Arrested for DWI

McKinley County Sheriff’s Deputy Jerald Watchman was driving westbound on Highway 264 late on March 17 when he observed a white vehicle driving westbound in the eastbound lane. He activated his unit’s emergency lights and pulled behind the vehicle, which eventually stopped in the median.

Watchman met the driver, Deremiah Joe, 27, of Yatahey, who said he and his brother, who was also in the vehicle, were traveling to Rock Springs looking for their lost dog. Watchman noticed that Joe had bloodshot eyes and slurred speech, and there was a smell of alcohol inside the vehicle.

Joe stepped out of the vehicle at Watchman’s request, swaying as he walked. He was...

Gallup Patrolman Warren Bowannie conducted a traffic stop on a silver Chevrolet Malibu late on March 19 at the intersection of Nizhoni Boulevard and Mendoza Road after it failed to maintain its lane.

Bowannie spoke with the driver, Jake Garcia, Jr., 48, of Gallup, who said the car was new and did not have insurance or registration yet. While Garcia spoke, Bowannie noted he slurred his speech and had bloodshot eyes, and there was a smell of alcohol coming from inside the Chevy. Garcia eventually said he had one can of an unspecified beverage prior to driving.

Garcia agreed to take the standard field sobriety tests, but had difficulty following directions and eventually failed. Bowannie...

When Julie Badonie was growing up in the small Navajo community of Tohatchi in the 1940s, her father drove a horse-drawn wagon early each morning to a nearby spring. There, he filled wooden barrels with water the family would use that day to drink, cook, and wash.

Badonie, the youngest of seven children, including brothers who fought in World War II and the Korean War, or one of her siblings would go along. She remembers it as fun. At home, a hose siphoned the water into buckets to bring into the house.

Badonie left for boarding school in kindergarten, first just a few miles across town, then several days’ travel away in Crownpoint, where an older sister worked as a cook, and...

Moving forward to restore Tribal homelands,

empower Tribal governments

Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland issued Secretary’s Order 3400 on April 27. It re-delegates the authority to review and approve applications to place land into trust to the Bureau of Indian Affairs regional directors. This action reverses steps taken in 2017 that unnecessarily elevated land-into-trust decisions to the Department’s headquarters staff, increasing the complexity of the decision-making process and causing delays. This order will not apply to gaming applications.

“At Interior, we have an obligation to work with Tribes to protect their lands and ensure that each Tribe has a homeland where...