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<h1>Navajo Nation Changes Language Law</h1>
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<p class="">by <span>Tristan Ahtone</span></p>
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<span class="">October 27, 2014</span><span class="">11:13 AM ET</span>
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<img style="display: block;" src="http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2014/10/24/ap988460680631-af96487774230f889494837252d6db21086b83cb-s3-c85.jpg" class="" title="Supporters of Navajo presidential candidate Chris Deschene gather outside an administrative court in Window Rock, Ariz. Questions about his fluency in the Navajo language have dogged his campaign." alt="Supporters of Navajo presidential candidate Chris Deschene gather outside an administrative court in Window Rock, Ariz. Questions about his fluency in the Navajo language have dogged his campaign.">
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Supporters of Navajo presidential candidate Chris Deschene
gather outside an administrative court in Window Rock, Ariz. Questions
about his fluency in the Navajo language have dogged his campaign.
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Felicia Fonseca/AP
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<p>In the space of a few months, the quest for one candidate to
become the next Navajo Nation president has become intertwined with the
changing culture of Indian Country. It has turned into what could be
described as a political thriller with a distinctly Navajo hue.</p> <p>Here's the set up: Navajo law states that Navajo presidents must speak the language to hold office. Forty-three year-old <a href="http://www.deschene2014.com/">Chris Deschene</a> received enough votes in the first round of presidential voting to make it to the final Nation's ballot. But later, <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2014/10/16/356627850/navajo-presidential-race-shaken-by-language-gap">a series of complaints and lawsuits accused him of not being fluent in Navajo</a>.</p> <p>Efforts
to have Deschene disqualified culminated on Thursday in the Navajo
Nation Supreme Court. By a 2-to-1 vote, the court ordered that Deschene
be removed from contention, and that the election be postponed in order
to reprint the ballots with the name of another candidate.</p> <p>However,
just after midnight Thursday, the Navajo Nation Council voted to adjust
the language requirement for presidential candidates. "The bill keeps
the current Navajo language fluency requirements intact," <a href="http://www.daily-times.com/four_corners-news/ci_26791661/navajo-lawmakers-pass-emergency-legislation-that-could-keep">reports</a> the <em>Farmington Daily Times</em>. "But adds that the language proficiency 'shall be' determined by the people voting in favor of the candidate."</p> <p>In
other words, the bill acknowledges the importance of the Navajo
language for presidential candidates, but also recognizes the right of
voters to decide who best represents them. It wasn't an easy sell,
though. The bill passed narrowly – 11 to 10.</p> <p>The close
decisions in both the judicial and legislative branches underscore the
divide in the Navajo Nation over how important language and identity are
to tribal members. Many citizens have been concerned that electing a
leader without language fluency would undermine Navajo identity, while
others – especially a growing number who are not fluent in Navajo
themselves – say that they finally feel represented in the Nation's
political sphere. In 2007, researchers <a href="http://www.ethnologue.com/language/nav/view/***EDITION***">estimated</a> that around 30 percent of Navajo first graders spoke the language fluently, compared to around 90 percent in 1968.</p> <p>Deschene
says he's prepared to represent the Navajo Nation. "As an element of
our culture, things like our land, things like our traditions and
customs, including our language, are priority," he says. "I've conveyed
to our people that those unique characteristics, identifiers, elements
of our culture, make us separate, unique and special to the rest of the
world. They are the foundation of sovereignty."</p> <p>There are over <a href="http://navajotimes.com/news/2011/0711/070711census.php#.VEqMrIvF9BM">300,000</a>
Navajo citizens spread across the Navajo Nation – an area just slightly
smaller than the country of Panama – as well as across the United
States and the world. Navajo efforts to stop language loss have ranged
from partnerships with companies like <a href="http://www.rosettastone.com/endangered/projects">Rosetta Stone</a> to translating films like <a href="http://www.npr.org/2013/06/20/193496493/translated-into-navajo-star-wars-will-be">Star Wars</a> into Navajo.</p> <p>Provided that current Navajo president Ben Shelly signs off on the new language policy, Deschene will face <a href="http://www.drjoeshirleyjr.com/">Dr. Joe Shirley, Jr.</a> – a two-time former Navajo president – for the Nation's top post on November 4.</p> <p>"I'm
Navajo and because of that I have the right to participate in my
government, especially when I see that my government is in trouble,"
said Deschene. "So if that message carries throughout Indian Country,
and if people are qualified and willing and able, they should be
afforded the same opportunities to help their own people."</p><p><a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2014/10/27/358586876/navajo-nation-changes-language-law">http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2014/10/27/358586876/navajo-nation-changes-language-law</a><br></p><p><br></p>
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