Coverage of tribal natural resources is supported in part by Catena FoundationA lump of coal.
It's the threat that's been leveraged over children for centuries. Misbehave, and Santa Claus won't leave you any presents — just that dark rock in your stocking hanging over the fireplace. But on the Navajo Nation, where some 10,000 homes still lack electricity, lumps of coal can be a lifeline.
And now, that coal is being delivered much closer to home.
'You mean clean, beautiful coal?'
'Twas the night before Christmas at Mar-a-Lago, and President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump — with help from NORAD — were fielding calls from eager children wondering when Jolly Old Saint Nick might land on their rooftop.
Among them was 8-year-old Amelia from Anthony, Kansas.
"Santa will be coming down your chimney and have a beautiful present for you. What would you like Santa to bring?" President Trump asked.
"Uh, not coal," Amelia replied.
"Not coal, you don't want coal — you mean clean, beautiful coal?" said Trump as he chuckled. "I had to do that. I'm sorry. No, coal is clean and beautiful. Please remember that at all costs."
She'd rather get a Barbie doll, clothes and candy.
But for kids on the Navajo Nation, having a warm hogan during the wintertime might be the best holiday gift of all. That present isn't made at Santa's workshop, but inside a 4-acre coal yard in New Mexico.
So instead of Santa hand-delivering stockings of coal along with his team of reindeer, it's NTEC — or the Navajo Transitional Energy Company — with its diesel-powered trucks trekking across the sprawling 27,000-square-mile reservation.
"And these are actually going to the other side of the [Navajo] Nation today," said Andy Hawkins, community engagement manager for NTEC. "That's why we're not following those."
'Something like this will get the job done for you'
Together, Hawkins and I tailed a 20-ton coal truck making the rounds.
It was a frigid February as we followed it to Upper Fruitland on the outskirts of Farmington, New Mexico. The local chapter is one of the closest to the Navajo Mine nestled in the Four Corners.
As the truck dumped its heavy load right in front of the New Mexico chapter house, Hawkins rummaged through the heaping pile and grabbed a lump of coal — bigger than the size of fist.
"The longer it sits, the more brittle it gets, but we can get through a whole season and it'll hold up," said Hawkins. "For a one-room hogan, you know, what you want to do is when you go to bed at night, you want to be able to throw a chunk in there, and then for it to last."
"And something like this will get the job done for you."
This season, NTEC made 130 bulk deliveries, like this one to Upper Fruitland. From every November to March, NTEC hauls coal at no cost to each of the 110 Navajo chapters as well as a dozen Hopi villages. Because not everyone can find the gas money or a reliable vehicle to make it to the coal yard.
"So, coming all the way here to get one ton of coal is expensive for them," said Kay Nave-Mark, who is Diné and in charge of the NTEC coal yard. "So sending it to the chapter has been a huge blessing for a lot of people."
She worries most about her elders.
"When you're young and healthy, you could probably chop enough wood for your winter, but as you get older, that becomes harder and harder and harder, and the elders are the ones that are left out there," said Nave-Mark. "Our young people are moving to town, Farmington and Gallup, but the elders are the ones that are really having a hard time making ends meet."
So this fossil fuel is vital to many. It's an investment NTEC has been making to the tune of roughly $3 million annually. This is done through the Community Heating Resource Program, or CHRP.
This concept of allocating complimentary coal to heat Navajo homes has been around since mining began across the Navajo Nation in the 1960s. But this latest iteration of CHRP coincided with the 2019 closure of the Kayenta Mine in Arizona, which was owned by Peabody Energy.
"Up until that time, it had basically been a program for employees of the mine, the power plant and then a couple of local chapters, but now all of a sudden we're going to service 110 chapters," said Hawkins. "We really tore the entire program down and built it from the ground up to what you see today."
Despite deliveries to the Navajo chapter houses, many Diné still trek hours to the gusty coal yard with tickets in hand. Each voucher is worth a ton — literally. Hawkins, a former accountant, is still crunching numbers.
Compared to previous seasons, this one was slower than usual. Still, NTEC had more than 5,100 visitors during the five-month window — delivering 8,289 tons between in-person trips and bulk deliveries.
"So we know, on average, a scoop from the skid steer is a half a ton of coal so that's why he puts two scoops in," Hawkins explained. "From the time they come in the gate to the time they leave is five minutes or less."
Unlike the old days, patrons don't even need to get out of their vehicles.
"So you would have whole families that would have to take a half a day to come out – grandma, grandpa, grandkids — they've got picks and shovels and buckets, and it would take them about two hours to load the back of a pickup truck."
Still, there are some customers NTEC cannot accommodate, including drivers with pets or those asking to load the trunk. "I know it sounds goofy, but we've had people ask if we could put it in through his sunroof," added Hawkins.
'Nygren digs coal'
During his annual address in January, this time delivered in nearby Shiprock, New Mexico, President Buu Nygren of the Navajo Nation pledged to keep this very coal mine and the Four Corners Power Plant up and running.
"We are so, so close to making sure that stays open until 2038, because those are hundreds and hundreds of jobs," said Nygren. "Those are millions and millions of dollars of revenue that the Navajo Nation receives. That's coal that some of you haul and get for free from some of our chapters."
Earlier this year, NTEC cut a $5.5 million check for the Navajo Nation — setting an all-time record for the biggest dividend by any tribally owned business. The Nygren administration celebrated that milestone.
The mining company distributes more than $120 million through direct royalties, taxes and charitable giving annually. NTEC, which owns mines in Wyoming and Montana, also claims to be the third-largest coal producer nationwide.
So coal has long been the bedrock of the Navajo Nation economy.
Much like Trump, Nygren also embraced the black substance — even snapping a selfie with Trump at the White House last year. That viral photo was taken during the signing of a coal executive order.
Slapping a sticker onto a chunk of coal from the Navajo Mine, the sitting tribal president coined the phrase: "Nygren digs coal." This slogan was something Nygren was looking to do much more of.
That was, until his re-election bid fell short. He lost last month's primary. So perhaps the next president — who will be chosen by Navajo voters in November — may have a new outlook on coal.
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