Threading 7/16 galvanized rod

[Ron Stauffer]

There are lots of different entities on the Rez and more specifically the Navajo Rez. The true Navajo tribal lands wells and windmills are handled out of Fort Defiance AZ and mostly done by their own crews. There are also Navajo Partition Lands and Hopi Partition Lands. These lands were created when the Fed gov opened up the Navajo Rez to other tribes that had not been given lands back to them. Innuendo implied. On the partition lands as part of the agreement to open up these lands to other tribes, the Fed agreed to provide wells and windmills in exchange. NPL is headquartered out of Pinon AZ under the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Native American tribes have similarities to the Mideastern tribes namely rivalry and wars for centuries. So the partition land experiment wasnt entirely successful.

Rez work is interesting. There is lots of vandalism of windmills and wells. There is a lot of politics involved on what gets fixed first. There is always a lot of windmills in need of repair. The largest contract we did was 25 windmills and lived on the Rez for 2 months in a camper in July and August w/o AC. We were treated very well but you have a sense of what if feels like to be a minority.

Because of entities involved, it takes forever to get contracts and change orders approved. But when they are approved, of course the work needs completed yesterday. Then there is how long you will wait to be paid. If all this sounds appealing, as they say, have at it...

[Bart78]

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[Bart78]

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[JBarker]

There are lots of different entities on the Rez and more specifically the Navajo Rez. The true Navajo tribal lands wells and windmills are handled out of Fort Defiance AZ and mostly done by their own crews. There are also Navajo Partition Lands and Hopi Partition Lands. These lands were created when the Fed gov opened up the Navajo Rez to other tribes that had not been given lands back to them. Innuendo implied. On the partition lands as part of the agreement to open up these lands to other tribes, the Fed agreed to provide wells and windmills in exchange. NPL is headquartered out of Pinon AZ under the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Native American tribes have similarities to the Mideastern tribes namely rivalry and wars for centuries. So the partition land experiment wasnt entirely successful.

Rez work is interesting. There is lots of vandalism of windmills and wells. There is a lot of politics involved on what gets fixed first. There is always a lot of windmills in need of repair. The largest contract we did was 25 windmills and lived on the Rez for 2 months in a camper in July and August w/o AC. We were treated very well but you have a sense of what if feels like to be a minority.

Because of entities involved, it takes forever to get contracts and change orders approved. But when they are approved, of course the work needs completed yesterday. Then there is how long you will wait to be paid. If all this sounds appealing, as they say, have at it...

Ron,

We attend the windmill workshop every year in Las Cruces, NM and half of the students in the class are from the Navajo/Hopi Indian tribes. They send their windmill crews to the workshop and most of the time we learn more from their experiences with windmill repair than the instructors. Next week, we will be in Las Cruces again for the 2024 workshop and there are 5 different tribes registered for class. Thanks.

Jerry

[mtblah]

Jerry , THANK YOU for sharing this really interesting and important history ! Most of us had no idea .