Navajo Nation

Three people were shot to death execution-style in a vehicle along a dirt road on the Navajo Nation, the FBI said. The victims were two unidentified men and a woman, Vickie Benally, 26, of Farmington. A motive was not immediately known, FBI Special Agent Bill Elwell said. The killings took place near the Hogback Chapter House, just east of Shiprock. Elwell said it appeared that all of the victims were shot while inside their vehicle, which was parked along a single-lane dirt road.

It will be a walk, maybe even a lighthearted dance, down the Grammy Awards red carpet, an appearance like no other. Radmilla Cody, a traditional Navajo songstress from Leupp, Ariz., plans to mark her nomination for this weekend's Grammy Awards show in Los Angeles by donning full-on traditional Navajo attire, designed by her aunt, including moccasins made by her late grandmother. Cody received a nomination in December for her album "Shi Keyah: Songs for the People" in the category of best regional roots.

John Adair, 84, whose photographs, films and texts documented the Navajo nation for nearly half a century. Born in Memphis, he began his field studies of the Navajo and Zuni cultures in the 1930s. His photographs, films and texts from 1938 through the mid-1970s are definitive references on Navajo health, silversmiths and culture. Between 1964 and 1978, Adair was professor of anthropology at San Francisco State University. On Dec. 14 at his San Francisco home.

What would you do with 20 minutes atop a lofty sandstone butte above Lake Powell? Find out on a helicopter hop to the top of Tower Butte , a pinnacle more than 5,000 feet in elevation near Page, Ariz.  Papillon/Grand Canyon Scenic Group , which operates sightseeing flights over the Grand Canyon and other spots in the Southwest, will take folks by helicopter to the summit of the flat-topped butte starting in March. There's no easier way to get to the high point of the remote formation that sits on Navajo Nation land just south of the Arizona-Utah border.

Kay "Kaibah" C. Bennett, 77, author and teacher who was the first woman to run for the presidency of the Navajo Nation. Born on the Navajo reservation near Sheep Springs, N.M., Bennett ran for tribal president in 1990. Her books included "Kaibah," about her childhood; "A Navajo Saga," about a family living in the 1880s; and "Keesh, the Navajo Indian Cat," for children.

For years, the wind, water, earth and sacred traditions were all the Navajos believed they needed to prevent illness and heal themselves spiritually and physically. That was before the development of Western medical technology, before the number of Navajo medicine men began to decline and before young Navajos began to discredit their own traditions.

Five years ago, the man Elsie Smith loved told her calmly from his hospital bed that it was time for him to go. He died with a hushed goodbye and a squeeze of her hand. Smith herself had been feeling ill for a while. Her bones ached and she vomited often. She soon mourned him from her own hospital bed. A doctor explained to the Navajo woman that her lover had died of AIDS. It was important that they check her blood, he said. She agreed. Two days later, the doctor told her that she had HIV. Her tired mind became flustered with questions, but she asked only one. "What is HIV?"

The Supreme Court has ruled against the Navajo Nation for a second time in its battle with the federal government over whether the tribe should have received more money for coal on its land. The high court, in an unanimous opinion Monday, reversed a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, ending the tribe's fight with the government. "Today we hold, once again, that the tribe's claim for compensation fails," Justice Antonin Scalia wrote for the court.

Suppose the Navajo Indians pass a resolution declaring their independence from the United States. And suppose they send this resolution to the White House. Suppose further that the tribe creates its own militia, declaring it to be the Army of the Navajo Nation, and orders it to establish its own border patrol and customs service. Then suppose, upon this declaration, several thousand young Navajo men desert from U.S. military service.

Vincent Craig takes a battered old Alvarez acoustic guitar from its case and proudly points out where various country musicians have signed their autographs on its spruce top. "This is my baby," Craig says lovingly. Then, with a sly look he announces: "I do a takeoff on Navajo opera." Closing his eyes, he strums an A-minor chord and sings a quavering aria entirely in Navajo, replete with Pavarotti-like flourishes. It's called, "Grandpa, the Sheep Have Gone."

Urban Outfitters Inc. said that Glen T. Senk, its chief executive, has resigned and will be succeeded by co-founder and Chairman Richard Hayne. Shares of the retail company, which operates the Anthropologie, Free People, BHLDN and Urban Outfitters brands, fell as much as 17% to $24.24 in midday trading Wednesday. Senk, 55, joined the company nearly 18 years ago as president of Anthropologie. He became a director in 2004 and chief executive in 2007. He will be leaving to "pursue another opportunity," but will remain with the company temporarily to assist in the transition, the company said in a statement.

Five years ago, the man Elsie Smith loved told her calmly from his hospital bed that it was time for him to go. He died with a hushed goodbye and a squeeze of her hand. Smith herself had been feeling ill for a while. Her bones ached and she vomited often. She soon mourned him from her own hospital bed. A doctor explained to the Navajo woman that her lover had died of AIDS. It was important that they check her blood, he said. She agreed. Two days later, the doctor told her that she had HIV. Her tired mind became flustered with questions, but she asked only one. "What is HIV?"

"Volunteer travel is the best way to become part of the local scene, to give of yourself, to see the benefits of your shared skills and time, and to return home with fond memories," says Sheryl Kayne, author of "Volunteer Vacations Across America" (Countryman Press, 2009). Here are some of her favorite volunteer vacations in the U.S. Heifer Ranch Perryville, Ark. Heifer International works to end world hunger by providing sustainable gifts of livestock and agricultural training to impoverished people around the world.

A teenager has been charged by federal authorities with killing a nun whose body was found in her Navajo Nation home earlier this week. Federal court documents show that 19-year-old Reehahlio Carroll of Navajo, N.M., was charged with "the unlawful killing of a human being with malice aforethought." FBI spokesman Darrin Jones confirmed Carroll is accused of killing 64-year-old Sister Marguerite Bartz. She served at St. Berard Catholic Church in the tiny town on the Navajo reservation.

CAMERON, ARIZ.--This is the land where Larry Gordy was destined to live, until it was made unlivable. The Navajo believe that a person will always be tied to the place where his or her umbilical cord is buried. When Gordy was born in 1968, his father put his in this rust-colored dirt. It was here on the family's ranch on the edge of the Painted Desert that his father dreamed of one day building homes for his children, and of tilling a field where watermelon and corn could grow.

The Supreme Court has ruled against the Navajo Nation for a second time in its battle with the federal government over whether the tribe should have received more money for coal on its land. The high court, in an unanimous opinion Monday, reversed a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, ending the tribe's fight with the government. "Today we hold, once again, that the tribe's claim for compensation fails," Justice Antonin Scalia wrote for the court.

It all started with an anonymous letter. The typewritten sheet of paper was dated Dec. 19, 1995, but the writer must have hesitated before mailing it because the envelope was postmarked Jan. 4, 1996. The letter--signed, "Navajo voter and concerned educator"--contained an explosive allegation. The writer claimed to have seen the first lady of the Navajo Nation, Regina Hale, beating her 14-year-old stepdaughter outside the presidential residence.

Alcoholism is destroying the Navajo Nation and the situation is a "national disgrace," New Mexico's Alcohol Beverage Control director said Friday. Abe Rodriquez told a congressional panel that when he took over his job 19 months ago, he began looking at the problems centered around Gallup, Farmington and Shiprock--the largest communities where Navajos can buy liquor.

The dirt track we're bumping along doesn't qualify as a road -- even here on the sprawling, remote Navajo reservation. Next to me, behind the wheel of an old pickup, Christian Bigwater downshifts as he maneuvers over and around the rocks in our way. "You're in for a treat," he says as he stops at a point beyond which even he won't risk driving. From here, we hike through scraggly pines and yucca to a promontory from which the treat -- Canyon de Chelly -- reveals itself.