Jack Ahasteen’s parents lived on the wrong side of the Navajo-Hopi land dispute and were forcibly relocated to a world unknown to them. That upheaval ultimately led to Ahasteen's powerful and prolific career as a Navajo political cartoonist.
For more than two decades, Navajo Times readers would often bypass the articles when the weekly tribal newspaper hit newsstands on Thursdays, turning instead to see what Ahasteen had drawn about the latest Navajo current events and political issues.
Two years have passed since his signature comic commentary last appeared in the paper. Since then, recognition of his life’s work has continued to grow, largely thanks to his children's efforts to preserve and share his legacy.
On Sept. 10, Ahasteen was honored
once again when the Navajo Nation Museum opened an exhibition showcasing his work called "Intelligent Designs: Through the Eyes and Mind of a Diné Artist."
"My mother's forced relocation during the Navajo-Hopi land dispute caused a profound emotional trauma," said Ahasteen. "What began as a young person's desire to help became a lifelong journey, using art to speak for, document, and bring awareness to the experiences of the Navajo people."
Ahasteen was born at his family’s winter sheep camp in Teesto, Ariz., about 90 miles west-southwest of Flagstaff. He was one of nine children born to Jim and Mary Ahasteen, with four brothers and four sisters.
His artistic journey began at age 12, while he was attending Leupp Boarding School. He later attended Arizona State University with the goal of becoming an art teacher. Those plans were interrupted by his family's forced relocation resulting from the Navajo-Hopi land dispute, which changed the course of his life.
Family, friends, former colleagues and longtime supporters of the cartoonist gathered for the opening of his exhibit. Seated inside the Navajo Nation Museum auditorium, they listened as Ahasteen spoke about his parents’ forced removal and the profound losses his family endured. They lost their home, their sheep—their livelihood—and a way of life that had sustained their family for generations.
"For so many years, my pencil has been my voice," said Ahasteen. "From blank sheets of paper came stories, some meant to make us laugh, others to make us think. Through those drawings, I hope to reflect on the lives of our people. Our struggles with sovereignty, water rights, relocation that involved my family and relatives who endured the trauma, that started my career as a political cartoonist, the law that shape our daily lives."
In 1966, commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Robert Bennett ceased development of approximately 1.5 million acres of land that was in dispute by the Navajo Nation and Hopi Tribe, which prohibited Navajo families from making any improvements to their homes or to construct new homes in the area. It became known as the Bennett Freeze.
Congress passed the Navajo-Hopi Settlement Act of 1974, dividing the joint-use reservation lands in northern Arizona between the Navajo Nation and the Hopi Tribe, leading to the forcedrelocation of 3,600 families.
'These aren't just cartoons,' daughters say
Ahasteen and his wife, Irene, raised five daughters and a son who has since passed away. His daughters have made it their mission to preserve their father’s legacy and ensure his contributions are remembered and recognized, which is why they asked the Navajo Nation Museum if they would be interested in an exhibit featuring some of their dad's work.
“You can’t have a decent conversation with a father like this without knowing sovereign nation laws, federal nation laws, because he will ask you, ‘Do you know what bills passed?’" his daughter Renita Ahasteen told the audience at the museum opening. "And then I have to read his cartoons and follow up on current events."
In the two years since he parted ways with the tribal newspaper, Ahasteen’s contributions have continued to receive recognition. In 2024, he received the Kent C. Ware Lifetime Achievement Award from the Phoenix Indian Center. He was also named Grand Marshal of the 2024 Navajo Nation Fair. Then, on June 12, 2024, Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren proclaimed “Jack Ahasteen Day,” further honoring the longtime Navajo political cartoonist and his body of work.
"Working for the newspaper that he was working for, we were told these stories when we were kids," said his daughter Carmen Ahasteen. "We wanted people to recognize this has actually happened. These aren't just cartoons."
Living in Phoenix, Carmen said stigmas surrounding being Navajo still exist. She emphasized the importance of educating people—especially younger generations of Navajo people—about what happened to Navajo families during relocation. Her father’s cartoons, which he drew for decades, provided a powerful and accessible way to educate readers about Navajo history, culture and current issues.
“You have to let them know what happened out here, especially with relocation, especially the younger generation,” she said. “They’re saying, ‘This can happen again,’ and they don’t understand that.”
'You're not famous until you're in an Ahasteen cartoon'
Shanidiin Jeff, acting Navajo Nation Museum director, said the mission of the museum is not simply to display objects behind glass, but to preserve, protect, promote and share culture, history, knowledge, traditions and creativity. She said they have a responsibility to honor those who came before, while preserving their stories for future generations—to help them understand who we are, where we come from and why it matters.
"Tonight isn't about opening another exhibit, tonight is about recognizing an artist, recognizing a lifetime of creativity and observation, and recognizing the importance of preserving the knowledge, humor, perspective and artistic ability that one person can share with generations that follow," said Jeff. She noted that it took four weeks to make the exhibit happen with the efforts of her staff and Ahasteen's family. "We are here to celebrate Mr. Jack Ahasteen himself."
Walking through the exhibit, visitors encounter Ahasteen’s cartoons spanning the 1990s through the 2020s, covering a range of issues and events, including water rights, Navajo presidential forums, state leaders, casinos, border towns and Navajo leadership. The exhibit also features some of his original artwork.
"It's nice," Ahasteen said about the exhibit. "Looking back at what I've done. People looking at it with a smile on their face at how I depicted the tribe, the politicians and things we are confronted with."
One pivotal period Ahasteen remembers is the era of Chairman Peter MacDonald, a turbulent time in Navajo politics that culminated in a riot that resulted in casualties. During that period, the late longtime local reporter Bill Donovan contacted Ahasteen and asked him to create a cartoon capturing the political friction and turmoil of the time.
"He asked me to draw a cartoon, this was during of all the protest and commotion going on, and I didn't want to do it," said Ahasteen. “Bill would go to these demonstrations, and people would attack him and say nasty things about him. He could understand it; he was among the Navajos for so long. So I looked at all the pictures, and I had him standing there with all these people surrounding him and yelling at him. That’s what I did.”
Bobby Martin, former Navajo Times production manager, worked with Ahasteen for 20 years and witnessed his creative process firsthand, from walking into the newsroom on Wednesdays and asking reporters what was happening on the Navajo Nation to transforming those conversations into cartoons.
"We had this saying at the Navajo Times 'You're not famous on the Navajo Nation until you've made into one of Jack's cartoons,'" said Martin.
Ahasteen often attended events and meetings with a camera, capturing photographs that could later serve as inspiration for his cartoons. He made a point of staying attuned to the latest developments in Navajo politics and current events. Reporters also played a role in shaping his weekly work, frequently pitching their stories directly to Ahasteen on deadline day in hopes that one would inspire his next cartoon.
"Navajo humor is something special," said former Navajo Times reporter Cindy Yurth. "It comes out of centuries of shared experience, a lot of it pretty rugged. Jack had that lived experience combined with an incredible artistic gift and a caustic sense of humor. Plus he’s totally fearless. He would go after anyone who betrayed his people or got up to some shenanigans. It was always kind of a competition which reporter’s story Jack would choose to illustrate with a cartoon. I loved it when he would do one of mine. The Times was blessed to have him and I was blessed to work with him for so many years."
The exhibit was a quick turnaround, and Jeff said there will be changes, but for the most part she was happy with how it came out and described Ahasteen's work as an "eye opener, not only for the older generations, but for the young children. It's inspiring to showcase Mr. Ahasteen's work."
"Through the Eyes and Mind of a Diné Artist" exhibit will be on display until the end of the year.
Arlyssa D. Becenti covers Indigenous affairs for The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. Send ideas and tips to arlyssa.becenti@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on Bluesky at @abecenti.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: For Diné political cartoonist Jack Ahasteen, 'the pencil is my voice'
