Tragic death of a young Mesa Community College coach

I appreciate the efforts The Arizona Republic has made to expose problems with the Navajo Housing Authority. With the appointment of a new housing authority board and the announcement that NHA is seeking a new head, the paper’s series arguably helped push NHA to do more for tribal members.

But, Robert Robb’s recent column, “The scandal behind the Navajo housing scandal, July 26, 2017, sadly provides a distorted explanation of reservation poverty and relies on a largely discredited book, Naomi Schaefer Riley’s “The New Trail of Tears,” for support.

There are lots of problems on the reservation and it is worth acknowledging that tribal entrepreneurs seeking to do business on the reservation face layers of federal and tribal red tape.

These are serious matters that invite governance improvements in Washington and in Window Rock. But the cultural dependency explanation offered by both Robb and Riley is misleading and cruel.

The Navajo are incredibly hard working and just as eager as those living off reservation for their kids to have better lives. Cultural explanations tend to blame the victim and ignore the structural barriers facing tribal members and the tribal government. — Ezra Rosser, American University, Washington College of Law Washington, D.C. I was saddened today to read of the senseless death of Benjamin McIvor, an

Congrats to Steve Benson for accomplishing something that most of us thought impossible. Kudos for actually being able to sink to a new, all-time low. How proud you must be to take “Andy and Opie,” one of the last wholesome things we have left in this country, and turn it into a vile depiction of human suffering