Many of you will and have criticized me for “walking out” of the Navajo Nation Council Chambers last night. Simply put, the Navajo Nation Council has lost its way.
I spent, in good faith, nearly 7 hours before the Navajo Nation Council – from 12 to 6:50 p.m. – giving my State of the Navajo Nation and answering questions. We started the day off in prayer, we rode horseback with the Council Delegates to the chambers, and sang our sacred Navajo songs as our ancestors once did.
Even after those prayers, song, talks of “k’e”, and 7 hours of productive conversation, the conversation was once again derailed by the same delegates, using their same disgraceful tactics. I cannot continue to allow certain delegates to abuse and demoralize our Navajo Nation professionals who are working on the frontlines to serve our People.
I had to take a stand in some way. I had to take a stand against the bullying, mistreatment, hostility and toxicity that all employees face at the hands of certain elected leaders.
Last night, I witnessed the open humiliation of two exceptional Navajo women:
• A seasoned construction professional with two decades of service;
• A licensed Navajo attorney — one of our Nation’s brightest legal minds.
They were insulted, ridiculed, and disrespected — not for wrongdoing, but for daring to do their jobs. We tried to defend our Navajo female professionals but were immediately silenced. The Council chambers are becoming a space where misinformation flows freely, decorum is ignored, and female professionals are belittled — while rules of order are weaponized to protect political agendas, not people.
Delegate Brenda Jesus staunchly advocated during the session to protect our employees from hostile situations like this, while Delegate Vince James advocates to “treat women with respect” – and yet they stood silent.
Delegates will censor speakers and presenters but are allowed to spread gossip and misinformation to our people and using the Council Rules of Orders to control the narrative and situation – this is not leadership.
Delegate Eugenia Charles-Newton is allowed to perpetuate and spread rumors, jini, and misinformation on the Council floor and to our Navajo people, without any facts.
Even worse, our Vice President Richelle Montoya distributed a document from an “anonymous source” prior to my arrival, which contained baseless allegations of many staff within my office. This too was allowed to be distributed by the Navajo Nation Council.
That document was permitted to circulate unchecked, unverified, and unexplained. Many of these are accusations I have heard since I started as President – in the newspaper and on social media.
While all preached about k’e, respect and decorum, I have seen none. It is the same tactics from the same delegates.
Meanwhile, Speaker Crystalynn Curley, whose responsibility it is to enforce rules and maintain order, failed to intervene. Instead of leading, she presided over chaos. I advise her to reach out to other former speakers to get better insight on how to officiate the rules of the Council Chambers.
This is the same treatment felt by all our Division Directors and many employees.
We started the first day of the 2025 Navajo Nation Council Summer Session in prayer and singing lii’ biyiin (horse songs). I rode in on horseback with my legislative colleagues – a sacred way to begin the Summer Session. We prayed for productive conversations, finding solutions, and treating each other with compassion and kindness.
I remain proud of my staff and working as a team to get the delegates’ questions answered. But it is evident, that there is no “k’é”, no sense of decorum, and the Council is more concerned with attacking our people personally.
This is exactly the reason why the best and the brightest Navajo professionals hesitate to come home and serve the Navajo Nation. We tell our young people to go to school, climb the ladder, earn degrees, become lawyers, builders, engineers, and leaders — and to return home to serve. But when they do, they are shamed and attacked by the very leaders who claim to speak for the people.
If this government is to mean anything, it must begin by treating its people with dignity.
To the Navajo people – I walked out not to avoid conflict, but to say enough is enough.