Challenges Facing the Diné Tribe

The Diné people face several challenges concerning the remediation of pollution on the reservation. Some challenges exist within the tribe and others come from the relationship between the Diné and the US government. Members of the tribe were interviewed to better understand some of these challenges.

Figure 6.1 outlines some of the challenges within the reservation. As a sovereign nation, inner political dynamics play a part in preventing education and action on issues the tribe faces.

Figure 6.2 outlines some of the challenges stemming from the US Government. For example, the tribe has received some money from the government instead of action to take care of environmental problems.

Another challenge is educating the population on how to access and interpret data collected by the US government. Projects such as this can help the tribe to understand what the data means. Understanding the data can lead to finding solutions and filling in gaps by collecting additional data.

Figure 6.1: Challenges that occur within the tribe to access data and take action on environmental issues.

Figure 6.2: Challenges that occur within the US Government that prevent action on environmental issues.