Navajo Nation tops Cherokee to become largest tribe in US

by FELICIA FONSECA Associated Press

Fri, May 21st 2021, 1:09 AM UTC

FILE - In this April 30, 2020, file photo, a sign marks Navajo Drive as Sentinel Mesa, homes and other structures in Oljato-Monument Valley, Utah on the Navajo Reservation, stand in the distance. Navajos clamored to enroll or fix their records as the tribe offered hardship assistance payments from last year's federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act. That boosted the number the tribe had in its vital statistics from about 310,000 to nearly 400,000 enrolled Navajos. The figure tops the Cherokee Nation's enrollment of 392,000. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

FILE - In this Oct. 25, 2018 file photo, Monument Valley is shown in Utah. The Navajo Nation has by far the largest land mass of any Native American tribe in the country. Now, it's boasting the largest enrolled population, too. The number grew to nearly 400,000 because of payments made to individual Navajos for hardships during the pandemic. The tribe now tops the Cherokee Nation's enrollment of 392,000, but a tribal spokeswoman says the Oklahoma tribe also is growing. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez speaks during a live radio address with first lady Jill Biden in attendance, in Window Rock, Ariz., on Thursday, April 22, 2021. Nez questions the fairness in awarding more money to tribes that don't have at least a one-fourth blood quantum. "Here on Navajo, we verify blood quantum, and that's a requirement," he says. (Mandel Ngan/Pool via AP, File)

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FILE - In this April 30, 2020, file photo, a sign marks Navajo Drive as Sentinel Mesa, homes and other structures in Oljato-Monument Valley, Utah on the Navajo Reservation, stand in the distance. Navajos clamored to enroll or fix their records as the tribe offered hardship assistance payments from last year's federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act. That boosted the number the tribe had in its vital statistics from about 310,000 to nearly 400,000 enrolled Navajos. The figure tops the Cherokee Nation's enrollment of 392,000. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

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