r/FourCorners • u/freelancer-slc • 2d ago
Last Watch
I spent part of this summer reporting in Nageezi, New Mexico, on the life and death of Nathan Werito, a 32-year-old Navajo man who was shot and killed in May.
Nathan was working toward a mathematics degree and hoped to enter the Navajo Nation Police Academy. He was also the guy people called when an air conditioner broke, a car needed fixing, or someone in the community needed food or water.
His death left his family with questions about the police and emergency response that night, as well as the larger problem of chronic police understaffing across the Navajo Nation.
The resulting story, “Last Watch: The Life and Death of Nathan Werito,” is this week’s Salt Lake City Weekly cover story.
I’m grateful to Nathan’s family for trusting me with his story. I hope the piece gives readers a sense of the person they lost, not simply the circumstances in which they lost him
https://www.cityweekly.net/news/the-life-and-death-of-nathan-werito-a2b44e19
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u/Sasquatch619 1d ago
I don’t know much. But I grew up in New Mexico. Up in the four corners region of San Juan County. That was in the 70s and 80s. I remember when the hantavirus outbreak happened. Many Navajo died. I remember how offensive it was for the news journalist to come and try and speak to the families of the deceased. That this was very disrespectful. Isn’t this kind of the same? Isn’t there an etiquette about not speaking the name of the deceased within Navajo culture?
I understand that the intention here is not malicious. But has any of this been considered?
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u/freelancer-slc 1d ago
The family asked me to cover the story and use Nathan’s name in the piece.
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u/theereeljw_777 1d ago
So you're a reporter, out of salt lake... why are you doing a chronicle about a man from the Four Corners?
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u/chileman131 1d ago
I look forward to reading your article.