National News
May 20, 2021
Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez speaks during a live radio address with first lady Jill Biden in attendance, in Window Rock, Ariz., on Thursday, April 22, 2021. Nez questions the fairness in awarding more money to tribes that don't have at least a one-fourth blood quantum. "Here on Navajo, we verify blood quantum, and that's a requirement," he says. (Mandel Ngan/Pool via AP, File)
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — The Navajo Nation has by far the largest land mass of any Native American tribe in the country. Now, it’s boasting the largest enrolled population, too.
Navajos clamored to enroll or fix their records as the tribe offered hardship assistance payments from last year’s federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act. That boosted the tribe’s rolls from about 306,000 to nearly 400,000 citizens.