Author

Arlyssa Becenti
Arlyssa Becenti is a Diné journalist with 10 years experience reporting on Navajo Nation. She recently placed first for Arizona Press Club’s community investigating reporting for her series on the illegal hemp and marijuana farms in Shiprock, N.M. She was also awarded Arizona Press Club’s 2020 Nina Mason Pulliam Environmental Journalism Award for community reporting. She has reported for the daily Gallup Independent and weekly Navajo Times. She is pursuing her masters in investigative journalism at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism.
Native company demonstrates drones for delivering essentials to remote locations
By: Arlyssa Becenti - February 7, 2022
Deliveries are challenging on remote parts of the Navajo Nation due to the lack of road infrastructure and transportation. Although official agencies and mutual aid groups continue their efforts to distribute the necessities during this global pandemic, not everyone has had access all the time, creating uncertainty for many. Drones may be part of the […]
Indigenous voters betrayed by Sinema’s actions in Congress, officials and advocates say
By: Arlyssa Becenti - January 26, 2022
Registering people to vote in rural areas and in tribal nations takes work. During a pandemic, the effort was monumental. During the 2020 elections, Tara Benally and other folks with Rural Utah Project put in hundreds of hours talking to people one by one about how and why it’s important to register to vote. Through […]
Gallup Indian Medical Center adopts crisis standards
By: Arlyssa Becenti - January 10, 2022
The Gallup Indian Medical Center implemented its Crisis Standards of Care in late December due to a spike in COVID-19 cases. That was two weeks before the first case of omicron had even surfaced on Navajo Nation. Within the Gallup Service Unit health care facilities, the Tohatchi Health Center reported it is also receiving an […]
Navajo energy company’s CEO steps down
By: Arlyssa Becenti - January 10, 2022
The CEO of the Navajo Transitional Energy Company will be resigning from his post on Jan. 31. Source New Mexico obtained CEO Clark Moseley’s Jan. 7 letter to Navajo President Jonathan Nez and Council Speaker Seth Damon referencing his resignation at the end of the month and listing accomplishments achieved by NTEC during Moseley’s time […]
Tribal authority to prosecute domestic violence cases could be expanded
By: Arlyssa Becenti - December 22, 2021
Navajo Nation Police Officer Dwayne Hogue arrived at the domestic violence call from a woman who reported she was struck by her husband and pushed down on the coffee table while she held her 4-month-old baby. When he saw her, he could see the swelling on her face, and he asked if the child was […]
Complaint alleges company grifted Navajo Nation with the ex-controller’s knowledge
By: Arlyssa Becenti - December 20, 2021
New details emerged about allegations against former Navajo Nation Controller Pearline Kirk regarding around $3 million in Navajo Nation pandemic funding paid to Agile Technologies Group LLC to conduct COVID-19 tests. A fresh round of criminal complaints were filed at Window Rock District Court on Dec. 3, a few days after Navajo Nation voluntarily dismissed […]
Former Navajo Nation controller brought up on new charges
By: Arlyssa Becenti - December 6, 2021
New criminal complaints have been filed by Navajo Nation against ousted Controller Pearline Kirk. This new complaint comes nearly a week after the Navajo Nation voluntarily dismissed two cases against Kirk that would’ve gone to a jury trial this month, but it was canceled. The new complaints allege that Kirk committed violations of Title 17 […]
Navajo Nation police chief is stepping down
By: Arlyssa Becenti - November 29, 2021
Navajo Nation Police Chief Phillip Francisco is leaving the position he’s held for five and half years. He’ll instead become chief of police for Bloomfield, N.M., and will begin his new job Jan. 4. Before Francisco was named Navajo Nation police chief, it had been well over a decade since someone was in that role. […]
Volunteers deliver firewood before the snow hits
By: Arlyssa Becenti - November 29, 2021
GALLUP – Navajo elders who are in need of wood to heat their homes stay warm as it gets colder turn to the mutual aid effort Chizh for Cheii. Loren Anthony founded the group 10 years ago, and the work continues to be a vital resource. Chizh for Cheii has become a staple on Navajo. […]
Hospitals serving the Navajo Nation adjust as beds keep filling up
By: Arlyssa Becenti - November 9, 2021
Gallup Indian Medical Center was one of several New Mexico hospitals that was praised by the state’s Department of Health for its treatment of COVID-19 patients by using monoclonal antibodies. Monoclonal antibody treatment for COVID-19 patients is an infusion given to patients through IV, and takes about an hour. Studies have shown that it has […]
Navajo Nation pushes for radioactive waste remnants to be fully removed
By: Arlyssa Becenti - October 22, 2021
GALLUP – Navajo Nation continues to hold strong on its stance against radioactive waste being dumped near its lands, while also pushing for the waste to be removed completely. The Church Rock uranium mill site is owned by United Nuclear Corporation, and in 1979 this site is where 93 million gallons of radioactive tailings were […]
Reported missing, but attention still absent
By: Arlyssa Becenti - October 13, 2021
Mary Margret Begay from Grand Canyon, Ariz., has been missing since Aug. 2, 1957. Paul Benally from Winslow, Ariz., has been missing since May 1, 1972. Gloria Ann Talley went missing out of Albuquerque on June 19, 1986 and hasn’t been heard from since. These are just a few of the forgotten missing that advocate […]