Begay calls for Navajo health care control, trust land reform

Jordon Begay used the Tuba City presidential forum to argue that the Navajo Nation should control its own health care system and push Congress to loosen federal control over trust land, framing both issues as questions of whether power and money reach households in Tonalea, Tuba City Chapter and nearby Apache County communities. He said the Nation should govern as one unit rather than three branches in conflict, casting the race as a test of whether everyday problems can be solved closer to home.

Begay’s pitch leaned on his own background. He is a Tuba City High School graduate, a former federal health administrator, a Gates Millennium Scholar and a voter registered at Tonalea Chapter. He said he has worked across the Nation, including at Gallup Indian Medical Center and in Eastern Navajo, and pointed to Tuba City Chapter and Kayenta Township as examples of local governance that could guide the rest of the Navajo Nation.

The health care proposal lands in a system already stretched across a vast region. The Navajo Area Indian Health Service says it serves more than 244,000 American Indians through five federal service units on and near the Navajo Nation, including Chinle, Crownpoint, Gallup, Kayenta and Shiprock. The system includes four hospitals, seven full-time health centers and five part-time health stations. But federal data show how much work a takeover would require: the U.S. Government Accountability Office reported in 2023 that about 61% of rated Indian Health Service buildings were in fair or poor condition, and the facilities ranged from 1 to 171 years old. That means any move toward greater Navajo control would face not just politics, but a sizable repair bill and the federal rules that still shape staffing, facilities and budgets.

Begay’s trust land reform message faces similar hurdles. Congress passed the Navajo Nation Trust Land Leasing Act in 2000, and the Tribal Energy Act of 2017 expanded leasing authority, but as of September 2023 the Navajo Nation had not adopted the regulations needed to assume that authority, citing limited capacity, funding, staffing and database-access concerns. The Navajo Land Buy-Back Program says fractionation affects about 150 locations on the Nation and can leave tracts with hundreds of owners. The Navajo Land Department says its title, records and land acquisition work is designed to consolidate land and manage records under federal and tribal land laws.

At Greyhills Academy High, where the forum was hosted by the Tónaneesdizí Local Government and streamed online, 13 candidates laid out competing visions in a race with 16 total contenders. The July 21 primary will narrow that field to two finalists for the November general election. President Buu Nygren, elected in 2023 and seeking a second term, defended his record on homes, roads, windmills and a higher tribal minimum wage. Begay’s challenge was sharper: whether the next president can turn sovereignty talk into faster care, clearer land rules and real control for families living with both every day.