美国国家公共电台 NPR On The Navajo Nation, 5,000 Workers Dependent On A Federal Paycheck（在线收听）

On The Navajo Nation, 5,000 Workers Dependent On A Federal Paycheck

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The Navajo Nation president says that Congress should exempt the tribe from the partial federal government shutdown. Historically, treaties have guaranteed the Navajo and many other tribes federal financial assistance for health, education and economic development. So the shutdown is having an outsized impact. From member station KJZZ, Laurel Morales reports from Flagstaff.

LAUREL MORALES, BYLINE: On the Navajo Nation, half of the tribe is unemployed. But at least 5,000 tribal members rely on paychecks from the federal government. Missing one, which happened for the first time on Friday, can have painful ripple effects. Community leader Angela Cody says one paycheck often has to feed the immediate family as well as the extended family.

ANGELA CODY: People are worried about their next mortgage payment, their car payments. At the family level, you know, there's a lot of stress - finance stress. As a whole, we are dependent on these employees and federal monies every day in some way.

MORALES: Even if they aren't getting paid, many have to work. And so they rely on the federally funded preschool program Head Start to care for their young kids.

(SOUNDBITE OF CROSSTALK)

MORALES: Head Start teacher Maxine Jensen sits on a tiny plastic blue chair working on a number puzzle with a group of 4-year-olds on the western edge of the Navajo Nation.

MAXINE JENSEN: Four, five, six, seven...

MORALES: The tribe's Head Start program is already shrinking. They lost 10 centers last year because there were no buses available to shuttle kids from across the rural reservation to classes. Now the program doesn't have the enrollment numbers it needs to stay open.

JENSEN: I have 12 now. We're supposed to have 15. We can't seem to get enough children because of the distance.

MORALES: Many federal offices across the Navajo Nation are closed because of the shutdown. The federal money they rely on to run the program has been slow to arrive.

JENSEN: We don't have enough cleaning supplies. It's a long process to get those kinds of things. And so a lot of times, we're buying our own supplies to get the kids' hands clean and all that.

MORALES: To make matters worse, unplowed roads made it near impossible for parents to drive their kids to Head Start since the shutdown began. Only half of the Bureau of Indian Affairs crews who helped the tribe maintain the roads showed up to clear snow during the last two snowstorms. And those who are working aren't getting paid. There are 1,600 miles of paved roads and almost 6,000 miles of dirt roads. Head Start teacher Shanelle Yazzie says she could barely get to work.

SHANELLE YAZZIE: The only roads being plowed over the last two weeks were the - like, the main interstate. We don't really travel on that. So the only way you can get by is probably with four-by-four, and not many people have that out here.

MORALES: If a dirt road isn't maintained during a snowstorm, a couple of things can happen. The snow can melt and make the road impassable or the snow piles up. Either way, you're stuck. Navajo President Russell Begaye says, many Navajo live without running water and electricity, so they have to haul water to drink and wood to stay warm. And they have to eat.

RUSSELL BEGAYE: Getting out to buy groceries or maybe there's an emergency where they have to transport a family member to a hospital maybe to refill their medication or to refill their oxygen tank - so it's a life-or-death situation in many instances.

MORALES: Begaye says, if the shutdown continues, it's only going to get worse, as the National Weather Service predicts more snow next week.

For NPR News, I'm Laurel Morales in Flagstaff.