Farmington Navajos would like their own chapter, too.

Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. recently urged Navajos living in Albuquerque to form their own chapter in order to avail themselves of funds and services from the tribe, according to an Associated Press story that ran last week in the Journal.

Shirley has long advocated that urban Navajos create their own chapters, which are governmental divisions of the tribe, and Navajo law requires only 1,000 signatures to start the process, the AP reported.

There are 15,000 registered Navajo voters in Albuquerque and perhaps as many as 27,000 Navajos live in New Mexico's largest city, the AP said.

But now Farmington's Navajos -- who make up an estimated 90 percent of the city's estimated 6,400 Native Americans -- would like to take advantage of Shirley's push for urban chapters, the Farmington Daily Times reported today on its Web site.

"What about us?" asked Jasper Joe, chairman of the Intertribal Indian Center board.

Joe told the Times that Shirley is pushing his urban-chapter idea to cities such as Albuquerque, Phoenix and Salt Lake City, but ignoring those Navajos who live in smaller cities close to the Navajo Nation.

That's not so, Shirley's communications director George Hardeen told the Daily Times.

It has always been Shirley's intent to extend help to Navajos wherever they reside, Hardeen told the paper.
If Farmington were to establish a chapter, the Navajo Nation Council wold allocate money to run and operate the chapter and give Farmington Navajos a greater voice in tribal politics, Hardeen told the Daily Times.

Edmund Ciccarello of the Red Lake Chapter and a former employee of the Navajo Nation's election office told the Daily Times that establishing a chapter in Farmington would give Navajos a greater voice in local government.

Farmington Mayor Bill Standley told the paper, however, that he didn't believe forming a Navajo chapter in Farmington would add to the "strong voice" local Navajos have now. But he said any financial benefits from forming a chapter would be a good thing, the paper said.

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