It's February 2024.

A winter storm has just blown clean through Arizona,

blanketing the ground with snow from Phoenix all the way up to Flagstaff.

But in the reservation town of Loop,

that hasn't stopped people from piling into their local town hall.

Thank you, everyone. I see more folks are coming in and joining us.

I really love it.

I love a packed house.

If you haven't signed in already, please do so.

There are around 30 people in this hall, most in winter boots and big overcoats, and they sit under some really

harsh fluorescent lighting in rows of yellow chairs facing a small platform.

They're mostly older, but there are some younger faces, too.

We'll talk more about that as we get through the slides, but I do want to start the meeting.

Everyone is here to talk about Navajo Water Rights.

I like to say that we've been on a Navajo water rights tour. We've hit several communities already.

We started in Winder Rock and went to Ganado. After that, we were in Chinalee.

Up on the platform, two men in suits are getting ready to speak. They're lawyers working for the

Navajo Nation, and they're here to tell the crowd about the work that they've been doing to secure

water rights for the Navajo people. My plan is Cengen, and I'm born for the Hawaiian people.

So it's fun to think of a Hawaiian and a Navajo finding each other.

Let me try.

Hello.

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