Crotty attends Women’s March, skips inauguration
BY ARLYSSA BECENTI
NAVAJO TIMES
WINDOW ROCK — Council Delegate Amber Crotty (Toadlena/Two Grey Hills/ Red Valley/Tse’alnaozt’i’i’/ Sheepsprings/Beclabito/Gadiiahi/To’Koi) wasn’t able to attend the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump, but she was sure to make it to the women’s march. “I didn’t make it the inauguration,” said Crotty. “I was there to advocate on behalf of the Navajo Nation to maintain our funding.”
Crotty, Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye, Speaker of the Navajo Nation LoRenzo Bates, and several other council delegates traveled to Washington D.C. over the weekend while the inauguration was underway.
Crotty said she was notified the Trump administration was looking at the budget proposals the administration was considering to reduce or cut entirely, and one was the Violence Against Women Act federal grants, which is initially why she decided to go.
Since Crotty began her term she has been vocal in making domestic violence concerns a priority on Navajo, but now she will be working extra hard to make it known with lobbyists and those who are working on behalf of Navajo.
“I was concerned with ‘Do they know our story?’” Said Crotty. “So I went to tell our story in a quick systematic way to say, ‘We are here. We are watching and we are concerned.’”
Along with her 13-year-old daughter, Crotty said she participated in the Women’s March on Washington, whose participants surpassed the number of inauguration attendees by tens of thousands.
“It was empowering, humbling,” said Crotty. “To see the strength of the women and our men warriors … We are not alone, we are courageous enough to take action and we are strong. We will not be silenced.”
Amber Crotty
Navajo Nation Vice President Jonathan Nez was one leader who decided not to travel with Begaye and the rest to attend the inauguration. Instead, Nez was in Santa Fe and joined tribal leaders from across New Mexico to meet with New Mexico Speaker of the House Brian Egolf.
There they discussed how to strengthen tribal and state relations for the 60-day legislative session, the need to educate the new Congress and White House about Indian Country and the effort to protect the Affordable Care Act.
Nez, who supported Democratic Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign, said that though it was “unfortunate” that winning the popular vote by 2.9 million did not solidify Clinton as president, she still would have faced “gridlock” as a Democratic President working with a Republican-controlled Congress even if she had won.
Although some criticized Begay’s decision to attend the inaugurals, Nez said it was Begaye’s “duty” in order to represent the Navajo Nation, as well as educate the new administration about Navajo and its issues. One huge concern which Nez emphasized is what will happen once the Affordable Care Act is repealed without a replacement.
“It is important that our president (Begaye) be there to educate those potential cabinet members … He’s not just going there for the inauguration, he also has to work with the incoming administration, but there has to be that relationship,” said Nez. “That’s the partnership that President and I have: It’s his duty to be that person to be at the inauguration.”
During the start of the Navajo Nation Council Winter Session, Crotty asked Bates for updates on what is happening in Washington. Recently Trump’s administration had frozen all Environmental Protection Agency grants and contracts.
She said that collectively $2 billion could be on the line, and the Navajo Nation needs to be vigilant of what is happening in Washington.
“As a Nation, I would like to see a daily briefing of what’s going on in D.C.,” said Crotty. “We need to know what the issues are.”