Myryka Arviso-Yazza

Navajo Government

Navajo Nation
The Navajo Indian Reservation was established according to the Treaty of 1868, after the
Long Walk and the Navajos return form imprisonment in Bosque Redondo. The Treaty
provided one hundred miles square in the New Mexico Territory, where the actual size of the
territory was only about 5,200 square miles, only about half. On October 28, 1878 the first
expansion of the reservation occurred. After President Rutherford Hayes signed an executive
order the boundary was pushed twenty miles west. Throughout the late 19
th
and 20
th
century,
more additions were made.
Government
Before the 1920s, the Navajo government wasnt centrally organized. When oil was
discovered on the reservation, in 1921, a central Indian authority was needed with which the
federal government could interact in order to provide leases for mineral development. Appointed
by the BIA, business council of three Navajos initially ended up dealing with lease grants.
Because they were not representative of the tribe, in 1923 representatives were then chosen from
the existing Navajo Agencies. In order to improve conditions involving agriculture, the Chapter
was created in 1922, which later became the basic political subdivision of Navajo Government.
The Chapters elect representatives to the Navajo Tribal Council, which serves as the legislative
branch of Navajo government.

In the 1930s, the fight concerning stock reduction almost caused Navajo self-government
to collapse. In 1937, after the fight, the tribal council was disbanded and reorganized under the
Department of the Interior regulations. A constitution based on the type authorized by the Indian
Reorganization Act was voted in, but lacked the approval from Washington, and the powers of
the Navajo tribe were temporarily limited.
The Department of the Interior eventually gave more and more power to the Tribal
Council, with the ongoing fight over stock reduction, as well as the need for roads, schools,
health facilities, and water development. They also gave the Tribal Council the right to adopt a
constitution, but it was not created. A Navajo Bill of Rights was passed in 1967, and a year later,
the Navajo Nation was declared a sovereign state.
Since the late 1980s the Navajo Nation has been undergoing many changes. New
administration, proposals for reapportionment, Council reduction, Local Governance, and
gaming issues have all come up.