Brian Tagaban of NDOT takes a GPS reading in Window Rock, AZ.

Feature Article Segments: NDOT Project Overview Urgency of the Project Public Involvement & Multimedia Herding Sheep on Lukachukai Navajo Land is Sacred

NDOT Project Overview
The allocation of federal funds for Native American tribes is dependent upon an accurate inventory of their roadways. DTS and Eagle Point are working to help the Navajo Department of Transportation (NDOT) update 33,000 miles of road in a computer database. The Navajo Nation is the largest Native American tribe in the United States; the reservation is roughly the size of West Virginia. The Navajo territory touches Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.

Monument Valley straddles Arizona and Utah on the Navajo Reservation

The Navajo DOT had fallen behind in both its roadway inventory and its funding for roads because a large percentage of their roads were not inventoried.

DTS has designed software solutions in concert with Eagle Point’s engineers which will help the Navajo Nation “catch up” and get on track for the future. We devised a software application connecting to a GIS database which will enable NDOT to inventory all of its roads within a 3-5 month period.

It was originally estimated that the project would take 5 years. The NDOT project is perfect for our diverse team at DTS. It features our skills in these areas:

• GIS/GPS Expertise database must work with GPS on the road
• Software Design Genius amazing database application for laptop, handheld device, and office implementation
• Web Design Skills we created all web interfaces for project
• Print Design we took photos, and designed/printed brochures
• Full Video Production we wrote the script, shot the video, conducted the interviews, and edited the footage for the public outreach video

Urgency of the Project

Schoolbuses get stuck in the mud of the many uneven, unpaved roads.

One Navajo representative we interviewed for the project said of the poor road conditions in the Navajo Nation that “we are essentially in the Third World.” Every Navajo representative we interviewed repeated the concern about the impoverished road conditions.

The poor condition of the roads affects every aspect of life, from children getting to school, to people getting to the hospital, to emergency response vehicles being able to find the road in order to respond.
One official recalled how the Arizona National Guard had to be called out a couple years back because of a relatively moderate snowfall. The roads were in such bad condtion, supplies had to be dropped by helicopter to people who could not get to food, animal feed, and medical supplies.

Public Involvement & Multimedia
Public Involvement has been a crucial component of the project, because NDOT needs the whole Navajo Nation to understand how the roadway inventory will be a foundation for other major improvements across the reservation.

The two main components were video DVDs and brochures.
The DTS media team worked with NDOT to interview key officials and elders to tape opinions about the project and explanations of how it will work.

While we were taping in Window Rock, we were honored to witness a ceremony celebrating the legendary Navajo Code Talkers of WWII. We were impressed by the fact that many Navajo today are fluent in their language. Sherylene Yazzie, who came to Florida to finalize the video, sang a Navajo song for the theme, and helped to edit Navajo language portions.

We produced 40,000 color brochures and a two minute video for the Navajo Nation Fair (a gigantic event that takes place every year in Window Rock, AZ) and will deliver 300 12-minute DVD videos to be shown at Chapter Houses (public meeting places) for public hearings all over the Navajo Nation.

Sheep Herding on Lukachukai Mountain

Tom Platero, Department Manager of NDOT escorted us for a video shoot of some sheep on his family’s land. He let the sheep out of the pen so we could get a shot of them in motion, then we were supposed to herd them back in - it was a little touch and go there at the end. Now we have “shepherding” to add to our resumes for future proposals.

Navajo Land is Sacred

We saw ancestor dwellings and petroglyphs at Canyon de Chelly.

The Navajo people have a deeply reverent bond with their land. They remind us that quietly lingering and forgetting about our watches helps us get in touch with the eternal.
From Monument Valley, to Canyon de Chelly, to Shiprock and the Luckachai Mountains, the Navajo land is sacred and inspiring.

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