Jerilynn Yazzie — Interview Q&A
≈ 13 min read · or listen, or skim the bold lines
B · From the record Summaries are drawn from Cal Nez’s interview. Quotations are not published until checked against the recording. How we verify →
Answer summaries in the site’s words, drawn from the recorded Cal Nez interview (Politics on the Navajo Nation, 2026) — not quotations and not the candidate’s own wording. Their exact words are in the video, linked from their profile.
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Background & Why She’s Running
Cal asked: Cal asked her to introduce herself and give her background and career.
Yazzie is an artisan and small-business owner of about 20 years from the Cameron area. She was raised in Tuba City and Cameron by her parents, grandmothers, and aunts, graduated from Tuba City High School, earned four associate degrees (Glendale Community College and Phoenix College), and holds an Arizona State University degree in business sustainability with a minor in business administration. She has supported herself and her son — also an artist and young entrepreneur — through her work, and recently moved back to Cameron. She said she entered the race as a frustrated community member who wasn’t happy with how her council delegate was representing the area.
Platform
Cal asked: Cal asked her to share her platform.
Yazzie said she deliberately chose not to run on a set platform . She explained that as she visited surrounding chapters, each already had its own agenda and plan, and she did not want to insert her own agenda over theirs. Instead she framed her role as standing behind constituents, being present, listening, advocating for what each chapter wants, and bringing professionalism to the Council. When pressed that candidates usually need a unifying foundation, she answered that standing up and speaking for the people is the foundation — someone who will listen and advocate for the whole Navajo Nation, not just her own chapters — and returned to being present and professional.
Not sure how to weigh this answer? The five lenses, in brief ▾
- Transparency & accountability: who is responsible, and how would progress be measured and verified?
- Root cause: does this address the underlying problem, or only the symptom?
- Culture — K’é / Hózhǫ: does it strengthen kinship, restore balance, honor future generations?
- Collaboration: who would need to work together — and does the answer name them?
- Prevention vs. damage control: does it prevent harm, or only respond after it?
Executive–Legislative Conflict
Cal asked: Cal asked what she would do about the ongoing conflict between the executive and legislative branches.
She said resolving the friction comes down to communication, professionalism, and teamwork — describing the Council as a team and pointing to other governments she's seen (through family) that operate quickly and efficiently. She did not propose a specific structural or legal change, returning to communication as the core fix.
Not sure how to weigh this answer? The five lenses, in brief ▾
- Transparency & accountability: who is responsible, and how would progress be measured and verified?
- Root cause: does this address the underlying problem, or only the symptom?
- Culture — K’é / Hózhǫ: does it strengthen kinship, restore balance, honor future generations?
- Collaboration: who would need to work together — and does the answer name them?
- Prevention vs. damage control: does it prevent harm, or only respond after it?
Title 2 & Government Reform
Cal asked: Cal asked her to explain Title 2 and whether the three-branch government is complete.
She said Title 2 was enacted to form the three-branch government but is not complete — which is why the Office of Government Development exists — and described the Nation as running on a “temporary government.” To finish it, she said the people need to come together, adopt more legislation, and build a government that reflects Navajo ethics and culture. She summarized the Office of Government Development's role as processing, evaluating, and helping finalize legislation and reform.
Not sure how to weigh this answer? The five lenses, in brief ▾
- Transparency & accountability: who is responsible, and how would progress be measured and verified?
- Root cause: does this address the underlying problem, or only the symptom?
- Culture — K’é / Hózhǫ: does it strengthen kinship, restore balance, honor future generations?
- Collaboration: who would need to work together — and does the answer name them?
- Prevention vs. damage control: does it prevent harm, or only respond after it?
Healthcare & Universal Coverage
Cal asked: Cal asked whether she would support universal healthcare coverage for Navajo people living off the reservation.
She said she supports the idea in principle — “Yeah, I do. But who’s going to fund that?” — and stressed that both the funding question and the decision itself would go back to the chapters and constituents, not rest on her alone.
Not sure how to weigh this answer? The five lenses, in brief ▾
- Transparency & accountability: who is responsible, and how would progress be measured and verified?
- Root cause: does this address the underlying problem, or only the symptom?
- Culture — K’é / Hózhǫ: does it strengthen kinship, restore balance, honor future generations?
- Collaboration: who would need to work together — and does the answer name them?
- Prevention vs. damage control: does it prevent harm, or only respond after it?
638 Healthcare
Cal asked: Cal asked what 638 is, whether the Nation can run multi-million-dollar facilities, and about oversight and the “dark side” of overbilling and malpractice.
She described 638 as Navajo people taking over operation of the Indian Health Service (IHS) system, citing Tuba City Regional Health Care Corporation as a 638 facility that leads in Indian Country, and shared personal experience (her father in hospice being served blue corn mush and receiving a medicine-man prayer). Her one worry was that taking over federal responsibility touches on treaty rights, but she said she has faith in educated Navajo people to run it. On overbilling and malpractice, she said it comes down to management and ethics , and supported more collaboration, communication, and frequent reporting; when Cal suggested a surgeon general and a medical oversight board, she first agreed it could help if needed — and pressed on whether that was her own view, she pointed instead to the existing board of directors (community members from each Western Agency chapter, plus Paiute, Navajo, and Hopi members) and said that structure should be enough.
Not sure how to weigh this answer? The five lenses, in brief ▾
- Transparency & accountability: who is responsible, and how would progress be measured and verified?
- Root cause: does this address the underlying problem, or only the symptom?
- Culture — K’é / Hózhǫ: does it strengthen kinship, restore balance, honor future generations?
- Collaboration: who would need to work together — and does the answer name them?
- Prevention vs. damage control: does it prevent harm, or only respond after it?
Education & Scholarships
Cal asked: Cal asked whether Navajo Nation scholarships should be limited to the two on-reservation colleges to keep money in.
She said no — students should be free to study on or off the reservation and gain firsthand experience “between two worlds.” She argued the real problem is financial aid not being dispersed on time, citing a roughly 48% scholarship success rate, and said everyone deserves access to education wherever they choose. She noted she is herself a scholarship beneficiary.
Not sure how to weigh this answer? The five lenses, in brief ▾
- Transparency & accountability: who is responsible, and how would progress be measured and verified?
- Root cause: does this address the underlying problem, or only the symptom?
- Culture — K’é / Hózhǫ: does it strengthen kinship, restore balance, honor future generations?
- Collaboration: who would need to work together — and does the answer name them?
- Prevention vs. damage control: does it prevent harm, or only respond after it?
Veterans
Cal asked: Cal asked her stance on Navajo Nation veterans, who are often used as election pawns.
She said veterans deserve full support and are frustrated, and criticized politicians for glorifying and using them as pawns. She pointed to VA underfunding and the distance to the only Arizona facilities (Phoenix and Prescott), and said the U.S. owes Native Americans a facility on the reservation given the Code Talkers' service. Her main idea was to organize veterans at the agency/regional level rather than chapter by chapter, so they can reach quorum, build camaraderie, and carry a stronger collective voice.
Not sure how to weigh this answer? The five lenses, in brief ▾
- Transparency & accountability: who is responsible, and how would progress be measured and verified?
- Root cause: does this address the underlying problem, or only the symptom?
- Culture — K’é / Hózhǫ: does it strengthen kinship, restore balance, honor future generations?
- Collaboration: who would need to work together — and does the answer name them?
- Prevention vs. damage control: does it prevent harm, or only respond after it?
Enterprises & NACE
Cal asked: Cal asked her to name Navajo enterprises and, given her experience, what is wrong with NACE and what she would do.
Drawing on having worked at the Navajo Arts & Crafts Enterprise (NACE) years ago, she attributed its decline to mismanagement of finances and goods, board members who benefit from the downfall, and lowballing artisans so they no longer sell to it. Her proposals: offer co-op space for artisans, pay fair value, set board term limits, and update outdated rules for the internet era. She’d also place stores where tourism and buyers are — noting NACE’s current locations miss the border towns and tourist traffic, and suggesting Sedona — and opposed government-owned monopolies like a single radio station or newspaper.
Not sure how to weigh this answer? The five lenses, in brief ▾
- Transparency & accountability: who is responsible, and how would progress be measured and verified?
- Root cause: does this address the underlying problem, or only the symptom?
- Culture — K’é / Hózhǫ: does it strengthen kinship, restore balance, honor future generations?
- Collaboration: who would need to work together — and does the answer name them?
- Prevention vs. damage control: does it prevent harm, or only respond after it?
Economic Development
Cal asked: Cal asked whether the Division of Economic Development is doing its job, and what economic development means to her.
She defined economic development as an action — “the investment of your people, infrastructure and innovation” — and said the Division may actually be hindering progress, weighed down by red tape. She wanted it to be far more community-based: more visible outreach at the chapter and agency level, regular public reporting on where tax and contract money goes, and less time at outside conferences.
Not sure how to weigh this answer? The five lenses, in brief ▾
- Transparency & accountability: who is responsible, and how would progress be measured and verified?
- Root cause: does this address the underlying problem, or only the symptom?
- Culture — K’é / Hózhǫ: does it strengthen kinship, restore balance, honor future generations?
- Collaboration: who would need to work together — and does the answer name them?
- Prevention vs. damage control: does it prevent harm, or only respond after it?
Navajo Business Opportunity Act
Cal asked: Cal asked how the Navajo Business Opportunity Act (NBOA) fits in and whether it's being followed.
She said NBOA requires Navajo-first in business and employment, and that the disputed $24 million likely wouldn't have happened if NBOA had been followed, because the work would have gone to a Navajo-preferred business. She said NBOA has a clear process but isn't being followed, and tied it to her own experience of red tape blocking a small-business loan and of taxation problems (being billed for years her business was inactive). Her fix: change the laws to actually serve small local vendors — she repeatedly invoked the “burrito lady” and local seamstress — and make the Division accountable.
Not sure how to weigh this answer? The five lenses, in brief ▾
- Transparency & accountability: who is responsible, and how would progress be measured and verified?
- Root cause: does this address the underlying problem, or only the symptom?
- Culture — K’é / Hózhǫ: does it strengthen kinship, restore balance, honor future generations?
- Collaboration: who would need to work together — and does the answer name them?
- Prevention vs. damage control: does it prevent harm, or only respond after it?
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