Published July 28, 2024 at 7:00 AM MST
For the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe, the Northeastern Indian Water Rights Settlement Act means more than water — it means finally claiming land they can call home.
Although the tribe has lived in their current home base for hundreds of years, they were only federally recognized in 1989, and the land they lived on, in northern Arizona and southern Utah, was incorporated into the Navajo Nation. The Paiutes are the only federally recognized tribe in Arizona without a reservation or land.
In 2000, leaders from the Navajo Nation and the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe signed a historic treaty, the first intertribal treaty in 160 years. The treaty granted the Paiutes approximately 5,400 acres of land, divided into two parcels, that was occupied by Paiute families.
“With this water settlement, of course water being a precious commodity to this day and it is worth everyone fighting for, what this settlement will actually helps us do get our reservation secured,” said San Juan Paiute President Robbin Preston Jr., “so that all our tribal members can say ‘yes, i do have a home.’”
Preston, along with Hopi and Navajo Nation leadership, traveled to Washington this week to testify before the House Natural Resources Committee','s Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries on H.R. 8940, the Northeastern Arizona Indian Water Rights Settlement Act. San Juan Paiute tribal officials were not given opportunity to testify during the hearing.
Largest water settlement and a historic land deal
This settlement is considered the largest Indian water rights settlement, with its price tag of $5 billion in federal funding for water infrastructure on the sovereign territories of the Navajo Nation, the Hopi Tribe and the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe.
Negotiations between the Hopi, San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe and Navajo Nation had been applauded by the committee.
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“Each of you have put long standing differences aside to get to these agreements for the greater good of your communities, neighbors, and all of Arizona,” said Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Ariz., one of the co-sponsors of the bill. “That's exactly the type of leadership we could use here. These tribal water settlements are critical to securing our water future in Arizona because they provide certainty that water will be available now and for future generations.”
The bill creates a trust fund for the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe, called the "San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe Water Settlement Trust Fund." The fund will be managed, invested and distributed by the Interior secretary and will remain available until expended, withdrawn or reverted to the general fund of the Treasury.
Under the treaty, all rights, titles and interests, including water rights, to the approximately 5,400 acres of land within the Navajo Indian Reservation described as the San Juan Paiute Northern Area and the San Juan Paiute Southern Paiute Area, become the San Juan Southern Paiute Reservation.
The land will be held by the United States in trust as a reservation for the exclusive benefit of the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe.
Land will help tribe move forward
The two parcels of land for the new San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe Reservation are located around Willow Springs, west of Tuba City, and the Northern Area, approximately 300 acres in Utah near Navajo Mountain, according to the treaty.
“Navajo and Hopi pretty much have their government set up and their infrastructure,” said Preston. “They are able to provide, although limited, jobs to their people. They are able to provide housing, health care, education and we the San Juan Paiute tribe are pretty much starting with absolutely nothing.”
Preston said the magnitude of the settlement would be significant for his tribal members because it will allow opportunity for the tribe to grow and be self-reliant, as well as to provide jobs for the people.
“I know that Hopi and Navajo have tribal people who move away because of the lack of housing, water, or whatever other reasons and we would like to be able to provide the jobs to tell our people ‘if you want to come home, come home,’” said Preston. “We can provide jobs, health care, education and just to get our tribe moving forward.”
In May, when the Republic first reported about the treaty between Navajo Nation and San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe, a press conference was held after the Navajo Nation Council had unanimously approved the settlement legislation. Soon after, Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren signed it.
Michelle Espino, assistant attorney general in the water rights unit, said that tribes have been working to get the treaty ratified since it was signed. She said Congress needed to authorize the designation of that land for the Southern Paiute Tribe and provide the directive to allocate it to them.
“There has been effort in the past, and this congressional session there was legislation to do that ratification and as a result the U.S. team suggested that it be folded into this water rights settlement and also for the opportunity finalize the San Juan Southern Paiute water rights in addition with that land designation,” said Espino.
Preston said the settlement, and the way it was achieved through negotiations, is historic in itself because it brought together three separate tribes working together for a common good. He said that since he had only been in his position since December he was not completely entrenched in the negotiation process that his predecessors and counterparts undertook to get to this point.
"Despite all the fighting, the negotiating, I think that it is a historic event for Navajo, Hopi, and the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe to come together and say 'Listen, we are working together for this common goal and we put the differences aside. Everyone is in agreement, so let's get it done.'" said Preston.