NMiF reviews discipline report at Gallup schools, tribal water rights

This week on New Mexico in Focus, a new report from the state attorney general's office finds Indigenous and Hispanic students are punished at Gallup McKinley County Schools far more severely than their white peers. The published findings follow an investigation from New Mexico In Depth in 2022 who first uncovered the story.

In Depth Executive Director Trip Jennings sits down with Wendy Greyeyes, chair of the Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission, to discuss the report and consider how Gallup schools could reform their disciplinary actions.

The largest tribal water rights settlement in U.S. history is at a stalemate. The Northeastern Arizona Water Rights Settlement Act, if approved by Congress, would provide much-needed water for the Navajo Nation, as well as the Hopi and San Juan Southern Paiute tribes. A provision with the deal has received pushback from some negotiators at the table, questioning whether the Navajo Nation should be allowed to lease some of its water to nearby cities outside of its reservation.

KUNM Reporter Jeanette DeDios speaks with Heather Tanana, an assistant law professor at the University of Denver, about the settlement's many details and discusses how life-changing this deal would be if it went through.

Earlier this year, Santa Fe-based poet Arthur Sze accepted a second one-year term to continue his role as the 25th United States Poet Laureate. Senior Producer Lou DiVizio meets with Sze to talk about his work as a poet and a translator, as well as the relationship between his art and our state.

NMiF airs on NMPBS 5.1 (KNME HD) on Friday, July 17, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, July 19 at 7 a.m. and streaming on the PBS video app. Involved, informed, in-depth media: watch New Mexico in Focus again online shortly thereafter.

Host
Nash Jones

Segments
Report: Disparity in Discipline at Gallup Schools
Correspondent
Trip Jennings

Guest
Wendy Greyeyes, Ph.D. (Diné), UNM professor, chair, Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission

Tribal Water Rights Deal Stalled
Correspondent
Jeanette DeDios (Jicarilla Apache and Diné)

Guest
Heather Tanana (Diné), assistant law professor, University of Denver

How to Reform Student Discipline at Gallup Schools
Correspondent
Trip Jennings

Guest
Wendy Greyeyes Ph.D. (Diné), UNM professor and chair, Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission

U.S. Poet Laureate Arthur Sze on the Art of Translation
Correspondent
Lou DiVizio

Guest
Arthur Sze, 25th U.S. Poet Laureate

New Mexico in Focus is the New Mexico PBS prime-time news magazine show covering the events, issues, and people shaping life in New Mexico and the Southwest. NMiF takes a multi-layered look at social, political, economic, educational, and art issues, exploring them in depth with a critical eye to provide context beyond the "news of the moment."

NMPBS Executive Producer, Public Affairs is Jeff Proctor. New Mexico in Focus's senior producer for public affairs is Lou DiVizio. Host and producer of New Mexico in Focus is Nash Jones. The producer is Antonio Sanchez, and the multimedia journalist is Cailley Chella.

Funding for New Mexico in Focus is provided by the McCune Charitable Foundation and Viewers Like You. Funding for the Your New Mexico Government Project comes from the Thornburg Foundation and New Mexico Local News Fund. Funding for Our Land: New Mexico's Environmental Past, Present & Future is provided in part by the Neeper Natural History Programming.