Navajo Elder, c. 1980
Digital photograph on Canon glossy photographic paper, 14 x 11 in NFS
Ruth Benally, a Diné (Navajo) elder, was a central figure in the struggle against the removal of Navajo people from their land in Big Mountain, AZ. Leased by the Peabody Coal Co. since 1968 over the objections of both local Navajo and Hopi people, 300 residents refused to accept money to relocate, claiming it belonged to the region’s Indigenous inhabitants. The Department of the Interior finally withdrew Peabody’s permit in 2010. In addition to being an activist, Ms. Benally is a tribal matriarch and accomplished blanket weaver.