For years, they were trapped by a land dispute. Some Navajo families still wait for help

Lavonnia Begay grew up in Tonalea, a Navajo Nation community 50 miles east of Kayenta, caught in the middle of a decades-long conflict over tribal land ownership. As she reflects on her upbringing she recalls the challenges her family faced, as did many other Navajo families in the region, challenges that persist to this day.

The area around Tonalea was known as the Bennett Freeze, and it represents a complex and somber chapter in the state's history that hasn’t been rectified. For the people who lived there, it represented a divide that trapped them in a dispute started by the federal government.

"I didn't know I was born into the Bennett Freeze," said Begay. “We lived in, at that time, in a hogan with my parents. I noticed outside the Bennett Freeze area, they had nice houses and, you know, I guess they got help. So I noticed the difference right away and we used to do our homework and everything by oil lamp. If we ran out of oil, then we’d go by the fire we also used for cooking and to warm up the place. That's how I grew up, I would say extremely poor."

The issues of Bennett Freeze and Navajo-Hopi relocation are still pressing concerns for those who were affected, especially since they feel they haven't been heard and are forgotten. During the Navajo Nation Council's spring session on April 16, some of them plan to march to the Navajo Council Chamber to draw attention their issues.

"We need to be heard and recognized by leadership," said Lavonne Tsosie, secretary for the Nahata Dziil Commission Governance. "For too long, we have been ignored and treated like an unwanted step-child. We have council delegates who don't understand relocation issues. We are also demanding all relocation funds to be returned to us. And we are planning to go directly to Congress and the White House to help us."