Power and jurisdiction
As codified in Section 101 of the Navajo Nation Code: (2 N.N.C. § 101(A)) The Legislative Branch shall consist of the Navajo Nation Council and any entity established under the Navajo Nation Council. (2 N.N.C § 101(B)) The Legislative Branch shall not be amended unless approved by majority of all registered Navajo voters through a referendum.
(2 N.N.C. § 102 (B-G)) The Navajo Nation Council reserves all powers not delegated and supervises those that are delegated; has the power to discipline and regulate the conduct of its members; has the authority to promulgate rules, regulations, and procedures for the conduct of its meetings and of its committees; confirms the appointments of all division directors upon recommendation from the appropriate oversight committee; and shall establish standing committees and delegate such authority to such committees as it deems necessary and proper.
§1006 of the Navajo Code instructs that should vacancy occur in the Office of President and Vice President, the Speaker shall serve as President of the Navajo Nation until a special election is held. The Code further states that the Speaker shall then act concurrently as Speaker and President, and that the speakership shall not be considered vacated.
The delegates to the 23rd, and current, Navajo Nation Council were inaugurated at Ft. Defiance, AZ, on January 13, 2015. Lorenzo Bates (T'iistoh Sikaad, Nenahnezad, Upper Fruitland, Tse' Daa' Kaan, Newcomb, San Juan)—elected January 26, 2015, to a two-year term—is the current Speaker of the Council and leader of the legislative branch.
Standing committees
Naabik’íyáti’ Committee
Subcommittee on Sacred Sites
Subcommittee on Government Reform
Gaming Task-force Subcommittee
Sih Hasin Fund Subcommittee
Budget and Finance Committee
Law and Order Committee
Resources and Development Committee
Health, Education, and Human Services Committee
The standing committees are listed at the Navajo Nation Council website.
The Diné (Navajo) created the ceremonial gatherings called Naachʼid which met every 2–4 years, or on an emergency basis as needed.
The traditional Navajo government was organized around the principles of Hózhǫ́ǫ́jí dóó Hashkééjí, the nurturing and protecting aspects of governance. Each Navajo clan chose two representatives to attend these assemblies, with the purpose of protecting and nurturing the Diné. An individual selected to participate in that council was called naalchʼid. The Hashkééjí Naatʼááh, translated as war chief, protected the people from any harm as they moved away from the principles of Hózhǫ́ǫ́jí.
The Hózhǫ́ǫ́jí Naatʼááh, or peace chief, nurtured each individual, assisting the people to live in accordance with the principles of kʼé (peace and friendship) and to maintain relationships with all creation.
The Navajo Business Council was created in 1922 by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior in order to certify mineral leases on the Navajo reservation. At its first meeting, the council acquiesced to U.S. pressure to grant oil companies use of the land. In return, the Navajo Nation was promised more land that could be used for subsistence farming and sheep grazing. This first council was headed by Henry Chee Dodge and consisted of one delegate elected from each of the five agencies, along with one alternate delegate.
After refusing to adopt Commissioner of Indian Affairs John Collier's Indian Reorganization Act in 1934, the Navajo Tribal Council reformed in 1937. The Navajo voters would ultimately reject three attempts at establishing a constitutional government over disagreement of lasting legal language.
Until 1984, the Navajo Tribal Council and Navajo Nation had been supported by funding from the wealth of natural resources on the reservation. However, in 1984, the council established the Permanent Trust Fund into which 12% of all revenue each year would be deposited. Funds would first become available in 2004.
The name Navajo Nation Council (sometimes called the Navajo Nation Tribal Council) came into use around the middle of 1989. The name change occurred with the Title II Amendments of 1989 which established the three-branch government system used at Window Rock today. This created a clear delineation of executive and legislative powers, vested leadership of the executive branch in the President and Vice President, and created the offices of Speaker of the Council and Speaker Pro Tem.
The 17th council was seated in 1991.
The 18th council was seated in January 1995.
The 19th council was seated in January 1999.
In 2001, the council approved a service agreement with OnSat, a Utah-based Internet provider. OnSat was to receive $1.9 million in the first year of contract to provide the 110 chapters with satellite bandwidth.
The 20th council was seated in January 2003. Business conducted soon after included the election of Lawrence T. Morgan as Speaker of the Council.
BCDS Manufacturing Inc.
From 2003 to 2007, the council had heavily invested in a biochemical firm to expand operations in Shiprock chapter. The firm's chief executive officer was later found to be embezzling tribal assets for personal use. These findings were never used to file criminal or civil complaints against BCDS, their executives, or share holders.
The council aimed to partner with BCDS, an industrial investment successfully advocated for by the Shiprock chapter board, to build an economic industrial base there. Beginning in 2003, and through 2004, the Navajo government invested an estimated $300,000 in the company and retained a 51% ownership stake. BCDS had originally proposed to switch operational function and expand its facility in Shiprock chapter. The loan guarantee ultimately would cost the Navajo Nation some $2 million USD. The loan came from a tribal fund used as collateral for small businesses.
Permanent trust fund
Fund matures.
In 2005, Speaker Lawrence T. Morgan was elected for his second term as Speaker of the Council.
BCDS Manufacturing Inc.
In 2005, the council allowed BCDS to receive a loan upwards of two million dollars from the Navajo Dam escrow account. None of the monies were used for their originally intended purpose. It was reported later that over $1,000,000 was spent on the lavish lifestyle of the CEO and on luxury homes at Aztec and Farmington, NM.
OnSat
Later in 2005, a tribal audit found discrepancies regarding a service contract with internet provider OnSat Technologies, to provide the chapters with wireless bandwidth.
The 21st council was seated in January 2007. Speaker Lawrence T. Morgan was elected for a third term after winning a run-off election against Fort Defiance delegate Harold Wauneka.
BCDS Manufacturing Inc.
In June 2007, Budget and Finance Committee chairman Lorenzo Bates revealed that the council did not exercise prudent enough due diligence before investing in BCDS.
In a July 17, 2008, special session, the Council declared involvement with BCDS a total loss.
OnSat
A 2007 tribal audit found that OnSat had over-billed for service, and that the tribe had not complied with procurement policy regarding the competitive bidding process to select OnSat. OnSat found its federal E-rate program agreements in jeopardy. The program reimbursed between 85% and 90% of the costs associated to provide internet services to the tribe’s 110 municipal chapter houses.
On April 29, Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. announced a special initiative in his office to reduce the Navajo Council to 24 members, from the 88 members of its 2008 chamber. The election would change the dynamics of the council in 2011.
OnSat
OnSat service was disrupted in 2008 over nonpayment disagreements.
BCDS
In December 2008, the tribe and the council were forced to pay outstanding debt related to the bad loan made to BCDS in 2005. JP Morgan Chase received $2.2 million from tribal accounts.
In January 2009, Speaker Morgan was re-elected speaker, to a fourth term. The election made him the first speaker to serve eight years in that capacity in the council's modern history. President Shirley addressed the council in the annual State of the Navajo Nation address on January 24, 2009. Shirley spoke of his conviction of the need to develop a new governing document for the Navajo Nation. Shirley had campaigned to return government to the Diné by government reform.
Shirley ouster
The first week of October 2009 saw the council meet in private and special sessions. Then on October 26, the council voted 48–22 to remove President Shirley from his official duties. The council had originally included Vice-President Shelley's removal. Allegations had been swirling around the four-corners states alleging improper dealings with Utah-based OnSat Technologies, and a biochemical company at Shiprock, New Mexico. Shirley's chief of staff and other members of the senior staff were also removed. It was suggested that Shirley's removal was an act of retaliation by members of the 88-seat council, upset with Shirley's support of the proposed 64-member reduction in Council membership.
OnSat CEO Dave Stephens and former Navajo Nation Telecommunications Regulatory Office director Ernest Franklin were not targeted in this action.
On October 27, 2009, members of the council released a statement addressing the allegations of retaliation and denying them.
Discretionary spending
In December 2009, the council called for a special prosecutor to look into the Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr.'s relationship with two companies that had operated on the reservation. Attorney General Louis Denetsosie focused the investigation on the tribe's contractual relationship with the Utah-based satellite internet company OnSat; the $2.2 million loan guarantee to BCDS Manufacturing Inc.; and payments from the council's discretionary fund to family members of several legislative-branch employees.
24 votes and the presidential line-item veto
In a Dec. 15, 2009, special election, tribal members voted 61% in favor of reducing the Navajo Nation Council from 88 to 24 members. In the same election, tribal members voted 59% in favor of empowering the Navajo president with line-item-veto power.
At the meeting of the council on January 13, 2010, council delegate Jonnathan Nez announced changes, to Title 22 of the Navajo Nation Code, that would take place in the wake of the majority of the tribe's membership voting to reduce the size of the council to 24 members. In a May 28, 2010, decision, the Navajo Nation Supreme Court ordered immediate implementation of a redistricting plan.
Probe of the council's discretionary funds
In January 2010, the special division of the Window Rock district court—after a three-judge panel reviewed three applications on January 20, 2010—named Alan Balaran as special prosecutor, to begin work in early February of that year. Balaran (who served as the court-appointed special master in the Cobell Indian Trust Fund case) would act under the jurisdiction of the special division. Later, his investigation was expanded to include a tribal ranch program and discretionary funds given to the Shirley administration.
In October 2010, a special prosecutor for the Navajo justice department filed charges against members of the then 88-member Navajo Council, three weeks before the November 2nd election. The investigation returned findings of serious misuse of discretionary funds. The funds were designed to be made available at the direction of lawmakers for any number of community causes, activities, and emergencies deemed appropriate by council delegates.
Attorney General Denetsosie outlined allegations that centered on an elaborate conspiracy of members of the council to give discretionary funds to family members. The scheme involved participating members hiding the transactions behind the vagueness of the law establishing the funds, and the loosely audited dispersal of funds from the legislators' offices. The investigation and trials would continue to the end of the 22nd council.
Suspected delegates were served official complaints just before the council convened for the fourth day of their 2010 fall session.
At the beginning of November 2010, the council was unhappy with the special prosecutor's focus on the legislature's misuse of discretionary funds, and organized the removal of several functionaries the council thought responsible. On November 4, 2010, the council voted 42–0, with two delegates abstaining, to order legislation terminating the employment of Attorney General Denetsosie and his deputy, D. Harrison Tso.
On December 23, the council opposed the removal of the deputy attorney general, in a 65–3 vote. Another bill to remove the attorney general was introduced but not debated.
On January 11, 2011, the new, reduced-in-size, 24-member council was seated, and restructuring of the legislative branch began. On January 24, 2011, delegate Johnny Naize (Blue Gap-Tachee/Cottonwood-Tselani/Low Mountain/Many Farms/Nazlini) was selected as speaker.
In May 2011, President Ben Shelly signed council resolution CAP-10-11, sent to him by the council, amending Title II of the Navajo Code. Among the changes in the law was the reorganization of existing standing committees to match the 24 vote membership.
In January 2013, the council reelected Speaker Naize to a second term.
BCDS
In 2013, Hak Ghun, 62, of Durango, Colorado, was found guilty of tax evasion regarding his involvement with misdealings at BCDS. It was found that Ghun had funneled $1,078,170 in corporate funds to his personal accounts between 2005 and 2007, and had failed to pay taxes to the IRS.
Discretionary spending debacle and resignation of Speaker Naize
The misuse of tribal assets by council members continued to plague the 22nd council as it did the 21st. In December 2013, a special prosecutor appointed by the council charged Speaker Naize with conspiracy and bribery. Naize was charged along with former delegates Lawrence T. Morgon, David Tom, Lena Manheimer, and George Arthur in misusing over $186,000.
On March 11, 2014, Speaker Naize, charged with 10 counts of bribery and one count of conspiracy, pleaded not guilty to misusing $35,550 and diverting the funds to members of his family. On April 4, 2014, Naize was removed from the speakership through forced paid leave via a unanimous vote. On April 7, 2014, Naize filed a petition with the Navajo court to restrain the council from taking action. Speaker Pro Tem LoRenzo Bates took over the duties of the speakership. Naize resigned his delegate seat at noon on Sept 29, 2014. Later that year, Speaker Naize changed his plea to guilty, after resigning from his district seat. Many Farms chapter’s grazing official and former council candidate Roland Tso was appointed to serve the unexpired term of Naize's delegate seat; Tso was sworn in on November 14, 2014.
Delegate David L. Tom resigned in October 2014, late in his term, after pleading guilty to the charge of conspiracy to commit bribery, prosecutors alleging that Tom and funneled $95,000 in tribal funds to his wife and children. Tom was replaced by former interim Navajo President Leonard Hoskie who was sworn in on December 1, 2014, to finish Tom's term.
Navajo code crisis
On October 24, just after midnight, the council passed legislation amending the Navajo Nation Code. In an 11-10-3 vote, the legislation dissolved the language requirement of the qualifications sections for president. The legislation would have retroactively allowed for Chris Deschene's participation. On October 29, President Shelly vetoed the bill.
On the first day of 2015, the council convened to hear a bill that would provide for holding primary and general elections in June and August 2015. The legislation passed the chamber in a controversial 11–1 vote, with over half of the body absent. On Monday, January 5, President Shelly, in the twilight of his first term in office, vetoed the bill.
January 7, five assistant-attorney-generals filed petition with the Navajo Nation Supreme Court for clarification on the question of the presidential vacancy issue. Through a controversial agreement and resolution, referenced as CD-80-14 and CD-81-14, the court and the council—with Speaker Pro Tem LoRenzo Bates; delegate Leonard Tsosie; Otto Tso, councilman-elect; and Amber K. Crotty, director Diné Policy Institute as signatories—appointed Ben Shelly to act as interim president. The move was in contradiction to Navajo Code § 1006.
The newly elected 23rd Navajo Nation Council was inaugurated on January 13, 2015, in Window Rock, Arizona. Following the inauguration, delegates convened in special session to select a speaker pro tem to serve in that capacity until a speaker was selected by the council to serve a two-year term. Council delegate Kee Allen Begay, Jr. (Low Mountain, Many Farms, Nazlini, Tachee/Blue Gap, Tselani/Cottonwood) was elected speaker pro tem by a coin toss after he and former Speaker Pro Tem LoRenzo Bates each received 12 votes. Begay served as speaker pro tem until the start of the winter session on January 26, 2015, after which former Speaker Pro Tem LoRenzo Bates won the speakership, after a runoff election with Alton Joe Shepherd (Jeddito, Cornfields, Ganado, Kinlichee, Steamboat) where each received 12 votes, after which Shepard withdrew his candidancy, "for the council to unite and work together".
Nelson Gorman Jr. (Chinle) (1995–1997)
Kelsey A Begaye (Kaibito) (1997–1999)
Edward T. Begay (Church Rock) (1999–2003)
Lawrence T. Morgan (Pinedale) (2003–2005)
Lawrence T. Morgan (Pinedale) (2005–2017)
Lawrence T. Morgan (Pinedale) (2007–2009)
Lawrence T. Morgan (Pinedale) (2009–2011)
Johnny Naize (2011–2014)
Johnny Naize (2013–2014)
LoRenzo Bates, (Installed after Naize removal & resignation)(2014–2015) Speaker Pro Tem
Kee Allen Begay Jr.(January 15–26, 2015) Speaker Pro Tem
Lorenzo Bates (January 26, 2015 – Present)
Amos Frank Singer (Kaibeto) Designer of Navajo Nation Seal
Orlanda Smith Hodge (Cornfields, Greasewood, Klagetoh and Wide Ruins Chapters)
Leonard Tsosie (Whitehorse/Torreon//Pueblo Pintado)
Kenneth Maryboy (Aneth/Red Mesa//Mexican Water/Sweet Water/ TeecNosPos)
Davis Filfred (Aneth/Red Mesa/Mexican Water)
Young Jeff Tom (Mariano Lake/Smith Lake)
Lorenzo Bates (Upper Fruitland)
Larry Anderson Sr. (Fort Defiance)
Councilmen George Arthur (San Juan, Burnham, Nahenezad)
Ray Berchman (St. Michael/Oaksprings)
Ervin Keeswood (Tse Daakaan)
Hope MacDonald-Lonetree (Tuba City/Coalmine Canyon)
Johnny Naize (Tselani/Cottonwood/Nazlini)
Harold Wauneka (Fort Defiance)
Lorenzo Curley (Nahata Dziil/Lupton/Houck)
Hoskie Cronemeyer (Houck/Lupton)
Katherine Benally (Dennehotso)
Mark Maryboy (Ret.)(Aneth/Red Mesa//Mexican Water)
Walter Phelps (Birdsprings/Leupp). 2006 Vice Presidential Candidate for Lynda Lovejoy for Navajo Nation President.
Jonathan Perry (Becenti)
