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Navajos Largely Unscathed By Recession

by FELICIA FONSECA, Associated Press Writer , May 18, 2009

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TONALEA Ariz.

Talk at the community center in this small Navajo town is not as focused on the economy as it is in many places off the reservation.

That's because the people living on the largest American Indian reservation have been largely unscathed by the recession.

Most Navajos own their own homes, tend not to invest in the stock market, and have long had difficulties borrowing money, distinguishing them from millions of other Americans who have suffered from rising mortgage payments, sinking 401(K) retirement accounts, and stricter terms from lenders.

And with half of the Navajo Nation's workforce unemployed long before this latest recession hit, there is not much fear the job situation could get much worse on the reservation.

“They're freaking out out there, but, to us, we've always had 50 percent unemployment,” said John C. Whiterock, a Navajo youth pastor. “To us, that's just part of life.”

That's not to say the 200,000 people who live on the largest American Indian reservation, which extends into Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, have escaped untouched. Tribal officials are wrangling over how to address a $25 million budget shortfall, and requests for social services have prompted newspaper ads for more employees to handle them.

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Comments posted here may be reprinted in Diverse: Issues In Higher Education magazine, and may be edited for purposes of clarity and/or space.



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