Chapter 8

Artemis

We were ensconced in the quiet of the desert, outside the Soaring Eagle ranch. We only intruded on them to use the bathroom – and to have breakfast, of course ... and other meals ... and drinks after dinner. I tried to make myself useful, making cornbread under BlueBird's watchful eye.

Of course, I wore my new clothes. I had a pair of white jeans, yellow jeans, light tan leather pants, and a whole set of t-shirts in various 'bright' colors. Some of them were nearly indecently cropped short. I also decided to let my hair return to its natural brown color ... with a little help from the drug store, at first. This violent change from goth-girl to the look that Zeus said he liked, got exactly no response from Mr. Stone-head. Nothing.

When I wore the leather pants with a cropped turquoise T and the buckskin jacket that I'd bought in Yah-te-Hey, along with the necklace and earrings, that got a wolf whistle from Navajo Pete, and silence from Zeus.

Don't get me wrong. He was polite, and he talked to me normally, but not comment one did he make. Grrrrr!

I was helping clean up after another fine dinner (a simple one of mac and cheese, with peas and carrots – and cornbread, I might add) when I complained to BlueBird.

"I don't know what to do. I made an extra effort to dress for dinner, tonight, and I get nothing from 'Together with the Spirits.' Nada."

"You do not see his reactions," she said. "When you are turned away, with your attention elsewhere, I see how he looks at you. You would like it. You are doing fine at catching your wolf. He is already in the pen, with the door shut!"

"But I want him to do something. Say something. Anything!"

"You must be patient, young Huntress," she replied with that maddening calm an Indian can display. "You have already captured your wolf. But, he is hurt. Never have I seen the spirit actually living within a person, and that worries me. He is afraid, perhaps afraid of you. Just keep on with your gentleness, and the wolf will eat from your hand in time. You are young. You have already done the hard thing. Capturing a wolf is hard. Taking him for a mate is not so hard, compared to that."

Okay. I could do that – maybe. At least I wasn't slamming dishes into the dishwasher anymore.

Eventually, the idyll in the desert, as I was calling it, ended. We had to dress up and go meet the Pres. The Navajo Nation is headquartered in a fairly simple, one story, modern brick building in Tségháhoodzání, the 'rock with the hole through it, ' aka Window Rock, on the tourist maps. Technically, the town of Window Rock (at GPS 35.672778, -109.062222) is in what the white man calls Arizona; but you can throw a stone into the New Mexico part of the reservation. Window Rock itself, is a mountain with a huge hole through it (at GPS 35.684555, -109.050803), just as the Navajo word means. You can see it from the Navajo Nation Council Chambers building.

We were met outside the building by the oldest of the tribal elders, Painted Horse, who had helped perform the Blessingway. He and BlueBird hugged, and we all went in.

Zeus and I took up a rear position, and our party was greeted by Nathan Stone, President of the Navajo Nation. Stone was a fit, middle aged man in blue jeans and a checkered shirt. I was definitely overdressed in my charcoal skirt and silk blouse, but at least I was wearing the turquoise necklace. He led the way into a conference room and we all sat. He offered us some coffee and Z and I took a cue from Painted Horse and just had water.

The President sat at the one end of the oval table, and Painted Horse sat at the other. We made ourselves comfortable in the middle.

Painted Horse said something in Navajo, and then, in English, "We shall speak in the language of our guests, for they have asked for this meeting. Perhaps you would ask Mr. Bean Counter..." he said with a chuckle " ... to come out of his hiding place in the next room and join us. I understand that he will be needed."

"Certainly, Chief Painted Horse. If you wish him to be here, then here he will be," Stone said, also with a chuckle.

An older gentleman came in from another door who was quite distinguished looking. He introduced himself as "Chief Bean Counter of the Navajo Nation, but you can call me Jack, Jack Harmony." He pulled up a chair to the right of the President. He was also wearing blue jeans and a checkered, but lighter in color, shirt. The lighter colors made the script 'NB' embroidered over the breast stand out.

I assumed that it stood for 'Naabeehó Bináhásdzo, ' the official Navajo name for the lands that made up the reservation. Thanks to Io for sending me on a data hunt last night.

Painted Horse took a drink. His hand holding the water glass was surprisingly steady, for a man of his age. "The council performed a Blessingway for Together with the Spirits, and the Huntress..." he gestured toward us " ... last week. And so I come to introduce them."

"And I come," said BlueBird, "to say that they truly travel with the Spirit. I trust them, though I have no knowledge of what they intend for this meeting."

"Well," said the President, "you come highly recommended. What do you have to say for yourselves?"

He was looking at Zeus, or 'Together with the Spirit, ' but I answered. "We are Alex Hobart and Artemis Desmonopolous – Alex and Artemis – or Together with the Spirit and Huntress, if you prefer, and we have a proposal. First I would like to introduce Ms. Lenti, who is in Zürich. She is speaking through an electronic translator, so her voice may not sound exactly 'normal.'"

I placed my mobile phone on the desk and Io said, "I am very pleased to meet you, Mr. President."

It was a different voice than the one she used in the H2.

"Please call me Nate," he said. "I am not so formal as to be called 'Mr. President.' Pleased to meet you Alex, Artemis and Ms. Lenti. What can I do for you?"

"The thing you can do for us, is to evaluate this proposal with the best interests of the People of the Nation – long term and short term – in mind. And not what is best for the status quo with the BIA," I said.

He was taken aback by my bluntness.

"I can assure you that the Bureau of Indian Affairs is the least of my concerns."

"That is good to hear. Please hear me out for what I have to say has many parts," I began.

"First, in this meeting, I am representing an offshore foundation, as well as myself and Alex. The foundation is to be newly created, if you approve this proposal. It will be funded by legally obtained funds, originally supplied by a consortium of people who are represented by Ms. Lenti. I am not at liberty to further identify them, except to repeat that it is legal money. That fact can be ascertained by anyone who cares to look. I assume you will look carefully.

"The reason that Ms. Lenti is willing to participate in these projects is connected with the adventure that was helped by the Blessingway, for which we are all very grateful. The initial funding is over one billion U.S. dollars."

"We have been approached by several 'offshore' syndicates before," he said, drawing the quotes around 'offshore' with his fingers. "They were all well funded and all involved dirty money."

"If you still feel that way at the end of my presentation, just say 'no thank you, ' and we will be on our way," I said, smiling. "I again assure you that the source of the funds is not illegal. It is based in international finance, and from sources that are in general agreement with the foreign policy goals of the United States. It is not Chinese, not terrorist, and not from a drug cartel.

"So, what do we propose for this foundation to do? I'll call it The Spirit Foundation, although as I said, it doesn't exist yet. The Foundation will have several goals.

"First, it will be funding a series of grants or loans to young men and women who want to go to colleges in the U.S. This would also apply to students who are enrolled in Diné College, who wish to transfer or study for advanced degrees. It will be 100% funding for tuition, books, meals and a modest stipend. If the young people return to work on or for the People of the Nation, for some period of time after graduation – say five years – then it will be a grant. Otherwise it will be a loan at modest interest rates. There will be no limit to the number of grants.

"Second," I continued, "the Foundation wants to start several profit-making companies within the lands of Naabeehó Bináhásdzo. Operating losses for ten years will be absorbed by the Foundation. These companies will be profit-making for the Navajo, and it is our hope that the management and personnel who work at these companies will be Navajo, as well.

"Thus far, we have only identified two companies, but we are open to suggestions. One is a computer services site for hardware and eventually software. The other is a power company. Hopefully, the power company will soon serve all areas of the Naabeehó Bináhásdzo."

"Wonderful," said Nathan Stone. "I assume there is a catch."

"There is not a 'catch', but a further request," I replied. "Third, we wish to lease land from the Nation – at whatever fees you decide – for those companies and for a residence compound. Alex and I – and perhaps others – would live there. I will not lie to you, as other White Men have done over the centuries. We are occasionally involved with... 'activities' ... like the one that was aided by the Blessingway. Certain well funded and aggressive organizations do not view these 'activities' favorably. Sometimes, these organizations can call on the resources of the U.S. government. That can present problems for us.

"While we have no intention of doing anything illegal, the 'projects' are pretty much in the gray areas of legality. Things that the good guys wish they could do, but can't, due to various technicalities.

"This compound, which we will build, will have security; but its primary security, will be in its anonymity. The Navajo are a separate, even if not completely autonomous, nation. The advantages to us should be clear.

"Fourth, and last, we ... and especially Ms. Lenti and the people she represents ... are enraged at the underhanded and treacherous dealings of the Trusts that administer the lands of the People. In this case, I mean to include all Native American Peoples. It came to Ms Lenti's attention with the settlement that the BIA recently agreed to. The settlement that finally came through, earlier this year, was woefully inadequate. I don't think it was an accident that it came in an election year for the current administration.

"We would like to work with you to abolish the BIA's trusts and control of all the lands. It would start, of course, with the Navajo – we are starting everything here. Perhaps it would spread to other reservations, perhaps not. Very few of us can tell what the future may hold," I was smiling as I said that, but I was thinking of Martinez.

"We want you, as President of the Navaho Nation, to be responsible for administration of your own lands. You should not to be treated as simple, non-comprehending savages who cannot be trusted to take care of yourselves; who receive a pat on the head, and someone saying 'Don't worry, we'll take care of all these complications.'

"In short, we want to sever the ties to the BIA, and to give you the financial independence to build your own colleges and schools, your own hospitals, and all the other things that a nation should be able to do," I concluded.

"If I may interject?" said 'Ms Lenti' through the mobile phone in the middle of the table. "Certain elements in the international financial community were appalled when we learned of the situation surrounding these trusts. We want to do something about it. Frankly, for us, the rest is a means to that end; but we understand that the People will benefit, greatly. It will take time and money to loosen the BIA's grip, but we have both."

"I certainly hope so, Ms Lenti," President Stone said, "because the BIA will not go away easily. For a long time, they have had absolute power over us, and that has corrupted them to an unbelievable degree. One billion dollars is not a large sum to the United States government."