New Mexico Examines Barriers to Navajo Internet Access
Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez said the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the Internet gaps across the 27,000-square-mile reservation. Only 46 percent of households on tribal lands have basic broadband access.
May 07, 2021 •
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(TNS) — Heleen Archuleta, a sophomore at Cuba High School who lives in the Counselor community of the Navajo Nation, was U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján's virtual guest for President Biden's joint address to Congress in April.
But the 16-year-old Navajo student didn't have Internet at home — or electricity — to watch the president's remarks live.
"(The pandemic) exacerbated existing disparities between the communities that have (Internet) access and those that don't, including many of our tribal and pueblo and rural communities," Luján said during a panel discussion of tribal, federal and state leaders held remotely Thursday. "If we can close this gap for Heleen, we can make incredible gains across America and especially across the Navajo Nation."