TUBA CITY, Ariz. — A landmark water agreement that allocates Colorado River water to Arizona tribes would also give one of those tribes a reservation for the first time.
The San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe is the only federally recognized tribe without its own land. The tribe, which is made up of about 300 members, currently has an elected government and a tribal building in Tuba City, but no actual land of its own
Its members currently live scattered, but mostly on the Navajo Reservation.
“We are a proud people, and I think that we've been on the back burner for too long," Tribal President Robbin Preston Jr. said. "Growing up, I didn't really understand the magnitude of it until I came into the office and realized just how much we don't have that is rightfully ours."
The problem with being non-tribal members living on someone else's reservation, Preston said, is that his people can't do many things without the permission of the Navajo government, like owning land and building homes.
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"Our livestock can't be out grazing in certain areas because it belongs to the Navajo Nation," he said.
However, a Colorado River water agreement that was signed last month may give the San Juan Southern Paiutes their own land.
The water agreement allocates Colorado River water to the Navajo, Hopi and San Juan Southern Paiute tribes. But wrapped up into that agreement was a provision that, if it's approved, would give the San Juan Southern Paiutes 5,000 acres of land inside the Navajo Nation.
The agreement, which involved 39 different parties, still has to be approved by many other parties, including Congress, before being signed by the President of the United States.
But Preston said he's optimistic the agreement will be signed, and his people will finally have a home.
"It's not the end of the journey. We still have a lot of work to do. We still have to build from the ground up," he said.
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