Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Code Talker Museum topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Code Talker museum funding stalled amid dispute over site and fiscal agent; lawmakers plan letter to Navajo Nation and governor
Summary
Lawmakers and Navajo Code Talker representatives debated why state capital‑outlay funds allocated for a Navajo Code Talker Museum remain unused. The Navajo Nation said state funds cannot be spent on privately donated land; the Code Talker Association and veterans urged a path to spend the money before it reverts.
Committee members, Navajo Nation officials and Code Talker Association representatives spent the final portion of the Nov. 5 interim meeting focused on a long‑running capital‑outlay dispute involving the Navajo Code Talker Museum.
Association and museum representatives said Chevron had donated roughly 240 acres at Sabanito/Saba Nieto where the museum was intended to be built and that legislative capital outlay totaling several million dollars was allocated for planning and design. Navajo Nation representatives and capital‑outlay staff told the committee the intergovernmental agreement that governs the appropriation requires projects to be on Navajo Nation land or administered through the Nation, and that state capital‑outlay funds cannot be used on private land. Navajo officials proposed alternative sites, notably Shiprock, where drawings and infrastructure were already in place.
Chairman Peter McDonald, a longtime Navajo Code Talker Association leader, urged legislators not to let the funds revert and described the project as a national memorial for an unbroken wartime code crafted by Navajo veterans. "That 240 acres ... was donated by Chevron," McDonald said, adding that association leaders believe the museum belongs on that tract and that the group objected to moving the site without consultation.
Committee members pressed for clarity about the fiscal agent and the path to spend the money. Officials confirmed the appropriation is currently listed to the Navajo Nation as the fiscal agent on a reimbursement basis; the Nation must front project costs and request reimbursement, and no executed fiscal‑agent agreement exists between the nonprofit and the Nation. Committee members urged rapid action to avoid reversion of the appropriation at the next legislative cycle and discussed options including transferring fiscal responsibility, seeking a reauthorization, or asking the governor and Navajo Nation leadership to resolve outstanding procedural issues.
The committee decided to draft a letter to the governor and Navajo Nation leadership urging a cooperative solution to move the project forward; members said they would review the letter before it was sent.
