Thursday, November 5, 2026

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Unofficial results show the Navajo Nation has elected its first woman to the tribe’s top seat.

Navajo Nation Council Speaker Crystalyne Curley now has another title: president-elect.

“And to the little girls that are out there, shíyázhí, anything is possible.”

Curley and her running mate, former state Rep. Chris Deschene, D-Arizona, won by little more than 1,000 votes, but the opposing ticket, led by New Mexico attorney Justin Jones, is not giving up.

“We are not conceding… The fight has just begun.”

He is calling for a recount, claiming Curley and Deschene are the “losers”, and even accusing their campaign of “cheating”.

Jones thinks the counts from each of the tribe’s 110 polling places are too close.

“There are some dark, grey mathematical errors that we’re looking at.”

Meanwhile, outgoing President Buu Nygren congratulated President-elect Curley on social media, wishing her incoming administration success.

(Courtesy Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College Financial Aid Office / Facebook)

Tribal college leaders in North Dakota say a $70 million gift to expand higher education in Indian Country will be earth-shifting for institutions that have long operated with limited resources, as Judith Ruiz-Branch reports.

The American Indian College Fund announced a seven-year plan to strengthen Tribal institutions backed by a gift from Yield Giving, the philanthropic organization of MacKenzie Scott.

Twyla Baker, president of Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College, says in her 12-year tenure as president, she has never seen a gift this size.

Baker says it will provide benefits well beyond her campus supporting not only individual learners, but also communities and rural economies.

“We can change lives with what we do on tribal college campuses. An investment of this nature, you can almost not [laughs] get a return on your investment.”

Baker says every dollar invested in Tribal colleges and universities returns $1.60 in tax revenue and public-sector savings.

NHSC sits along the Fort Berthold Reservation and is one of five institutions that make up the North Dakota Tribal System.

The funding will support scholarships, professional development, administrative resources, and broader institutional needs for tribal colleges and universities around the country.

As national conversations continue over whether higher education is worth the cost, Baker says that debate misses the reality for many Native communities. She says while tribal colleges operate with much smaller budgets, they generate significant impact and may be the only access point to postsecondary education.

“When you come from a place in the country that is one of the least resourced, what I know is that the value of higher education in Indian Country is really so key to breaking cycles of poverty.”

North Dakota established its own Tribal College Grant program in 2013 to support its five colleges, but those funds are limited.

American Indian College Fund President Cheryl Crazy Bull says this gift allows her organization to expand scholarships it awards to students attending TCUs in North Dakota and nationwide.

She says it has been hard to keep up with demand, and the Scott contribution lays the groundwork for a more sizable impact.

“We might have gone a few years ago from giving $500 a year in a scholarship to giving $1,500 a year, and now our goal is to get to $3,000 a year.”

She says the College Fund will also be able to take the next step in launching its Governance Academy, which trains school presidents and their boards on best oversight practices.

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Check out today’s Native America Calling episode