Navajo artist Gerald Nailor paints Henry Chee Dodge, chairman of the Navajo Business Council and then the Navajo Tribal Council, into a mural in the Navajo Tribal Council House, on July 22, 1943.
Record Group 75: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs
Series: Photographs of Navajo Life in the Southwestern Region of the United States
File Unit: Arts and Crafts
Image description: Gerald Nailor smiles as he stands on scaffolding in front of a large mural. He is painting the face of Henry Chee Dodge, using a photograph tacked on the wall for reference. In the foreground are a bucket, jars, and paintbrushes.
Image description: Zoomed-in portion of the image showing Gerald Nailor from the waist up, and more detail on the face of Henry Chee Dodge.
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Seven riders on horseback and a dog trek across Canyon de Chelly, Arizona. Photo by Edward S. Curtis, 1904.
Click Links at bottom of pictures to EMBIGGEN
Edward S. Curtis - Story Telling - Apache, 1903
Edward S. Curtis - Navajo Woman and Two Children on Horseback, 1906
Edward S. Curtis - The Canyon, 1904
Edward S. Curtis - Taos Water Girls, 1905
Edward S. Curtis - The Vanishing Race, Navajo, 1904
Geronimo – Apache, 1905 - Edward S. Curtis
Edward S. Curtis ... Tells the Intimate Story of Indian Life with Motion Pictures.... Chicago: The National Printing and Engraving Co., c.1910. - Lithographic poster printed in 1910, when Curtis debuted his "picture opera," The Story of a Vanishing Race. The show included magic lantern slides of the photographer's work painstakingly hand-colored, supplemented by moving pictures, sound recordings of native songs, an orchestra, and Curtis's own narration.
Portrait of Edward S. Curtis, 1907 - by: Adolph Muhr
Edward Sherriff Curtis (February 19, 1868 – October 19, 1952) was an American photographer and ethnologist whose work focused on the American West and on Native American people. Sometimes referred to as the "Shadow Catcher", Curtis traveled the United States to document and record the dwindling ways of life of various native tribes through photographs and audio recordings.
Curtis's goal was to document Native American life, pre-colonization. He wrote in the introduction to his first volume in 1907, "The information that is to be gathered … respecting the mode of life of one of the great races of mankind, must be collected at once or the opportunity will be lost." Curtis made over 10,000 wax cylinder recordings of Native American language and music. He took over 40,000 photographic images of members of over 80 tribes. He recorded tribal lore and history, described traditional foods, housing, garments, recreation, ceremonies, and funeral customs. He wrote biographical sketches of tribal leaders.
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The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to review a decision that revived a long-running lawsuit by the Navajo Nation, which claims that the U.S. Interior Department has a duty to develop plans to provide the reservation with an adequate water supply. The high court granted two petitions for certiorari – one by the federal government, one by Arizona and other states -- challenging last year’s decision by a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The 9th Circuit said “an irreversible and dramatically important trust duty” was implied by 175 years’ worth of treaties and court decisions. The challengers, however, say implied rights are unenforceable. “The federal treaties with the Navajo Nation…do not address water at all,” and the doctrine of implied water rights “cannot justify imposing such a fiduciary duty,” lead counsel Rita Pearson Maguire argued in the states’ cert petition. The Interior Department, represented by Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, added that the 9th Circuit’s approach would replace national policy decisions with “a regime of general judicial oversight of the United States’ relationship with Indian tribes.” The Navajo Nation, represented by Shay Dvoretzky of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, defended the 9th Circuit’s decision and urged the high court to deny certiorari. The Interior Department declined to comment on Friday. Maguire and Dvoretzky did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Navajo Nation filed suit in 2003. It wants the Interior Department to determine whether the Little Colorado River, which runs through the reservation, is sufficient “to fulfill the Reservation’s purpose of establishing a permanent homeland for the Nation” – a standard known as Winters rights, from a 1908 U.S. Supreme Court decision. If not, the Nation says the government must develop a plan to supply water from other sources. A federal judge in Prescott, Arizona,
ICWA is not the only case affecting Native American and Alaska Native rights. Keep an eye on this case.
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The Navajo Nation has received a $55 million grant to help Navajo homeowners with mortgage payments and home repairs.
Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren said as many as 901 homeowners should qualify for the funds.
The money comes from the American Rescue Plan Act, which provides nearly $10 billion to support homeowners throughout the country who face financial hardships due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The program is open to Navajo homeowners of all income levels within the Four Corner states who live on both tribal lands and in urban areas.
The funds must be used within three years.
PHOENIX — Urban Navajos who own homes off the Navajo Nation will soon receive some unexpected help they’ll want but didn’t need to ask for.
On Sept. 11, Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren told 250 Phoenix metro area Navajo homeowners that the Nation received a $55 million federal grant to provide financial assistance to Navajo homeowners under various Homeowner Assistance Fund programs.
This includes mortgage payments and home repair assistance.
As many as 901 Navajo homeowners should qualify for the money for their homes, he said.
“Make sure we tell everybody,” Nygren told an overflow crowd in the shade outside the historic Phoenix Indian School Visitor Center, one of the remaining buildings from the 100-year-old Indian boarding school.
They were outside because a capacity crowd was already indoors awaiting the same announcement, and Nygren wanted to address those in the 105-degree F heat first.
The Homeowner Assistance Fund was authorized through the American Rescue Plan Act to provide $9.9 billion nationwide to support homeowners who face financial hardships associated with COVID-19, the Nygren said yesterday.
The funds were distributed to states, U.S. territories, and tribes. The Navajo Nation was awarded $55,420,097.
Most federally funded programs are restricted to low- and very-low-income households.
This program allows higher-income Navajo homeowners to receive financial relief from the economic effects of COVID-19, as well.
“Tell your relatives,” Nygren said. “Say the $55 million that came from our government was specifically for Navajo people who are homeowners.”
To launch the process, Nygren signed an agreement with Native Community Capital. The group is a Native-led and operated non-profit corporation that was selected as the sub-recipient to administer the Homeowner Assistance Fund Project activities on behalf of the Navajo Nation.
Native Community Capital is certified by the U.S. Department of the Treasury as a Native Community Development Financial Institution and is a licensed mortgage lender in Arizona and New Mexico.
The program is designed for both higher-income and medium-income homeowners, Native Community Capital CFO Todd Francis said.
As an example, a family of four in Maricopa County in Arizona earning as much as $132,450 a year may be eligible for the tax-free, non-repayable funds to pay their mortgage or repair their homes, he said.
The program will benefit Navajo relatives and their families who reside in both rural remote locations and those in the urban areas of Phoenix, Albuquerque, Denver, Salt Lake City, surrounding smaller cities and towns, and wherever Navajo homeowners live off-reservation, said NCC CEO Dave Castillo.
A significant lack of investment in tribal communities compared to non-Indian communities has resulted in a critical absence of homeownership on tribal lands, particularly for higher-income Native households, he said.
As a result, Navajos with higher incomes tend to purchase or build homes off the Navajo Nation where they can qualify for loans and mortgages to build equity and wealth.
The Center for Indian Country Development reports that 78% of Native people live outside of tribal trust land in counties surrounding their homelands. It is these families the HAF Project will seek to support, Castillo said.
Nygren said the Navajo HAF Project will provide financial assistance to 901 eligible Navajo homeowners to use for qualified expenses in five activities for the next 36 months.
The program will provide financial assistance to eligible Navajo homeowners in the four-state region of Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado.
Each eligible applicant could receive a maximum amount of $125,000 of combined assistance under various programs.
These include:
Monthly mortgage payment assistance to a maximum assistance level of $72,000 per participant. This is for Navajo homeowners who are delinquent in mortgage payments or at risk of foreclosure due to a loss of household income.
Mortgage reinstatement assistance would give a maximum assistance of $50,000 per participant to those who are in active forbearance, delinquency default status, or are at risk of losing a home.
Mortgage principal reduction assistance that would assist up to $100,000 for those who find the fair market value of their home is now less than the price they paid for it and now may result in a loss when it is sold.
Home repair assistance that would give $100,000 to those who need significant home repairs.
Clear title assistance of up to $30,000 for grant assistance to receive a clear title of their primary residence.
In his 2022 presidential campaign, Nygren committed to helping urban Navajos who have said for years that they felt underserved by the tribal government. He said this grant addresses that.
He said one of his administration’s next goals is to buy or construct a building owned by the Navajo Nation in the metro area to serve urban Navajo Phoenicians.
“Wouldn’t it be nice if we used the entire $55 million this year?” Nygren asked. “I know you committed to live here and to take care of your family. I see a lot of familiar faces and I understand this is where your jobs are. We want you to have access to resources.”
Castillo urged applicants to be sure their applications were complete and submitted early.
“One thing we want to emphasize is to be ready when the information is being requested on the checklist,” he said. “Make sure you have your documents prepared and you get it to our licensed professionals that will be working with you. If you do not, the application will expire in 30 days.”
He said the program has just three years to deploy the $55 million.
“It seems like we could do that quickly but we can only do it quickly if you help us, if you’re ready, and if you submit the information that’s necessary.”
Debbie Nez-Manuel, executive director of the Navajo Nation Division of Human Resources, said visits to other urban areas will be planned, scheduled, and announced by Native Community Capital.
The funds must be used within three years.
So does any of this money go to the Black Indians Tribes? @militantinremission
maybe y'all should start asking for your cut right now cause they got it
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The Navajo Arts and Crafts Guild buying rugs in Window Rock, Arizona, on March 27, 1943.
John and Agnez Anderson selling; Marie Martin buying.
Record Group 75: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs
Series: Photographs of Navajo Life in the Southwestern Region of the United States
File Unit: Arts and Crafts
Image description: Six people in a room with large shelves along one side. One woman is holding one end of an unfurled woven rug, which has straight horizontal stripes and stepped diagonal stripes in several different colors (well, different shades of gray in this black and white photo). A man in a cowboy hat stands to the side near the shelves, which hold folded rugs. Three adults stand on the other side of the room, looking at the rug; one woman is holding a small child.
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