Navajo Nation government (Diné Bikéyah)

Background

The Diné (Navajo) were forced on the "Long Walk" in 1864 to internment at Bosque Redondo in New Mexico, where many died. The Treaty of 1868, signed on 1 June 1868, allowed them to return to a reservation in their homeland, which was later enlarged many times. The modern central government began when the US Interior Department created a small business council in 1922 to approve oil leases, replaced in 1923 by the Navajo Tribal Council. In 1935 Navajo voters rejected the Indian Reorganization Act and the model constitution that came with it, so the Nation has never adopted a written constitution; its government rests on the treaty, federal law and the Navajo Nation Code.

The current structure was shaped by a crisis in 1989. Chairman Peter MacDonald was placed on leave by the council amid corruption allegations, and a confrontation between his supporters and police in Window Rock in July 1989 left two people dead. In December 1989 the council adopted the "Title II amendments", separating legislative and executive powers and replacing the chairman with a president. MacDonald was later convicted in tribal and federal courts.

How it is governed

• Legislature. The Navajo Nation Council has 24 delegates, each elected

from a district made up of chapters. It was cut from 88 members after a referendum on 15 December 2009 and seated at the new size in 2011. A Speaker presides, and standing committees oversee budgets, resources, law and order, and health and education.

• Executive. A President and Vice-President are elected for four-year

terms; since 2009 the President has had a line-item veto over budget items.

• Judiciary. District courts and the Navajo Nation Supreme Court apply

the Navajo Nation Code and Navajo common law. Since 2002 the Code has recognised the Fundamental Laws of the Diné, and courts draw on concepts such as hózhó (harmony) and k'é (kinship relations).

• Peacemaking. A Peacemaker Court established in 1982 offers a

traditional alternative in which a respected community member (naat'áanii) guides parties and relatives towards a consensual resolution.

• Chapters. 110 chapters are the local units of government, with their

own meetings and officials; a 1998 Local Governance Act lets certified chapters take on more powers.

• Federal framework. The Nation is a federally recognised tribe with

inherent sovereignty, but its jurisdiction is limited by Congress and federal courts, especially over non-members.

Economy and public goods

The Nation's revenue has relied heavily on coal, oil and gas, plus federal funding. The closure of the Navajo Generating Station in 2019 and the decline of coal cut jobs and royalties. Gaming, tourism, a permanent fund and enterprises such as the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority add revenue. Poverty and unemployment are high, many homes lack piped water or electricity, and distances are vast. Uranium mining in the twentieth century left hundreds of abandoned mines; in 2005 the council banned uranium mining and processing on Navajo land. The COVID-19 pandemic hit the Nation particularly hard in 2020.

Conflict and disputes

• Federal limits. In Arizona v. Navajo Nation (2023), the US Supreme

Court held 5-4 that the 1868 treaty did not require the United States to take affirmative steps to secure water for the Nation, a major setback in its search for water from the Colorado River.

• Internal politics. Tension between the council and the president has

recurred, and a series of prosecutions over misuse of council discretionary funds in the 2010s damaged trust in the legislature.

• Land. The decades-long Navajo-Hopi land dispute led to forced

relocations under a 1974 federal law, which remain painful.

• Language and identity. Debates over requiring fluency in the Navajo

language for presidential candidates have reached the courts and the ballot.

Outcomes

The Navajo Nation runs one of the most developed tribal governments in the United States, with regular elections, a three-branch structure and a court system widely studied for blending Indigenous and Western law. Austin, a former justice, argues that Navajo common law gives the courts legitimacy and continuity with Diné values. Wilkins stresses the gap between formal sovereignty and federal constraints, and the absence of a constitution ratified by the people.

Lessons for institution design

• Reform after crisis. The 1989 separation of powers responded directly

to concentrated executive power.

• Downsizing a legislature by popular referendum can be possible even

against the legislature's wishes.

• Legal pluralism (peacemaking alongside adversarial courts) gives

disputants a choice of procedure.

• Sovereignty without control of key resources, such as water, limits what

self-government can deliver.

Further reading

• Navajo Nation Council: history
• Judicial Branch of the Navajo Nation
• Arizona v. Navajo Nation, 599 U.S. 555 (2023)
• Wilkins, The Navajo Political Experience (Rowman & Littlefield, 4th ed. 2013)
• Austin, Navajo Courts and Navajo Common Law (University of Minnesota Press, 2009)