Navajo president: Failing to pass tribal water rights settlement would be ‘another form of genocide’
The president of the Navajo Nation has signed the resolution approving the historic Northeastern Arizona Indian Water Rights Settlement Agreement. In doing so, he joined officials from the Hopi and San Juan Paiute tribes. Before the historic signing, Navajo speaker Crystalyne Curley pointed out how many Navajo live off 10 to 30 gallons of water a day, a fraction of the average American home. “Just even having the efficiency, the convenience of turning on a faucet of water, that’s something that’s going to change the livelihoods of many of our Navajo people,” she said. Navajo president Buu Nygren said the tribes need the agreement to survive. “Through COVID, through all the national news over the last several years, people truly understand the need for water on Navajo,” Nygren said. But Nygren warned: If we don’t settle the water rights for the Navajo Nation, the Hopi tribe and the San Juan Paiute, it’s just another form of genocide.”