ABSTRACT
The New Mexico state government provided $100,000 for the Navajo program, dubbed the New Mexico Court Interpreters Training Institute. Tucson philanthropist Agnese Haury donated an additional $20,000 to help pay for students' transportation, lodging and food, Roseann Duenas Gonzalez said. Robert Yazzie, chief justice for the Navajo Nation and a certified court interpreter, said there are more than 200,000 Navajos nationwide who could be affected by the program. New Mexico sponsored the course because it wants to supplement federal certification with its own local test, Gonzalez said. Roselyn Johnson, a Navajo from the University of New Mexico's court advocate program who attended the seminar, said she needed the program, even though she speaks fluent Navajo, because it provides some legal training.
