Navajo, Gallup agencies on final list for Harvard University honors

Diné Bureau

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Two programs, one in Gallup and one on the Navajo Reservation, are finalists for Harvard University's annual American Indian Tribal Governance Awards.

This year's 16 finalists were selected from 114 applications from 61 tribes and 13 inter-tribal collaborations, with the winners to be announced Nov. 18 in Albuquerque. Eight of the 16 will each receive a $10,000 award.

Gallup's Na'Nizhoozhi Center, Inc., (NCI) and the Navajo Nation Corrections Project are the two local finalists. The list also includes two Gila River Reservation entries. (Na'Nizhoozhi is the Navajo identity for Gallup.)

NCI's entry shows the cooperation of the Navajo Nation, Zuni Pueblo, the City of Gallup, McKinley County and the State of New Mexico, according to the John F. Kennedy Government School announcement.

"Responding to the distressing rates of accidents, deaths and other alcohol-related problems in Gallup, N.M., the Navajo nation partnered with Zuni Pueblo, the City of Gallup, McKinley County and the State of New Mexico to establish the Na'Nizhoozhi Center in 1992. The center has been an effective force in promoting wellness and safety by providing protective custody, shelter, referral services and culturally based in-patient and out-patient substance abuse treatment services to meet the needs of its Indian clients," the school said.

Of the corrections project by the tribal Behavioral Services Department, the school said,"Established in 1983, the Corrections Project facilitates, coordinates, and advocates for the use of spiritual ceremonies, cultural activities and counseling for Navajo and other Indians in correctional facilities. As the liaison between inmates, their families, and Indian and non-Indian government agencies, the project researches and implements unmet spiritual, cultural and legal needs. In 2002 alone, the project visited 30 correctional facilities and served more than 2,000 clients."

The awards program is administered by the prestigious university's Project on American Indian Economic Development to identify and share outstanding examples of tribal governance among the more than 550 United States Indian tribes.

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Last modified: May 24, 2005