Navajo Nation officials have made burials easier by approving temporary waiver

Navajo Nation officials have made it easier for tribal members to bury their loved ones using a temporary waiver for burial plots.

The Navajo council Resources & Development Committee approved the waiver earlier this month. It’s intended to help grieving families who are facing regulatory barriers by easing burial requirements.

Normally, the Navajo Nation requires a sexton, "an official empowered to authorize burial for each cemetery." Without a sexton, families are not legally able to bury their loved ones in established burial plots.

But officials say regulations prevented tribal officials from serving as sextons. That created a backlog, says Navajo Land Department Manager Byron Bitsoie, who argued for the waiver to the committee.

Bitsoie will now be authorizing family plot burials.

"The families are already stressed and you know, financially and mentally and physically," Bitsoie said. "You know, we want to help our community as it is and being a public servant for the Navajo Nation as a park manager and steward of the land for the Nation, I really do support that."

The waiver expires June 30.