The president of the Navajo Nation vetoed the Tribal Council's ban on same-sex marriages basically because he thinks the Navajos have more important things to worry about.

According to the AP,

President Joe Shirley Jr. said in a statement released Sunday that he strongly supports family stability but the proposed measure said nothing about domestic violence, sexual assault and gangs on the Navajo Nation - problems that are rampant.

"Same-sex marriage is a non-issue on Navajoland," he said. "So why waste time and resources on it? We have more important issues to address."

Shirley said the measure also goes against the Navajo teaching of nondiscrimination and doing no psychological or physical harm to others.

However, Shirley said if members of the tribe wanted to take a position for or against same-sex unions, he would support their decision to do so through an initiative rather than a Tribal Council vote.

Q: Why isn't this man running for office somewhere?
A: Because he has too much sense to be elected.

And some action that I'd missed—

Last year, the Cherokee National Tribal Council in Oklahoma voted to define marriage as between a man and a woman after a lesbian couple successfully filed for a tribal marriage application.

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Navajos adopt ways of the White Man (4/26/05)