A legislative proposal before the Navajo Nation Council that could have led to changing the name of that nation has been withdrawn. The proposal was for a referendum to be brought before Navajo voters this November that would ask them whether to change their nation’s official name from Navajo Nation to Diné Nation. Diné means “the people” in the Diné language, while Navajo is a Spanish word. The proposal passed the council’s Law and Order Committee, but on Friday a spokesperson with the nation’s communications office told KSJD the proposal had been withdrawn by the sponsor. It could be reintroduced.
Seven Montezuma County residents and one citizen of Mexico have been sentenced to a total of 32 years in prison for offenses involving drug trafficking. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announced this week that a large-scale effort in 2022 has resulted in the convictions and sentencing of the eight people. The law-enforcement organizations involved were the Montezuma/Cortez Narcotics Investigation Team, Drug Enforcement Administration and Bureau of Indian Affairs. On Monday, Sheriff Steve Nowlin told the county commissioners at their workshop that such convictions are a welcome success but that the county’s drug problems will not go away so long as the demand for drugs is present.
