WASHINGTON, D.C. — Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren and Navajo Nation Speaker Crystalene Curley joined Hopi Chairman Lamar Keevama and San Juan Southern Paiute Vice President Johnny Lehi Jr. for a series of historic meetings in the nation’s capital to advocate for passage of the Northeastern Indian Water Rights Settlement Act (NAIWRSA).
The tribal leaders met with Department of the Interior Assistant Secretary for Water and Science Andrea Travnicek, White House Office of Management and Budget Associate Director Stuart Levenbach, and key staff from the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.
Throughout the meetings, the leaders emphasized that reaching this stage has taken decades of negotiations and collaboration among the tribes.
They reaffirmed their united commitment to doing everything possible to bring reliable water resources to their people and to secure congressional approval of the settlement.
President Nygren also highlighted the economic growth that could result from Congress passing NAIWRSA, noting that the legislation would benefit not only the Navajo Nation, the Hopi Tribe, and the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe, but also the State of Arizona and the broader regional economy.
