Darlene Arviso, also known as the “water lady” is well known by the Navajo people for her efforts to bring water to the people who live in the northwest corner of New Mexico where there is no plumbing. Every day she drives 75 miles to reach families with the water, and she is able to deliver to over 250 people each month.
“Everybody knows me around here. They’ll be waving at me. They call me the water lady,” she told NPR.
In the Navajo Nation, many people don’t have access to running water, and they use just 7 gallons of water per day, while the average person in the US uses about 100.
Many people forget that the struggle of native people is still ongoing, even today.
“It really is an incredible injustice. If you’re born Navajo, you’re 67 times more likely not to have a tap or toilet in your house than if you’re born black, white, Asian- or Hispanic-American,” George McGraw, the founder of a nonprofit called DIGDEEP said.
DIGDEEP is an organization that is hoping to bring clean running water to the Navajo nation by digging a well and laying pipes that lead to the houses. They plan on digging the well this spring.
In addition to these struggles that Native Americans face, they are also the demographic most likely to be killed by police, making up just 0.8 percent of the population, but comprise 1.9 percent of police killings.
John Vibes writes for True Activist and is an author, researcher and investigative journalist who takes a special interest in the counter culture and the drug war.
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