navajo council voted 59-21 in its fall legislative session to endorse Obama. The Navajo Nation joins more than 100 tribal leaders, tribal organizations and tribes that have endorsed Sens. Obama and Biden, the Democratic vice presidential nominee.

"I hear the message of Sen. Obama in respecting the treaty between the U.S. and the Navajo," said Navajo Nation Council Delegate Leonard Tsosie. "[There is] a Native unity in endorsing Obama."

Navajo have a large presence in McCain's home state of Arizona

The Navajo Nation has more than 250,000 tribal members and is the largest federally recognized tribe. The Navajo reservation also is the largest, located in three states: southeastern Utah, northeastern Arizona and northwestern New Mexico.

The Navajo suffer problems in the areas of water rights, law enforcement, Indian health care, economic development and job availability, like most tribes. The Navajo Council discussed these issues for nearly two hours before deciding which candidate could help them the most, according to a Navajo Nation Council statement.

"Our needs are enormous," said Hope MacDonald-Lone Tree, Navajo councilwoman. "The last several years have been hard on Navajo and across Indian Country."

She voted in favor of the endorsement and believes Obama will be a voice for Natives and will tend to the people's needs, she said.

Sen. John McCain, whose home state is Arizona in which the Navajo Nation has a big presence, said in his Native American policy that he will uphold the federal government's trust responsibility and consult closely with tribes if he is elected president. Obama made the same promise but went one step further by announcing a White House-level Native American policy adviser.

Those who opposed endorsement had variety of reasons

As for the 21 Navajo council delegates who voted against the endorsement, MacDonald-Lone Tree said they have their own reasons for doing so; whether it be against Obama or against an endorsement of any candidate.

"I respect their vote," MacDonald-Lone Tree said.

Navajo council delegate Pete Atcitty said the Navajo people, as individuals, can make up their own minds and vote for whomever they want to. States do not endorse candidates and people within a sovereign nation can endorse whom they want. The endorsement makes it sound as if the Navajo people are "predictable," he said.

"I strongly believe the Navajo voters can cast their votes on their own," Atcitty said.

Andi Murphy, Navajo, is a student at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces. A graduate of the Freedom Forum's 2007 American Indian Journalism Institute, Murphy interned as a reporter at The Daily Times in Farmington, N.M., and, last summer, at the Great Falls Tribune in Montana.