Parry calls for civility and better governmental response for indigenous people

Parry on For the People in Feb 2020

LOGAN – It is election season, and like their Republican counterparts, Democrats do have a primary choice to be made by June 30th as well.  On the primary ballot appears the name of Darren Parry and Jamie Cheek. Parry has been a guest on KVNU’s For the People at various times before in his role as chairman of the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation and for his work on the Interpretive Center going in at the location of the Bear River Massacre north of Preston. But Parry appeared as a candidate for the 1st Congressional District on the Wednesday program.

“I had a pretty good life before and now it comes with a little more scrutiny and some mean things said. And I’m going ‘Man, they just don’t know me.’ I’m sure people think things about me that aren’t very good. But I try really hard to treat people decently and with respect. So, it’s kind of been hard, I’m not a thick-skinned person. But I suppose I need to get there quickly.”

He said what is needed is a return to civility. He said people hear from the left side and the right side and the extremes on both sides. But he believes that there is a whole group of people in the middle who are probably tired of the divisive rhetoric.

The Navajo Nation has been hit particularly hard by COVID-19. There have been reports that some of these communities have been forgotten in some of the relief effort packages that have been passed. Parry said, fortunately, he has been hearing from tribes that some of that economic relief is starting to trickle into these areas.  But serious problems remain.

“A couple of weeks ago I was able to play a small part in collecting supplies and loading up a huge truck that went down to the Utah Navajo, down in the Four Corners area. Look we live in the year 2020, and thousands of Navajo people in our state…have never had running water or electricity. You know, that is not acceptable.”

He said the marginalized are still being forgotten. You can find out more about his campaign at DarrenforUtah.com.

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