A little more than a month into his new job, Tim Benally picked up Buu Nygren, president of the Navajo (Diné) Nation, at Dulles Airport in Washington, D.C. A few weeks before that, he accompanied Arizona representative David Schweikert and his daughter to the Navajo reservation in that state.  

Benally ’21 Lib, ’24 MS H&HD, a government and legislative affairs associate for the Diné Nation in D.C., serves as a bridge between the Nation and its representatives—senators and state reps—in the capital on matters related to agriculture, infrastructure, and economic development. His duties include staying abreast of developments in proposed and pending legislation at the federal level and communicating these developments to both elected officials and members of the Diné Nation—the largest tribe with the largest singular reservation area, which extends across Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah.

“The Navajo Nation does not own the land—it is the beneficiary, and the U.S. government is the trustee,” says Benally. “Whether we like it or not, the federal government, as our trust holder, makes decisions that significantly impact us. A lot of the discussions in D.C. relate to legislation that covers our basic needs. For example, around 30% of Navajo Nation households don’t have access to running water.”

Benally, who founded the Indigenous Peoples’ Student Association while he was a student at University Park, worked for the Navajo Nation Council in 2020. He is part of a growing number of young tribal members—Nygren himself is only 38—who have completed graduate studies and are seeking to serve their communities in a government capacity. “Our focus has been on asserting and advocating for our inherent sovereignty as outlined in the Treaty of 1868, rather than emphasizing disparity statistics,” he says. “We aim to self-determine services for our people while holding the U.S. government accountable for treaty obligations, including our rights to the Colorado River, which crosses our reservation.” —SI