FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Navajos have voted to loosen a requirement for their top two elected officials to speak the tribe’s language.
The vote Tuesday raises the possibility of the tribe electing a non-Navajo-speaking president and vice president.
The law now will state that voters can determine if candidates speak and understand the language well enough to hold office, starting with the 2018 election. Tribal courts no longer can enforce the requirement.
The vote is a victory for Navajos who rallied around a presidential candidate who was disqualified last year for failing to prove he spoke fluent Navajo. They say well-educated Navajos shouldn’t be faulted for not knowing the language.
Others say not having a president speak fluent Navajo diminishes the value of the language that is not widely spoken by the younger generation.
Tuesday’s vote was a rare referendum on Navajo Nation.
Tribal law previously required candidates for president and vice president to understand Navajo and speak it fluently, a law that could be enforced by tribal courts. A “no” vote would have left the current requirement in place.
The question of what it means to be fluent in Navajo overshadowed the most recent Navajo presidential election that was delayed for months by court challenges. The tribe’s Supreme Court said the requirement was reasonable and ordered a lower court to determine if candidate Chris Deschene met the qualification after he was challenged by opponents in the primary election. Deschene refused to be tested on his language skills and was replaced on the ballot.