Crystalyne Curley informed a Senate panel Wednesday that the Navajo
Nation Council is 100 years outdated this 12 months – and that the tribe’s struggle
for water entry has been occurring for a minimum of that lengthy.

Curley, the speaker of the Navajo Council, made the feedback at a
Senate Indian Affairs Committee listening to on the federal government’s belief
obligations to make sure water entry for tribes. A lot of the senators and
witnesses on the listening to agreed that there’s a authorized obligation, however
Curley mentioned it goes past that.

“I grew up with out working water, and so did lots of my family,” Curley mentioned. “We used to dwell in a small space and group. So this was on the forefront for many.”

The listening to
got here simply months after the Supreme Courtroom’s June ruling in Arizona v.
Navajo Nation, through which the courtroom dominated 5-4 that it couldn’t power the
authorities to take “affirmative steps” to safe water for the Navajo
Nation past these rights specified by the unique 1868 treaty with the
tribe.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote for almost all that it’s not within the
courtroom’s energy to amend the treaty, however relatively that it’s the
accountability of the president and Congress.

Heather Tanana informed senators at Wednesday’s listening to – titled “Water
as Belief Useful resource: Analyzing Entry in Tribal Communities” – that not
solely does she disagree with the courtroom’s choice, however she thinks the justices misunderstood the query.

Tanana, testifying for the Common Entry to Clear Water for Tribal Communities Venture, mentioned the Navajo weren’t asking for an enlargement of their rights.

“The Navajo Nation was simply asking for assist in assessing the place our
water is,” mentioned Tanana, a member of the Navajo Nation. “What are our
wants? What’s a plan?

“There’s plenty of speak about constructing pipes and infrastructure in
that case, which I feel was form of a distracter,” she mentioned. “This
(case) was only for assist in understanding what asset the federal government has
been holding in belief in them. And if it’s been misused, let’s get a
plan to repair it.”

Plans to repair tribal water points have acquired a lift in current
years, with billions of federal {dollars} devoted to tribal initiatives.

The $1.2 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Regulation of 2021 included $13
billion for tribes, of which $4.4 billion was devoted particularly for
water and sanitation infrastructure, in line with White Home paperwork.

In line with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the American Rescue Plan
contains $1.75 billion for tribes in 2021, $20 million of which was
allotted for “potable water supply.” Moreover, the administration
claims that $720 million for Native communities was included within the
Inflation Discount Act from final 12 months.

There isn’t any scarcity of want for that funding.

Tanana testified
that whereas Black and Hispanic households are twice as prone to lack
indoor plumbing as white households, the speed for Indigenous households
might be 19 occasions increased. At a current Home listening to, witnesses cited an Indian Well being Service report that mentioned 22% of Native households lacked enough sanitation.

“Common work, and that of others has led to an growing
acknowledgement of those challenges and it’s garnered a lot public
sympathy, however sympathy alone can’t shut the water hole skilled in
Indian nation,” Tanana mentioned.

Whereas they pointed to the billions in federal funding which were
authorised in recent times to enhance tribal entry to scrub water and
sanitation, many senators additionally mentioned lawmakers must do extra.

“If Congress doesn’t act, then these points will play out in courts
the place nobody is a winner, apart from legal professionals, and everyone is harmed,”
mentioned Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont.

Curley mentioned an absence of entry to water additionally impedes tribes’ financial
growth, agriculture, tourism and extra. However that, at its coronary heart, it
stays a human rights problem. One she mentioned advocates will maintain preventing
for.

“Trying ahead, we simply should proceed to remain hopeful and simply
maintain making an attempt to work with completely different events to get this human proper,”
Curley mentioned.