BY EDWARD DEE
Understanding social entrepreneurship on the Navajo Nation first requires a Navajo language lesson. And of course, defining a single word in Navajo requires a whole paragraph of English.
In Diné philosophy, the basic concept of “Hózhó” is the Navajo people’s highest aim, not only for themselves, but for the world around them. The pursuit of Hózhó is not relegated to ceremonial songs and prayers. The term is frequently used in everyday speech. According to ethnographer Gary Witherspoon, “A Navajo uses this concept to express his happiness, his health, the beauty of his land, and the harmony of his relations with others.”
The Diné Innovative Network of Economies in Hózhó (DinéHózhó) is a grassroots organization that brings together seven chapters in the western region of the Navajo reservation in Arizona (the reservation is divided into 110 chapters).
The need for jobs in this part of the reservation is great. The economic landscape in many of the DinéHózhó partner chapters, which include Leupp, Birdsprings, Tolani Lake, Cameron, Coalmine Mesa, Tonalea, and Shonto, is bleak. The majority of these communities were covered by the Bennett Freeze, which effectively exiled Navajos—and Hopis—from their land for over 40 years and prevented those who stayed from making any improvements or repairs to their homes. If a window broke, the Bennett Freeze required it to stay broken, paralyzing local communities in a state of poverty seldom seen in America. Though the Bennett Freeze was lifted by President Obama in 2009, the affected areas are still suffering from deliberate underdevelopment, which makes them particularly vulnerable to unsavory economic schemes.
Several of the partner chapters are located adjacent to the Bodaway-Gap chapter, on the eastern edge of Marble Canyon, which for the past several years has been the target of the proposed Grand Canyon Escalade tramway project. That project looks at development from a strictly neoliberal economic perspective, striving to extract the most out of the natural resources available with little regard for the consequences.
The DinéHózhó concept embodies human dignity and respect, encouraging local people to relate to each other in ways that are reciprocal and mutually beneficial, trusting, and that align with traditional values, ecological awareness and ethics. In short, DinéHózhó wants to do business on the Navajo reservation differently by embracing the demand for sustainable, heritage-based tourism and allowing Navajos to make a living by preserving cultural traditions and skills, from storytelling to hogan building. Of course, to do this, they first needed a legal framework for their venture within Navajo Nation law.
On December 29, 2014, the Navajo Nation Council, the legislative body of the tribal government equivalent to the U.S. Congress, passed a resolution authorizing the creation of a low-profit limited liability company (L3C) statute, a new legal for-profit structure that enables a social-benefit outcome.
L3Cs are hybrids that effectively bridge the gap between non-profit and for-profit investing by providing a structure for investments in enterprises whose main focus is social good rather than maximizing profits—in short, social entrepreneurship ventures. Prior to the resolution, only nine states and two American Indian tribal governments (the Oglala Sioux Nation and the Crow Nation) had adopted L3C legislation.
With this framework now in place, DinéHózhó is poised to open the floodgates on an opportunity-driven movement of social entrepreneurship that is unique to the Diné lifeway, an approach that no Navajo community has yet pursued. According to Austrian American economist Joseph A. Schumpeter, a leading thinker on the subject: “Social entrepreneurs are individuals who reform or revolutionize the patterns of producing social value, shifting resources into areas of higher yield for society.” Fundamentally, social entrepreneurship involves pattern-breaking ideas that seek large-scale sustainable change.
To succeed, the DinéHózhó venture requires local Navajo chapters, the existing Navajo Nation Tribal Parks and Recreation Department, and a handful of non-profit organizations to work together. DinéHózhó includes both non-profit and for-profit components.
The DinéHózhó model offers an outlet for entrepreneurial spirits at a time when the Navajo Nation, like many tribal governments, is facing harsh federal cutbacks. The venture will build the capacity of ecotourism entrepreneurs by providing assistance in business planning, marketing, basic finance and management, and offering workshops and trainings to give entrepreneurs the tools they need to succeed, financed by private philanthropic capital.
A key component for DinéHózhó under the newly adopted Navajo L3C framework is the potential to attract significant program-related investments (PRIs). PRIs are investments private foundations make to further their social missions, such as promoting wealth creation and asset-building for low-income communities in the western Navajo region.
DinéHózhó can serve as a catalyst and vehicle for securing private funds to assure that development of these lands bolsters the local economy while also protecting the world-class vistas and other natural resources important to people everywhere.
Economic need in the region is dire, with high unemployment and a poverty rate hovering around 43 percent. The median household income on the Navajo Nation is $27,389, roughly half that of the state of Arizona overall ($51,310), an alarming contrast in one of the most developed and wealthy nations on earth.
Large economic development projects like Grand Canyon Escalade violate the ecological and cultural sensibilities not only of the traditional Diné, but also of other tribes with sacred ties to the Grand Canyon. Simply put, the Diné “Hózhó” principle cannot be compromised for grandiose projects like Escalade. The DinéHózhó L3C investment platform offers a clear alternative to this outsized and outof-touch version of development by taking a multidimensional approach that embraces existing social, cultural, and environmental capacities in the western Navajo region within the context of sustainable tourism.
We must plan for the whole, rather than focusing on isolated parts. Despite decades of unjust underdevelopment, western Navajos are beginning to emerge as economic drivers of their own future, with DinéHózhó providing a place for traditional knowledge and ways of seeing the larger world in an economy based on social justice and sustainability
DinéHózhó works in collaboration with the Grand Canyon Trust, with technical assistance from Arizona State University’s School of Community Resources and Development and the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability.
Edward Dee holds degrees in public administration and business administration; a Ph.D. student in the School of Sustainability at Arizona State University, his research areas include policy and governance, traditional ecological knowledge, and sustainable tourism.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The views expressed by Advocate contributors are solely their own and do not necessarily represent the views of the Grand Canyon Trust.
"This hybrid setup creates job opportunities for weavers, medicinal herb gatherers, hogan builders, dryland farmers, basket makers, singers, and dancers to share their traditional knowledge with tourists interested in Navajo culture and history."