Met a Navajo Code Talker and State Senator

Carol's nephew is dating Lisa, whose grandfather is a State Senator in New Mexico. He is, at age 91, one of a handful of Navajo code talkers who are still alive. Tuesday was a lovely ceremony in the New Mexico Senate at which the Senators all had to officially sign in as present at the upcoming legislative session. They called it an inauguration, but the ceremony consisted mostly of them walking up to a podium at the front of the chamber and officially signing in as present. Then they introduced the guests who were there supporting them - who were sitting on folding chairs behind them at their desks. It was a lovely ceremony and Carol and I both came away feeling that we know the members of the New Mexico Senate much better than we would have with an ordinary inauguration ceremony.

And Senator John Pinto is amazing. At 91 he is still an imposing man whose colleagues (and their children) all want to be photographed with him. You have a sense that you have come in contact with living history.

Lisa brought us up to his office where we also met his wife JoAnn and his daughter Flora. His wife taught us how to say "hello" in Navajo (Yá’át’ééh, which I think is pronounced Yah-tay), and gave us a history of her equally illustrious family. There were portraits on his wall of both his and his wife's famous ancestors. I asked his grand-daughter Lisa if it would be disrespectful to him to ask if we could have a photo with him. She said he just loves to be in photos with the people who come to visit him.



Jordan and Lisa then took us for a tour of their state capitol building, called the Round House, to see the amazing artwork they have on the walls and the art gallery in the Governor's office, which is situated on the floor above the legislative chambers and offices.



We went down to the Senate chambers thru a phalanx of state police and a lot of legislators and lobbyists, all of whom seemed to know Lisa very well. We (Mrs. Pinto, Flora, Lisa, Jordan, Carol and I) were seated in folding chairs behind Sen. Pinto. The Lieutenant Governor presides over the Senate most of the time, including today. There was a lot of waiting around - which I certainly recognized as a former legislative staffer. When they finally got going, first there was a prayer by the Archbishop, followed by a lot of ritual of the Senate. The Senate appointed three Senators to travel over to the Senate to announce to them in person that the Senate was now organized. The House in turn sent three Representatives over to the Senate to announce in person at a microphone that the House was now organized.



The Senators came up to the podium to sign their names on the roll of the Senate. The woman standing behind Sen. Pinto is the Chief Clerk of the Senate. One of the Chief Clerk's staff told Carol that Pinto had the best penmanship of any of the Senators in the body.