Navajo Nation - The Durango Herald

232-mile run to raise awareness for murdered and missing Indigenous people

‘Each step is a prayer’: Murder is No. 3 cause of death for Native women

DATE: Feb 14, 2022 | CATEGORY: Local News

San Juan National Forest’s Wood for Life program uses forest health projects to help communities

Dolores Ranger District delivers first load of firewood to the Chinle Chapter House of the Navajo Nation

DATE: Feb 13, 2022 | CATEGORY: Local News

Hundreds of abandoned uranium mines could be cleaned up if lawmakers approve legislation

Bill would direct agency to coordinate efforts to reclaim sites

DATE: Feb 10, 2022 | CATEGORY: New Mexico

Navajo Nation increases ability to do COVID testing, vaccinations

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. – Health facilities on the Navajo Nation are increasing the ability to test for COVID-19 and vaccinate people as the omicron variant spreads, tribal leaders said. Navajo P...

DATE: Jan 18, 2022 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Facing rising COVID-19 case numbers, the Navajo Nation issues new tribal public health orders

Officials recommend wearing two masks in public spaces to protect against omicron variant

DATE: Jan 17, 2022 | CATEGORY: Regional News

First case of the omicron variant is detected on Navajo Nation

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. — The Navajo Nation reported 10 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and no deaths Monday, but tribal health officials say the first case of the omicron variant has been detected ...

DATE: Jan 4, 2022 | CATEGORY: AP New Mexico

Storm knocks out power to thousands of homes on Navajo, Hopi reservations

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. – Residents across the Navajo Nation were without power Wednesday after a storm that packed powerful wind moved across the region. Navajo Tribal Utility Authority spokeswo...

DATE: Dec 15, 2021 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Navajo police chief leaves for same job in hometown in N.M.

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – The police chief on the Navajo Nation is stepping down to oversee a much-smaller police department in the town where he grew up. Phillip Francisco took over the Navajo Nat...

DATE: Nov 30, 2021 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Navajo Nation reports 50 new virus cases, no deaths

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. (AP) – The Navajo Nation on Friday reported 50 new coronavirus cases but added no new deaths after tallying 12 fatalities in the previous two daily reports. The total numb...

DATE: Nov 27, 2021 | CATEGORY: New Mexico

Navajo Nation reports 80 new COVID-19 cases, but no deaths

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. – The Navajo Nation on Wednesday reported 80 more COVID-19 cases, but no coronavirus-related deaths for the 23rd time in the past 35 days. The latest numbers pushed the tr...

DATE: Nov 4, 2021 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Navajo Nation: No COVID-related deaths 14th time in 20 days

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. – The Navajo Nation on Tuesday reported 85 more COVID-19 cases, but no additional deaths for the 14th time in the past 20 days. The latest numbers pushed the tribe’s total...

DATE: Oct 20, 2021 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Navajo Nation reports 51 more COVID-19 cases, 1 new deaths

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. – The Navajo Nation on Friday reported 51 more COVID-19 cases and one additional death. It was the third consecutive day that the tribe reported at least one coronavirus-r...

DATE: Oct 9, 2021 | CATEGORY: Regional News

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Photos: High County Cattle Auction

High Country Cattle Auction brings top-notch stock and country charm to Southwest ColoradoFamily run, generational business dates back to 1940s

BREEN – The family-owned and operated High Country Cattle Auction is “in the bones” of the Cugnini family, said third-generation owner Chris Cugnini. The business was founded by Chris’ grandfather, Pat Cugnini, in the 1940s. Pat then passed the business down to his son, Duane Cugnini, who then turned the business over to daughters, Becky Hawkins and Chris Cugnini, whose daughters plan to take over the family business one day. The auction, which takes place once or twice a month from April to January at 13062 La Plata Highway (Colorado Highway 140) near Breen, attracts ranchers, farmers and those in the cattle industry from far and wide.

Former Durango resident Steve Greenburg has been attending the High Country Cattle auction for more than 40 years, and continues to travel to Breen all the way from Arizona, where he now lives. He attended the September auction last week, where around 1,200 animals were up for sale. Greenburg said effective bidding takes concentration and a practiced hand. “You want to make sure you don’t pay too much,” he said. “And if you do, you want to buy the business.” Amber Belvin, employee of 15 years and Chris’ operations “sidekick,” said bidders are most often looking for signs of good health in an animal, like a plump, filled-out body. If bidding on a herd, a look of uniformity among the animals is key to a good purchase, she said.

Despite Greenburg already having a handful of filled out bidding cards marking the cattle he had won within an hour of the Sept. 23 auction, he said the day was young. One sale day last year culminated in Greenburg taking home 22 semi-trucks worth of cattle, he said. Chris said Greenburg is one of the auction’s longest-term and most generous supporters. “(Greenburg) pays top-dollar,” Chris said. “And (that) makes me feel good, because we’re giving back to (the sellers). I know these people around here, and they’re the hardest working people on the planet. If I can get them 10 or 20 cents more per pound, then that makes us happy.”

Cattle auction prices have gone up in recent years, both at High Country and nationally, Chris said. This year, animals are going for $2,500 to $3,000 a head – double and triple the average prices from last year. The increase, Chris said, is in part because of a screw worm making the rounds in cattle in Mexico, which has lowered the number of cattle coming in from the south, along with people subdividing and selling cattle branches, and local cattle herd numbers diminishing, which has increased demand.

Chris called the price increase “good and bad.” “It’s great if you’re a seller, because there’s prices that you’ve never seen before,” she said. “Older men come in, (and they) can’t believe the prices. Some of them do this for a living, and they count on that, so they’re so happy.” Belvin said some smaller farmers opt to buy less cattle during price surges like this, but echoed Chris’ sentiment about sellers being ecstatic about the unprecedented profit.

Local cattle farmer Lawrence Martinez entered 59 steers and 95 heifers in the auction Tuesday. Martinez has been involved in the High Country Cattle Auction “pretty much forever,” but recent years have been especially fruitful for sales, he said. “These last few years, we’ve been coming here to sell, because this is the place to go,” he said. “I wouldn’t sell anywhere else. (The market here has) been so good.”The auction’s community roots and generational touch doesn’t stop at the Cugnini family: Shane Hatch, the auctioneer, took over the job after his father’s death, Belvin said.

The auction serves as an opportunity for community members to get together and bond, Belvin said. “When we do have an auction, it’s a great place where local farmers and ranchers can get together and talk,” she said. “They come to the cafe, and they talk about the hay, and the drought situation, and I think it’s a good connecting point.” Chris and Belvin both expressed feeling glad the auction can supply so much generational value to the local farming and ranching community. “I mean, what other business can you think of around here that’s the same, right?” Belvin said. “We’re fair, and we’re very meticulous at our jobs. We take it very seriously, because this is (some peoples’) livelihood.”

For the Cugninis – and long-term employees like Belvin, who have become an honorary part of the close-knit High Country Cattle Auction family – the heart of the business aligns with the heart of the local farming and ranching community. “We’re just good, hard working people – Americans – that want to make a good living, and live off this great land,” Belvin said. epond@durangoherald.com

Family run, generational business dates back to 1940s