Greetings Relatives/Frens/Humans,
I hope you are all having a most productive day and you are all safe, warm and have food and water.
Navajo Nation Vice President Richelle Montoya reported to the 25th Navajo Nation Council that she “never” identified Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren as the individual who allegedly sexually harassed her, during an August 2023 meeting in the Navajo Nation Office of the President and Vice President.
This is the first time that Montoya has clarified her April 2024 statement that someone in the Navajo Office of the President and President sexually harassed her during an August 2023 meeting in the Navajo OPVP by naming Nygren as the alleged perpetrator of her alleged sexual harassment complaint.
But Montoya did not directly state that Nygren was the alleged perpetrator. She said that Nygren named himself as the perpetrator during his press conference. Montoya also did not identify the date of Nygren’s press conference.
I requested a copy of Montoya’s sexual harassment complaint, during Nyren’s May 28, 2024, press conference. I never received a copy.
And so, from April 18, 2024, to Oct. 21, 2024, Montoya remained silent about who the perpetrator of her sexual harassment complaint was. And that was after Nygren admitted that he was the unnamed individual that allegedly harassed Montoya, during a May 28k, 2024, press conference that Nygren hosted. Nygren also denied Montoya’s alleged sexual harassment charges.
On Oct. 15, 2024, Nygren announced during an “invitation only” press conference that he had terminated all of Montoya’s vice-presidential duties because Montoya signed a recall Nygren petition. Nygren also attacked the Recall Nygren organizer and leader, Debbie Nez-Manuel. Nez-Manuel organized the recall Nygren campaign on Aug. 7, 2024, after Nygren removed her as DHR director on June 27, 2024. Nez-Manuel was also Nygren’s campaign manager.
And then on Oct. 21, 2024, Montoya informed the Council that Nygren was her alleged sexual harassment perpetrator.
Montoya’s statement to the Council came during her State of the Navajo Nation Address to the Council on Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. Monday was the first day of the Council’s annual Fall Session, which is one of four quarterly Council sessions mandated by Navajo law. The Council’s policies also mandate that day one of the Council’s four quarterly session include the State of the Navajo Nation Address by the president and vice president.
After the Council acknowledged that they had received an email from Nygren on Monday that he would not present the SONN address, the Council noted that they also had not received a written SONN from Nygren. They then unanimously voted to hear the SONN from Montoya, who was sitting in a section of the Council chambers that is reserved for the vice president and president. Nygren did submit his SONN and Navajo Nation Executive Branch Quarterly Report to the Council. I post Nygren’s SONN and EB Quarterly Report.
According to Nygren Facebook page, Nygren posted his SONN on his FB page about noon on Oct. 21, 2024.
After Montoya’s informed the Council that she never identified Nygren as the alleged perpetrator in her sexual harassment complaint, she added that Nygren identified himself as her alleged perpetrator, during his press conference.
Nygren, during a May 28, 2024, press conference in the Navajo Nation Office of the President and Vice President in Window Rock, Arizona, said that he did not sexually harass Montoya, during the Aug. 17, 2023, meeting and that he met with Montoya to talk about her separation from her husband, Olsen Chee, of 11 years.
An investigation was launched by Navajo Nation Attorney General Ethel Branch of allegations of sexual harassment, bullying and other mistreatment within offices of the highest level of government at the Navajo Nation on April 19, 2024.
The following is Branch’s April 19, 2024, press release, which is titled “Navajo Nation Attorney General initiates preliminary investigation.”
“This week’s allegation were made of sexual harassment, bullying, and other mistreatment within offices of the highest level of government at the Navajo Nation. The (Navajo Nation) Special Prosecutor statute at 2 N.N.C (Navajo Nation Code). § 2021 authorizes the Attorney General to conduct a preliminary investigation when she receives information that constitutes grounds to investigate whether high level elected and appointed officials and staff have committed a violation of law or committed any act upon which the Navajo Nation may bring a civil cause of action.”
Attorney General Branch stated “Given the allegations made this week I believe it is necessary to initiate an independent preliminary investigation to ascertain whether violations of law have occurred. To that end, I have directed outside counsel Eric Dahlstrom of the law firm of Rothstein Donatelli to immediately commence a thorough and comprehensive preliminary investigation regarding complaints of impropriety in high level governmental offices pursuant to my authority under the Special Prosecutor Statute. Mr. Dahlstrom has served as a long-time Special Prosecutor to the Nation. His work has included the successful prosecution of 15 Navajo Nation Council delegates and two tribal employees who faced 140 criminal complaints relating to the misuse of Navajo Nation discretionary funds.”
Branch’s investigation is not focused on Montoya’s sexual harassment complaint. Branch stated that the investigation that she is overseeing involves all “complaints of impropriety in high level government offices.”
I truly believe that more than enough time has passed for a final report on Branch’s investigation of Montoya’s sexual harassment complaint against Nygren. But then again, Branch has never said that Montoya’s sexual harassment complaint is part of her investigation.
And now Nygren is acting like a dictator and retaliating against a Navajo government elected official who decided to use her right to vote to sign a recall petition. If Nygren is publicly retaliating against one of the Navajo government’s high ranking elected officials for signing a Nygren recall petition, what is he doing that is not in the public eye.
The Navajo Council could take charge of this chaos, secrecy, and double-talk by calling for an Independent Investigation of Navajo President Buu Nygren, Vice President Richelle Montoya, and the Office of the President and Vice President because of other allegations involving misuse of public funds, including federal funds involving CARES and ARPA dollars, and abusing Navajo budget procedures to derail proposed 2025 Navajo Govt Operating Budget.
There are also serious allegations of criminal actions by Nygren’s Chief of Staff, Patrick
Sandoval, that involve a Vietnam War veteran, who allegedly paid Sandoval for assistance, after Sandoval allegedly asked the Vietnam War veteran for payment.
Under Navajo law, if the Council places both the president and vice president on administrative leave with pay during the investigation of the OPVP, then the Navajo Council Speaker becomes interim president. But that requires the Council approval. The Council could also decide that they want to keep their speaker, which allows the Council to select an interim president from among the Council delegates.
Usually, when Nygren presents the SONN to the Council during their quarterly sessions, Nygren’s cabinet is sitting in the Council chambers. But during Montoya’s SONN on Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, the only cabinet member in the Council chambers was Navajo Nation Controller Sean McCabe. The Council noticed the absence of cabinet members.
McCabe reported to the Council on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, that he is unable to track contracts that were funded with CARES/Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act and ARPA/American Rescue Plan Act dollars. The Navajo government received $714,189,631 June 26 from the U.S. Department of the Treasury in CARES money on June 26, 2020. And about $2.1 billion in ARPA aid was awarded to the Navajo government in two disbursements: May 2021 and August 2021.
The Council voted for an executive session with McCabe to address his statement regarding problems with contracts funded with federal funds under CARES and ARPA. For several weeks, the Council has been calling in Nygren’s cabinet, Navajo government enterprises/businesses and U.S. Indian Health Services to identify unspent ARPA funds. The Navajo Council set an internal Nov. 1, 2024, deadline for unspent ARPA money to revert to the Navajo Nation Hardship Assistance Program. The federal government’s funding obligation deadline for ARPA is Dec. 31, 2024.
The first Navajo Nation Hardship Assistance came in November 2020, after Navajo Council Delegate Amber Kanazbah Crotty called for unspent CARES funds to fund hardship assistance checks for we, the Dine’ people, instead of returning CARES dollars to the U.S. Treasury. Crotty sponsored emergency legislation for a second round of hardship checks in January 2022.
Response to President Nygren’s memos
By Navajo Times | Jul 18, 2024 | Opinion |
Response to President Nygren’s memos
By Vice President Richelle Montoya
This letter serves as a response to the memos and public statements issued by the Office of the President and outlines the timeline and severe imbalance within the Office of the President and Vice President.
First, I want to establish a timeline of when changes began within the administration. Before and after I was selected as the vice president, my family and I supported you and campaigned on your behalf. After I joined the ticket as the vice president, we ran on the same platform with the same vision to protect and strengthen our people and our Nation with thinking toward the future a vision that we both shared, and the Navajo people believed in. We were elected to our respective positions by the Navajo people, and we became the Nygren-Montoya administration.
Within the two months between the election and inauguration, we worked together to form the Office of the President and Vice President staff and evaluated prospective executive directors. At that time, my input was included and valued as an essential leader of the administration. You have since deviated from our collective vision, betraying the trust of the people who voted for us as equals.
Unfortunately, immediately after the inauguration, our working relationship took a turn. My consult, recommendations, ideas, and input were no longer sought. Instead, I was treated as your subordinate and not as your equal. Since then, from you and your staff, I have experienced blatant disrespect, retaliation, isolation from issues and decision-making, and removal from critical planning and communication for the government, its employees, and the Nation.
Then, in August 2023, I submitted a complaint to the OPVP Chief Legal Counsel Bidtah Becker and Chief of Staff Patrick Sandoval that described the harassment I experienced from you. To my dismay, there was no offer of legal advice or guidance on how to proceed with the complaint, but instead I was asked to attend sexual harassment training with you — a tactic often offered but seldomly effective.
It is unfortunate that we are at this point.
Supervision of the vice president
As the president and vice president, we are equal. I am not your lessor nor am I inferior to you. Ordering or requiring me to report to the deputy chief of staff who is not an elected official and who is several steps below the vice president is disrespectful and devalues the Office of the Vice President.
In response to the July 3, 2024 memorandum, I believe that a legal opinion is necessary to specifically state whether the president indeed supervises the vice president and if the president has the authority to deny, restrict, cancel, or approve the vice president’s official travel. The president and vice president ran on the same ticket and resulting in both the president and vice president receiving equal votes.
Because the president and vice president are of equal stature, the Office of the Vice President requests from the Office of the President your travel schedule, access to your calendar, a rundown of the OPVP budget, a list of staffers and their salaries, a list of staffers who are on contract with a copy of the contracts, the projects each staffer is currently working on, along with copies of all reports submitted to you by division directors, staffers, departments, and budget documents for OPVP, etc.
All the necessary tools and information for the Office of the Vice President, I am reminded of the teaching story of how wolf, blue bird, mountain lion, and hummingbird each travelled to the four directions and brought back with them a crucial element for life, therefore all leaders must work together to sustain life. The people understood that there is no priority of leaders; that leaders must work cooperatively and in equal parts because all efforts are for the people to survive.
Most importantly, we know that words are sacred and the people have the right to keep us accountable in our use of the words we choose. As such, as leaders, we must always speak the truth and we have a responsibility to communicate that to the people. Any words we speak are absolutely meant and we can be held accountable by the people.
Staffing the Office of the Vice President
It is well known that the Office of the Vice President only has one employee. When we first came into office, I had two employees, an assistant/scheduler and a security detail. Now, my security detail, who is told to report to you, fills the roles as my assistant and scheduler, which are not within her wheelhouse.
In comparison, the Office of the President has an assistant, a scheduler, a note-taker, a chief of staff, a deputy chief of staff, a chief legal counsel, and an entire media team.
The Office of the First Lady is also provided with two support staff, a public relations officer, and a bigger budget to accommodate salaried employees. The Office of the President has over 20 staffers, yet the Office of the Vice President has one person serving three roles at the same time. This is a bureaucratic issue, and it directly impacts my ability to serve the Navajo people.
Even the inability to purchase office supplies without your approval is impacting my ability to effectively serve the Navajo people, as I am having to use my own funds to supply my office. The lack of resources is not only challenging, but also creates significant barriers to fulfill my duties. It is urgent that these issues are addressed to ensure that the needs of the Navajo people are met.
Hostile work environment
After I submitted my complaint against you nearly a year ago, the work environment became strained. I was no longer provided with any information or communication, and I was intentionally left out of meetings and any decision-making within the Office of the President and Vice President. This treatment is not only unfair but also unjust. So, when I was asked about the working environment within the Office of the President and Vice President during the Council’s Spring Session in April 2024, I told the truth about the disrespect and lack of resources and personnel.
Additionally, in an overwhelming sense of frustration and fear, I informed the Navajo people via social media about my experience as their first Diné Asdzaan vice president. The people elected me to be their vice president and they deserved to know the challenges, obstacles, and working conditions preventing me from fulfilling the promises we made during the campaign. The same promises that gained our people’s trust and, ultimately, their vote.
Since the Council’s Spring Session, I have received more communication from your staff than from you. Yet, at that session, you assured the governing body of the Navajo Nation that you would work better with the Office of the Vice President and provide adequate staffing — that has not happened. In fact, since that session, you have actively made aggressions toward me by holding a press conference and interfering in the preliminary investigation by releasing my statement to the public, retaliated against me by sending authoritative memos and releasing those to the media, as well as pitting our people against me by urging them to “get angry” about how you’re perceived in the media.
There has been no peace in your approaches to resolving our issues. In fact, your behaviors are prime examples of retaliation, intimidation, and bullying. These exact actions are ones that our Navajo employees file complaints about, and they often suffer pain and trauma for years. Instead of addressing the toxic workplace issues, you contribute to its longstanding culture one that I vow to change. All our government employees deserve a safe and healthy workplace.
In addition to the direct smear, your accusation that my complaint is a ruse to the presidency campaign is hurtful and far from the truth.
Amid all this adversity, I continue my work as the vice president despite the lack of support, resources, and staff to assist me in addressing and completing critical work on behalf of the Navajo people.
Not a fair investigation
After the Spring Session, the 25th Navajo Nation Council issued a press statement calling for an independent investigation into the Office of the President and the Vice President. This call for an independent investigation is crucial for ensuring transparency and fairness. However, Attorney General Ethel Branch thwarted the Council’s action by using her authority to launch a preliminary investigation and had already hired Eric Dahlstrom, former Navajo Nation deputy attorney general (1987-1990).
I have deep reservations for two reasons: 1) Procurement policies, including development of a scope, evaluation, or bidding process to ensure a qualified independent investigator were not followed; and 2) The Council’s request for an independent investigation was ignored and only a fact-finding preliminary investigation was issued, and to date, has yet to provide a status report.
It is unclear when the preliminary investigation began as it was buried by the press conference you held on May 28, 2024, in response to my seven-month-old complaint, creating a national spectacle of the Navajo Nation and the Office of the President and Vice President. You directly interfered with the preliminary investigation by distributing the media packet at the press conference that was created solely to discredit my complaint and public statements, as well as damage my character as a leader and woman.
In addition to publicly shaming me, you intentionally released my complaint without my consent in the middle of an investigation as a way to retaliate and humiliate me in front of the public with the hopes of turning our people against me.
On June 17, 2024, I received a memorandum from you acknowledging my decision to not participate in a peacemaking session. Henceforth, the “preliminary investigation” appeared to be in progress, and the turmoil within the Office of the President and Vice President escalated beyond the level of peacemaking. As I continue to indicate, I submitted my complaint almost a year ago and, from that time to the present, you have overtly refused to support the Office of the Vice President.
Meanwhile, I continue to do the work our people elected me to do while respecting the investigation that I assume is still in progress. I request that the investigation continue without any interference from you, your staff, or your attorney; seek a proper investigator through the appropriate process and have staff with conflicts recuse themselves from any decision-making and oversight.
Response to demands
I acknowledged both your harassing and ill-intended memos disguised as demands for accountability to you, Mr. Beecher, and Mr. Sandoval. As the vice president, I am accountable to the Navajo people. We both took an oath to work for the Navajo people and answer to them. We are equals in this plight to govern and serve. I am not your subordinate. It is imperative that administration’s goals, objectives, vision, plans, and priorities are shared, but you have created a divide. This administration appears to be an administration of one only, the Office of the President — and the re-branding shows it. Therefore, I am requesting a legal opinion from the OPVP legal counsel outlining our respective roles, authorities, and oversight as jointly elected officials.
I wholeheartedly agree that all of the work conducted through the Office of the President and Vice President is important and progress should be reported to the people. As you stated, the people entrusted you to be the president of the Navajo Nation, accordingly, the people also entrusted me to be the vice president. If your intent is to know my work, whereabouts, and progress as the vice president, then provide my office with the essential resources needed to fulfill the needs of the people. As elected officials, we are equals, so I am also within my grounds to ask you to share your schedule, reports, and resources as well.
As such, the following are responses to the seven expectations listed in your June 17, 2024 memorandum:
- Schedules. Once a scheduler has been selected and onboarded, a schedule will be provided to your office. However, if you are assisting me with my scheduling needs, and in fact, assigning the Deputy Chief of Staff Kris Beecher to report to the vice president, then please provide the directive in writing and outline how and in what capacity the deputy chief of staff shall assist the Office of the Vice President. In addition, due to the sensitive nature of the work and correspondence that go through the Office of the Vice President, I am requesting a copy of Mr. Beecher’s background check conducted through the Navajo Nation Office of Background Investigations and required for individuals hired into sensitive positions.
- Reports. As indicated, the Office of the Vice President operates with one support staff, serving three roles simultaneously, making the Office of the Vice President ill-equipped to provide the detailed written reports you are demanding. The Office of the President has far more support staff, as well as the help of legal counsel, the attorney general, the deputy attorney general, and the executive directors all who assist you with written reports, drafting statements, and issuing press releases for you and the First Lady. Therefore, my reports shall be provided once the Office of the Vice President is adequately staffed.
- Travel Requests. We are elected tribal leaders. Like you, I receive many invitations from our constituents, partners, funders, and others requesting my attendance. As one of two of the Navajo Nation’s top elected officials, it is my duty to show up — to engage, learn, listen, and advocate. Until a legal opinion is issued stating that the president supervises the vice president, you have no authority to approve or deny my travel requests. As stated previously, the president and vice president are equals with equal authority over the Office of the President and Vice President. In fact, my travel requests should be processed in the same manner as yours.
- Meetings. I appreciate your invitation to attend the division director and OPVP staff meetings. I agree to attend all meetings that benefit the Navajo people. I also look forward to hearing your reports and strategies for this administration, as well as the progress on projects you are currently working on. However, requiring division directors and OPVP to attend 6 a.m. meetings, outside of normal work hours, is unprofessional and likely in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
- Projects. All projects within the Office of the Vice President absolutely align with the Nygren-Montoya administration not “your administration.” Perhaps a legal opinion is necessary to answer whether the administration is indeed the “Nygren-Montoya administration,” only the “Nygren administration,” or if both, the Nygren administration and the Montoya administration are separate but equal. If the latter is true, the Montoya administration must be funded commensurate to the Nygren administration as it is severely underfunded. In the meantime, I look forward to working with you to finally set the priorities for the Nygren-Montoya administration and create a plan that ensures the entire administration understands the priorities and their roles to achieve each and are aware of projects currently underway.
- MMDR. The Missing Murdered Indigenous/Diné Relatives is an issue that is of utmost importance to our people and is dear to my heart. As you know, I am a survivor of domestic abuse, and it is through my experiences that I am a valued voice and compassionate advocate. The Missing Murdered Indigenous/Diné Relatives is a sensitive and emotional cause that impacts everyone and should not be used by you as a means to degrade and discount the work I have already been a part of. Despite your directives to limit my involvement, as vice president, I intend to continue to meet with survivors and families and advocate on their behalf. The First Lady and Ms. Azua are welcome to join the MMDR efforts and I invite them to share resources.
- Conduct. We collected votes from our Navajo people to hold these equal positions in the highest office. Through their votes, they placed trust in us. As the president and vice president of the Navajo Nation, we have a duty to conduct ourselves respectfully, in a professional manner with integrity and honesty. Throughout the term of this administration, I expect you to conduct yourself professionally and for any communication between us to be respectful, informative, and not delivered in a degrading, humiliating, or in an authoritative manner as if to imply that my position as the vice president is inferior and lessor than the president. I also ask that you be honest with our people. Tell them the truth about all the “forced resignations,” changes in positions and personnel, delays in ARPA projects, and how your attorney, David Jordan, and the new deputy chief of staff, Mr. Kris Beecher, are being paid.
With your recent aggressive actions, you are further exacerbating the rift within OPVP, and it does nothing but harm our work and responsibility to our people. Your undiplomatic decisions and actions threaten the very foundation of tribal sovereignty and self-determination. The Navajo people entrusted me equally with their votes and confidence to advocate for their needs, including MMDR and other critical issues that affect our Navajo people. Your behavior has vast consequences, not just for the Navajo Nation but for other tribal communities as well.
The Nation, other tribal leaders and communities, and our allies look to the Navajo Nation for leadership and guidance, and actions like these diminish our role on a federal, state, and local level. It is essential that we honor the trust and responsibility given to both of us by our people.
I propose that we work together to create an Operations Plan for the Office of the President and Vice President that clearly outlines our roles and duties as elected leaders and those who work within our offices, as well as sets objectives and expectations for our teams.
My commitment to the Navajo Nation and the Navajo people remains unwavering and rooted in our Diné culture and tradition. I will continue to work towards our goals and priorities despite the challenges I face. (End of Vice President Montoya statement.)
Ahe’hee/Much Appreciation to Lene Bitsuie for her graphic showing Nygren and Montoya in better days and Nygren’s Oct. 15, 2024, statement regarding Montoya.
Ahe’hee for Keeping an Eye on Navajo Govt!
