Latest / Arizona Unscripted / Episode 19: 🌵 Arizona Unscripted — Jamescita Peshlakai: Rural & Tribal Arizona
Transcript
- Arizona Unscripted: Welcome to Arizona Inscripted. I'm your host, Bart, alongside my wonderful co-hosts, Diane, Jim, and Catherine. From time to time, we'll be joined by special pop-in guests from communities all across the Grand State Canyon State. Arizona Inscripted is all about Arizona. It's people, places, and events and the local issues that shape our everyday lives. From small towns to big cities, from hidden gems and great local food to history, culture, and challenges facing our communities. We're here to have real conversations with real Arizonans. Our goal is simple to celebrate what makes Arizona unique while bringing together voices from every corner of the state. So whether you're a lifelong resident, a newcomer, or just someone who loves Arizona, like we all do, we hope they'll they'll feel right at home. So grab a cup of coffee or something cool. Sit back and join us as we explore the people, places, and stories that make Arizona one of the most fascinating and greatest states in America. And with that, I'm gonna pass it over to my co host Diane. Hey Diane, how you doing? Hello, hello. I I am good. So glad to be here with you, Bart. Yeah, I know. And I know Catherine's got someone special today to introduce, right? She's got and I know Jim, Jim, are you sitting back drinking one of your cool brews, dude? I think you're always. There you go. I'm all one so bad right now. Anyway, ⁓ Catherine, let us how are you doing? And and who do who do we have today as our special guest? Hi, Bart. I'm doing great. Thank you so much. It's really an honor to have with us today Jamasita Peshlakai. I'm hoping that I am saying the correct pronunciation, Jamasita, correct me if I am wrong. And she is the Democratic nominee for Arizona Senate from Legislative District Six, which is a huge, huge district. And covers a lot of real important parts of Arizona, including I do believe the Grand Canyon and Flagstaff and ⁓ a lot of the Navajo Reservation. So Janacita, yate. Yate, thank you, Catherine. Tell us what you've been ⁓ hearing from people as you've gone campaigning around your district. Well, thank you, Catherine, for that question. I'm so happy to have been invited on to Arizona Unscripted. So my ⁓ district is really diverse. It's beautiful. It goes ⁓ it's basically one third the state of Arizona. It goes from near Lake Mead. ⁓ just north of ⁓ Kingman. It includes the entirety of the Grand Canyon and the Colorado River and and it's seven counties, nine tribes, and it includes the Grand Canyon, the Colorado River, ⁓ Monument Valley, the White Mountains, and ⁓ ⁓ it's Lee, the sacred mountain of the west, ⁓ which is the San Francisco Peaks. So you get desert, you get rivers and mountains. It's it's really a wonderful place to represent. And I've been traveling in the district. ⁓ first of all, I was born and raised here in in District District Six, and I am Navajo, a member of the Navajo Nation, and I'm also a ⁓ Persian Gulf War veteran, Desert Storm, and I've served in the Arizona House and the Arizona Senate previously. was on the Transportation Committee, Education and Technology, Military and Regulatory Affairs, and Natural Resources. So and these are the the the not the priorities, but a large measure of a large part of what the people in district six ⁓ find very important for us. And so ⁓ I think right now the main thing that folks are worried about is the cost of living. And the district is so huge that ⁓ people just to go and check the mail, it might be a that 60 mile round trip to the post office. And so they might take that trip one one day a week. And ⁓ that's a concern too because of the regulations on early mail and ballots, that type of thing, when ⁓ the primary election was moved up to July twenty first. th that was a panic moment for many people, especially those that are older, elderly, those that have ⁓ issues with transportation and re have to rely on family, that kind of thing. And then not just the price of gas, but the price of food, the price of tires and ⁓ everything across the board is just becoming unaffordable. Yeah. And in that huge of a district, I know I I lived in Tuba City for a few years ⁓ early on in my career. And ⁓ there many of the ⁓ folks live miles and miles and miles from anything even resembling a grocery store. Yes. And you know, people used to move the younger generation used to move off the reservation and they would ⁓ they still do and then they would send home money to help the families but now it's the cost of living in the border towns and the urban areas where there are jobs because we have a high unemployment rate ⁓ not just on indigenous lands but also in the rural areas. But the cost of living, rent, apartments, the money isn't the money that people are making isn't coming back up up into the the families communities. What's happening is parents and grandparents are now sending money to their children just to afford rent. And the money they are making is just not enough. So all the way around there's ⁓ There's just a everything is standing still if not not going forward, you know. People are finding that the the expectation of growth and ⁓ being able to afford a home, a vehicle is just getting further and further out of reach. Yeah. That's that's what I think a lot of people are experiencing and that's so interesting what you're saying about now it's the grandparents sending the money to the younger children. Wow, that is ⁓ is amazing to hear. And it's happening across the board. It's not one community or one one group. It's it's rural folks sending money to to be able to afford to live in a place where somebody can have a job that doesn't quite pay the bills. Right. And we got a guy that's saying ⁓ everything's okay, we're doing just great, you know. It's such a big lie, you know. Mhm. Yeah. Well I'm curious, Janetita, as far as what's going on in your district with healthcare being so rural. I know that rural health care is really threatened right now and there have been quite a few closures. So what's happening in your district as far as health care? Well, there's ⁓ I I haven't been in office for five years. So ⁓ I'm gonna be coming back into learning a little bit more about the impacts of federal cutbacks and ⁓ budget cuts that have impacted the rural communities. I know that tribes like the Navajo Nation have a treaty with the United States and where we're ⁓ we were offered and we accepted in the treaty health care and education go moving forward into the future for tribal members. In return, we would ⁓ let non Navajos pass on through to go west and that was what the treaty was about. The the Native Americans would stop warring against non natives. So ⁓ we have upheld our treaty but ⁓ the healthcare and education we're not finding security or a sense of ⁓ stability in that it's always up in the air and so people people ⁓ are nervous. I'm not sure exactly what the status is for each individual clinic or hospital. But that's people are just uneasy about the future. Indeed, indeed. And with good with good reason, I think. Well, ⁓ so another thing ⁓ that I wanted to ask you about was there's ⁓ the water issues. How familiar are you with what's going on with the water issues up there in that district? And what do you what is your opinion of what what's happening with the negotiations going on right now as far as our water rights. Well, ⁓ you know people need to understand that when it comes down to water rights, it's really a a federal government to tribal government leadership negotiation. And so I myself as a person that grew up along the little Colorado River and having lived through the the uranium contaminate contamination from the Perco River from Church Rock back in the nineteen seventies. That that released a lot of ⁓ radioactive material into the Little Colorado River. And that I remember that from my childhood. And then growing up without running water or electricity in our home, I was always aware of the injustice of water ⁓ access and having the opportunity to have ⁓ drinking water and I've seen the ⁓ the sense of plenty by the the the country and the southwest and the states that they felt like there wasn't enough water to go around for everybody for ⁓ millions and millions of years. But I living up here, working near the Colorado River, I've gone up to Page, I've seen the mud puddle that is now Page Reservoir. I've seen the lines of where The water used to be very high in the Colorado River and now it's so low and the water temperature is ⁓ getting warmer and warmer. ⁓ my god. And yeah, and then the humpback trip may not make it. who knows. I don't wanna speculate or be very negative. But I know Arizona and all the states could have done so much more in water conservation programs, ⁓ restricting ⁓ development where it could actually really hold ⁓ be guaranteed infrastructure for a hundred years. And now you hear of communities where they are ⁓ running out of water and then that is increasing ⁓ groundwater usage where ⁓ it's pretty unprecedented. So I think we have to be a lot more stringent in in water policy as a state. because we only have one planet to live on. And once you know, just from the impacts of the the church rock ⁓ contamination in the seventies, I know once you ruin your water, there's ⁓ there's very little hope of of getting that back. Yeah. Yeah. Well, that ⁓ you're so right about the water is really the crucial issue. I I always wanna ask the billionaires and people who are building these data centers and say that we have like you say, there are plenty who say we have all the water that we need. I just wanna remind them that you cannot drink dollar bills. Right. You know exactly everything is for for money and yet ultimately money is worthless in the when it comes down to the bottom line. And where your district, Jamasita, especially ⁓ the area that I'm familiar with in the north, it's i it's an area that when you go up there you can understand why water is treated as a precious resource. Yeah. Yes. Mm-hmm. Well, and something that we can offer to you or do to help support the needs in your district. ⁓ we like to use this platform to be able to call out to the people that are out there that really can help with the situation. Is there an ask or what is ⁓ in your area something that we could maybe help bring light to? Thank you. I think one of the things that ⁓ people need to understand is that Native Americans, we've been here so long and we've been here, we we believe that we are created from the earth of this area. We can pinpoint our our where we came from through our creation ⁓ stories. And so when a lot of folks come out to the reservation, they see ⁓ a lot of folks with with mobile home trailers and and they're wondering, ⁓ these folks have been here for thousands and thousands of years. Why don't they build a more secure house? You know, just like the three little pigs story. And you would think somebody that wants a home for a long time for their children and grandchildren would be big a big brick home. Well part of the reason why we're living in trailers is because tribal reservations are actually claimed federal lands. So we if we want to build a house, we have to apply to the federal government, even if it's on our own reservation where our families and have been for thousands of years, we have to apply for a home site lease. And then we have to pay out of our own pockets ⁓ archaeological studies and ⁓ surveys, etc. etc. So which is out of the hands of most people because it's a it's a f federal process it's a lot of documents and you know submit this and that ⁓ and so a lot of people j just end up parking a mobile home and then those those mobile homes is makes it feel so transient, you know, the feet people feel transient, they don't have ⁓ that connection and ownership pride of ownership in a home. And so I don't know how folks can can in Arizona can help us because it's a federal process. And so, but people need to be educated that there are challenges put in place ⁓ by previous administrations that didn't expect us to live to 2026 as a population group. ⁓ so that is part of the the longstanding history of the people and when I hear folks in the legislature that don't know the history and the diversity of Arizona, ⁓ it seems so simple people want to say, Well, I I wish those Native Americans would pull themselves up by their bootstraps, you know. But they don't but they don't understand our our boots and the bootstraps attached to them were taken long ago where ⁓ well we have we weren't even considered ⁓ I don't ⁓ citizens until nineteen twenty four. And then even then Congress left it to each each each state to decide when they were gonna let us vote and be considered ⁓ citizens. And in Arizona, we ⁓ a World War II ⁓ veteran from the Yavapai Patrick tribe had to sue the state of Arizona in order for him a a veteran to be able to vote. And the only reason why Native Americans were in federal boarding schools was because of ⁓ segregation in public schools. So I'm not really quite sure it was after World War Two that Native Americans could go to the ⁓ state funded public schools. Well there's a lot more Jim C there's a lot more podcast material here. We need to have you back. Yeah. There's so many suddenly I feel like we're going down the Grand Canyon and suddenly going to tributarial. Well John Cub, there's as you know way better than we do, there's a long history of broken promises with the indigenous folks in this country. Joan, did you have a comment? I did actually. a few years ago, ⁓ we had the honor in Lake Havasu City of having representatives of the descendants of the Navajo Code Talkers ⁓ here at an event. And I believe that There's a Navajo Code Navajo Code Talkers Day coming up on August fourteenth. Is that correct? Yes. That's correct. That's correct. That's correct. Yeah, I was just hearing about that today. It's amazing. Yes. Can you hear me? Yes. John, I think that we are so grateful for you taking the time to come in today. Well, well, I was ready to close it up, but we got another question or comment for you here from Daniel. And and I wanna chime in that I'm the legislator that ⁓ that sponsored. the Navajo Coat Talker Day be ⁓ an official holiday in the state of Arizona. And I got that ⁓ and done and governor signed and the that holiday was created back in twenty twenty or twenty twenty one. Wonderful. That is what a good thing. What a amazing to actually get some recognition for folks who were vital to us ⁓ during the war effort. Thank you for your efforts in getting that day as a holiday. Daniel, what was your question? I know in in our area down here with the Apaches, the confusion with for everybody, particularly those who are not involved, in the rules between getting registered and being able to use the post office to get their ballots. is very complex. People don't understand. And and ⁓ we find that the residents on the Apache Reservation don't particularly understand that they can't just simply change their address with the post office that those ballots and that information doesn't get to them. That it's a good deal more complex than that. ⁓ and I'm wondering if how you guys deal with that in your area to tell them, look, you can all share a post office box, but the rules are very different on what happens if you move or want to change that box, et cetera. It's quite complex. And people here don't understand. They think it's easy. It is not easy. It is not easy. For example, ⁓ there's some people that live in a rural area and and their their post their closest post office is in another county which can be ten miles away. And then the next post office that they can use, which is in their county, is thirty miles away. Well most people go with the post office that is closest to them. And so if that puts you in a different county from your residential address, that ⁓ wreaks havoc on ⁓ especially the elderly when they are signing things like petitions and that kind of thing. And then also another thing is people don't realize that if an if you live on on a tribal reservation, and this isn't for every reservation and not every person, but ⁓ if you order something online, you can't get it because we don't have street addresses. And so and so we're pass yeah. Go past the chapter house five miles, you know. You see a big rock, take a left, you That's it. That's it. Yeah. So so a lot of us end up having to use a relative's address off the reservation, like say in Flagstaff, and then ⁓ And then if you want to get car insurance, they won't accept ⁓ off the grid on the reservation. You there's so many ⁓ you know how when you're applying for credit or anything like that, they ask you for a residential address, you can't use a PO box. That just that just ends all kinds of things for people. And then smartphones are now taking over ⁓ so that people that don't have a smartphone or don't have the training or education, say an elderly person that doesn't that can't read English can't use ⁓ like if you go to the grocery store and you want to click a digital coupon, that person who needs that coupon cannot use that coupon because you have to be ⁓ in a tier of people that have first of all the capabilities the education and the knowledge to know how to do all that stuff and a lot of people still don't have emails and we don't have landlines. ⁓ so the the digital and technological communication divide has us in kind of the the land that time forgot, you know. So when transportation is hoping to get ⁓ everybody on an electric car or a hybrid, it's not gonna happen on a lot of these ⁓ rural and tribal places because ⁓ the infrastructure is not there for these electric vehicles. So ⁓ So we end up bearing the brunt of the the gas cost, the cost of gas. And so anyway, I could go on and on, but I'm on the state transportation commission. yeah. So I've told them a number of times we've gotten tourists lost up here that were trying to use GPS or. Need a place to charge. Yeah. Yeah. A lot of the places up there tell you don't use your GPS because it's not dependable. Daniel, did you have another comment? Well, no, but I'm just saying so that complexity of of things like helping people understand what they have to actually do to receive a ballot, to keep one, what happens if they have to change to a different PO box because they won't forward anything. You know, only the one person who owns that ⁓ mailbox ever gets anything forwarded. No one else who uses it. It's very complex and people don't understand. So I'm we've been trying to figure out how to say it and how to get people more aware because we don't know how to help them because we're not there. And they I don't blame for not trusting me anyway. Ex exactly. You know, and a lot of these post office boxes have a limited number of boxes and the population is just beyond that. So now you have ⁓ w two, three or even yeah, three generations of family living in one house, sometimes four generations, and you can imagine how much mail that box will get. So it's it's ⁓ we've really outgrown what was put in place and ⁓ it's not just a a matter of overcrowding in each house, each building, but the lack of infrastructure and then the the lack of ⁓ cooperative planning from the federal, the tribal and the state governments because if we could bring these ⁓ problems under one umbrella and budget ⁓ put aside money in a pot for these things, then it could possibly have the the beginnings of being addressed, but it's really been siloed at each government level and then ⁓ it's a a drop in the bucket as far as the the totality and the whole holistic approach of solving that problem. And so the for many people on the reservation, like my my dad's older sister, the ⁓ she's lived in one place her entire life where her family always lived. And so the rest of the country, the state, the county has has grown It has grown a foreign country around her. So the people that are indigenous and the elders of this land. ⁓ it's like wait being in ⁓ a desert one day and then a a jungle the next. And so they they ch a lot of them choose to stay home and and isolate themselves from going off the reservation. Well you were dealing with so much up there and the folks up there and in your whole district. ⁓ so many problems to solve, Jamisita. We're looking forward to you getting elected so you can maybe do something to to improve that lot. You have some good ideas. Mm-hmm. Well, it it really depends on the voters, the citizens. They need we need to vote a Democrat, so we need to get a Democratic ⁓ majority. The last time ⁓ the Democrats had had the the Senate was back in nineteen sixty seven. That was before I was born. Sixty six or sixty seven. And I was born in sixty eight. I'm now fifty eight and so in my lifetime we never had a democratic majority in the in the Senate. So if we could do that, ⁓ that would really help a lot. I think you're right. I think you're right. People centered values and ⁓ legislation to address real problems is what I'm hoping for the next legislature. Yeah. Well Jonathan, thank you so much for coming on today. Absolutely, Katherine. Thank you, Diane. Thank you. So yeah, so I I have to say a Maybe we can a show in the future on the ⁓ Navajo Code Talkers. That would be wonderful. Maybe we could have you back for a future episode. Well, thank you for being here with us today. We're gr very grateful for you. Thank you, James. Thank you.