Conner Byestewa Jr. Award

Lillie Lane grew up on the western part of the Navajo Nation and attended a government boarding school in Tuba City, Arizona. She then attended Northfield Mount Hermon School in Massachusetts and finished high school. After high school, she attended Yale University and the University of Arizona in Tucson. She received her bachelors degree in English and Linguistics. She returned to Window Rock and worked at the Historic Preservation Department and worked two years with the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in Santa Fe, New Mexico. After this, she returned to Navajo Nation and began a twenty year career with the Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency in Window Rock, Arizona.

As a Navajo woman, Lillie belongs to the Near the Water clan, her father belonged to the Manygoats clan. Her maternal grandparents are Deerwater clan and her paternal clan is the Towering House clan. She is from a small community called Cedar Ridge north of the Grand Canyon.

Lillie Lane has worked with the Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency for twenty years. She worked with many Navajo communities on safe drinking water issues and the cleanup of a municipal dump in the Western side of the Navajo Nation. She worked with Navajo Nation EPA, the Hopi Tribe, USEPA Region 9 and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. From 2008 to 2012, she was a member with the Navajo Nation EPA that worked on assessing contaminated water sources and the investigation of approximately 75 homes that were constructed with waste material from uranium mines. Investigations included locating homes, negotiating with Navajo families and determining whether homes were not safe. In the end, approximately 25 homes were demolished and rebuilt.

Ms Lane has worked diligently to attend Navajo chapters and community meetings for years. This is where she used the Navajo language to inform and educate Navajo people on issues related to environmental protection and advance health concerns for all Navajo people. Many chapters are concern with clean communities and safe drinking water.

In 2017, Ms Lane was tasked to become a member of the Tribal Radiation Materials Transportation Committee (TRMTC) in response to plans for the transport of uranium from the Grand Canyon to White Mesa Mill in Blanding, Utah. Ms Lane increased her knowledge and understanding of radiological materials waste from nuclear generating stations located throughout the United States. She learned of the lack of storage for nuclear waste and how the Waste Isolation Pilot Project (WIPP) impacts tribes in the southwest. Transportation of high level waste is a concern because railways traverse tribal lands and communities throughout the U. S. TRMTC members advocate for treaty rights, sovereignty, the need for consultation, environmental justice and the struggle to protect traditional lifeways and beliefs.

Membership to TRMTC has enabled Ms Lane to voice Navajo issues to Department of Energy, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Federal Railway Administration and regional authorities who are all players in transport of radiological materials and the operation of nuclear facilities.

Ms Lane is very passionate about her work and believes it is critical for tribes to establish partnerships with important entities in the federal government. She says “This process is long and difficult, however Native American tribes can achieve understanding on unique challenges so that tribes can work for their people and their cultures”. Her tribe, the Navajo people believe that protection of Mother Earth and Father Sky is paramount because a healthy environment has strong people. All tribes and nations have to protect their livelihoods, their unique heritage and cultures because that defines who we are. And all tribes should strive to live into the future.

Name: Larry King
Tribe: Navajo
Title: President
Department: Church Rock Chapter

To be provided.

I nominate Tashina Jim, from the Walker River Paiute Tribe in Nevada, for the 2021 Conner Byestewa, Jr. Award.

Tashina Jim is the GAP Manager for the Walker River Paiute Tribe, which is located on the west side of the middle of Nevada. The Walker River reservation is the second largest in Nevada, and with that comes a large residential population and larger infrastructure, and more responsibilities.

This is an old story, but it has to be said. When Tashina took over the Walker River environmental program, it was not in the best state, and had a small staff, but it had just got Treatment as a State under Section 303 and 401 of the Clean Water Act. The Tribe is also near the Anaconda Superfund cleanup site, and a deferral to the State of Nevada from EPA was in the works.

She was fresh out of college having earned her Bachelor of Science from the Haskell Indian Nations University with degree in American Indian and Indigenous Studies with an emphasis in Environmental Justice. Often, our young educated warriors start at the technician level, but Tashina, who is a member of the Walker River Paiute Tribe, was hired as the GAP Manager, which is basically the Environmental Director for the Tribe.

She immediately worked with EPA at resolving the problems at hand, which she did. She then wrote grants to pay the staff to manage their environmental concerns and expanded her GAP Program. Tashina also recognized that training was paramount to have an effective program and focused on that for herself and staff.

The State, EPA, and the Walker River Paiute Tribe and the Yerington Paiute Tribe, at the time, were fighting to get the Anaconda Copper mine cleanup to move up the Superfund National Priorities list, and that required many meetings between agencies and the Tribes. Tashina and Walker River Paiute Tribe Chairwoman, Amber Torres, were and are vocal participants in those meetings. From the beginning, Tashina made the effort to participate in the many meetings that environmental groups have, ranging from emergency management to food sovereignty. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she took on the role of Emergency Manager for her Tribe.

Now, the Tribe has a GAP Program, with the Manager, Assistant, and seasonal intern, a Superfund Program, Brownfield Tribal Response Program, and a Solid Waste Collection Program. The program is run efficiently and professionally. They built a large transfer station that takes in most waste, and is an excellent example of how to build a transfer station based on your needs and capacity. There is a long-term plan to expand environmental capacity. Her program collaborates with the other tribal programs on composting for their food sovereignty projects, managing water resources, educating their youth, and many other projects that protect the health and safety of the Tribe.

What strikes me the most about Tashina is her strength and confidence. She is a modest person and is not apt to talk much during meetings, but she has thoughtful words when she does speak. She doesn’t sit in the back during large meetings and is not shy, but she is respectful of her elders and more seasoned peers. When I last visited her, shortly after the reservation was opened up after the worst of the pandemic, I saw her giving orders to her staff in a professional and friendly manner, and excited to share her plans for current and future projects. This means that not only did Tashina figure out the technical side of her job, but she is a good manager of people and tasks. Any good manager appreciates the challenges of managing people and the added stress it can bring to their daily job duties.

What I also appreciate about Tashina is she can say “no” to taking on more than she can do. I want her to be on the Regional Tribal Operations Committee (RTOC) and other committees, but she wants to focus on the needs of her Tribe and growing capacity for her program. Her answer to me is something like a, “maybe later.”

This is why I want to recognize Tashina Jim. She’s been staying behind the scene the past 5 years, and is a familiar face but I suspect not many people really know her and get to know the young woman warrior, the mother, the boss, and the friend.

Name: Clifford Banuelos
Tribe: Inter-Tribal Council of Nevada
Title: Tribal-State Environmental Liaison
Department: Environmental

Paul Huette is a member of the Big Pine Tribe of Owens Valley. He is married to Retha Huette and has 5 children and grandchildren. He is the water and wastewater utility operator for Big Pine Paiute Tribe of Owens Valley.

Mr. Paul Huette’s commitment to public service extends to all parts of the water system, from regional environmental stewardship and valley-wide water management to tribal water rights and water supply systems. His knowledge of water is showcased by the Tribe’s award-winning water quality, which is symbolic of the essential nature of leadership as it relates to addressing people’s needs. Paul cares and prioritizes environmental issues and discusses the impacts of groundwater pumping, climate change, stewardship through his role as Vice Chairman of the Owens Valley Indian Water Commission. Paul advocates and informs the public of the environmental issues in his community and empowers and inspires them to use their voices to stop further environmental damages.

Paul’s leadership is exemplified by the commitment to serve his community by unselfishly dedicating time and effort as Captain of the Big Pine Volunteer Fire Department, Chairman of the Firefighters Association, member of the Inyo County Water Commission, member of the Big Pine Tribal Environment Board, Big Pine School Board Member and Supervisors Forum.

Paul was 2019’s Big Pine Civic Club’s Citizen of the Year, and has been awarded Firefighter of the Year (twice). For these reasons I believe Paul Huette personifies Conner Byestewa Jr’s values and is worthy of this award.

Name: Kyndall Noah
Tribe: Owens Valley Indian Water Commission
Title: Communications Specialist/Project Coordinator
Department: Environmental