Navajo Nation Vice President Richelle Montoya, the first woman to serve in the office, told hundreds of viewers during a Facebook Live stream on April 16 that she was sexually harassed in August during a meeting.
During the recent Navajo Nation Council spring session, Montoya addressed concerns raised by council delegates regarding rumors of being mistreated as she serves as the second-most powerful leader in the Navajo government. The discussion arose after she and Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren gave their State of the Nation address on Monday.
She did not address the sexual harassment allegation while in the council chamber but waited until she went on Facebook Live the next night.
“As your Vice President, in the month of August of 2023, I had to write a statement because I was sexually harassed,” Montoya said during the stream. “I wrote my statement detailing what happened in a meeting. How it made me feel. I was not physically hurt. But I was made to feel that I had no power to leave the room. I was made to feel that what I was trying to accomplish didn’t mean anything, that I was less than.”
Montoya said she wrote her statement, and after a meeting with staff members, she was asked to elaborate more to better understand what happened and detail how she wanted to move forward regarding the person accused of harassing her.
“My response was I didn’t want to be alone with this person ever,” Montoya said. “And I didn’t want him to talk to me or apologize or try to explain it or anything. One of the suggestions that was given [...] was to have a training for the entire staff to where we don’t point out the person who did this to me. Thinking about it, I’m like, ‘Wait a minute. Why do I have to be a part of this training, when I am the one that knew what this person was doing was not right.’ It was because they just didn’t want to point out the person. That was hard.”
In a statement published on April 18, Navajo Nation Council Speaker Crystalynne Curley condemned the alleged harassment.
“As the Speaker of the Council and also as a mother, I strongly condemn harassment and abuse in any form whether it’s sexual, physical, verbal, mental, or emotional. As leaders of our Nation, we have a great responsibility to respectfully listen to the voices of those who are victimized and to promptly address acts of harassment, particularly in the workplace,” she said.
In a Facebook post published on April 18 Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren called for an investigation into Montoya’s claims.
OTHER REPORTS OF MISTREATMENT
This is not the first time sexual misconduct allegations have been made within the Office of the President and Vice President. The Navajo Times reported on other sexual assault and sexual harrassment allegations lodged by former employees in an article published on Nov. 30.
Nygren disputed that article in a Dec. 1 press release. He claimed that the story had “insinuations and inaccuracies.”
Staff Reports
