President Joe Biden welcomed President-elect Donald Trump to the White House on Wednesday. Their two-hour meeting to start talks for a smooth, peaceful transition of power starkly contrasts from when Trump broke with tradition and refused to invite Biden after he won the 2020 general election.
“Politics is tough,” Trump said during a fireside chat at the Oval Office. “And many cases, not a very nice world, but it is a nice world today. I appreciate it very much.”
Setting aside political differences is something that the Navajo Nation’s top elected leaders often do, unlike Biden and Trump. In Navajo politics, the president and vice president are elected separately. Officially, there’s no partisanship either.
“But we know who’s a Republican and Democrat,” said former Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez, who lost his U.S. House race against Congressman Eli Crane. “Because they identify themselves for the county, state and federal elections.”
Nez identifies as a Democrat, while Myron Lizer, his then-vice president, is a Republican and has been a staunch Trump supporter. They still formed an administration from 2019 to 2023.
“We had a good relationship with President Biden during my tenure,” Nez said. “Of course, my vice president had a good relationship with President Trump, and so both of us working together, were able to advocate for our constituents.”
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Representatives from the Navajo, Hopi and San Juan Southern Paiute tribes spoke in front of a Senate Committee to support the Northeastern Arizona Indian Water Rights Settlement. -
Native American tribes across the West are trying — and in more and more cases succeeding — in getting ancestral lands back. -
American bison are a symbol of the West that might’ve vanished from this landscape entirely — if not for conservation efforts. Each year, the city of Denver donates buffalo from a long-established herd to federally recognized tribes and nonprofits. -
The U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs has invited tribal leaders from across the Grand Canyon State to testify on Capitol Hill. The Northeast Arizona Indian Water Rights Settlement Act is the subject of Wednesday’s hearing. -
Highschoolers across six BIE-run schools in South Dakota, Oklahoma, Montana and New Mexico are already participating, including Northwest High School in Shiprock on the Navajo Nation.
