Who is Patrick Murphy

Murphy is employed with a Native-led non-profit whose Mission is to uplift and sustain the lifeways and economies of Native communities through advocacy, financial support and knowledge sharing. An award winning journalist, award winning film director and recognized, Obama-backed entrepreneur, this Navajo was born into poverty in a Navajo Reservation Federal Indian hospital, at a time when LBJ was president and Bobby Kennedy was assassinated. He is one of over 1,000 members of his extended family, according to his land interests within the trust land system set up by the United States government to control his tribe's property and assets. Murphy was an astute student at Window Rock Elementary School, a public school located in the capital of the Navajo Nation, Window Rock, Arizona in Apache County. One of three sons within the Murphy household, his clans are Dibé Lizhíní / Kinyaa'áanii (Black Sheep People maternal clan, Towering House People paternal clan). His maternal grandfather is Todich'iinii (Bitterwater People) and his nali (paternal grandfather) is Tsinsikaadnii (Tree Clamp).

Despite these barriers of inequality, Murphy understands the economics of the country and the ebb and flow, feast or famine mentality. He is not afraid to take risks.

He wanted to learn about the world and find a place to entertain people in mass media.

After he completed his broadcast journalism studies, he quickly began his career covering the Navajo Nation government for NBC's KOB-TV-Farmington, New Mexico. From 1994-1999, he contributed regularly to the NBC news desks at NBC- New York, NBC - Washington, D.C., and NBC - Phoenix besides the Associated Press, Unsolved Mysteries syndicated TV series, and the Weather Channel.

In June of 1997, Patrick was hired as chief of utilities for Evander Holyfield vs. Mike Tyson II, the professional boxing match billed as The Sound and the Fury and infamously referred to as "The Bite Fight." Murphy worked days before the fight as an electric grip setting up production equipment to interview both fighters. He also served as a production assistant taking them to and from the media tent at the MGM Grand Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada (See photo of promoter Don King and Patrick) and back to their perspective suites atop the MGM Grand Hotel. The fight abruptly ended in the third round of the match contested on June 28, 1997, for the WBA Heavyweight Championship. A riot ensued but with a cool head, Murphy could direct his crew to load up all of the equipment of about 13 cameras, and 5 miles of cabling.

Don King himself said Patrick was selected not only because of his Native American background but because of the sports talent he interviewed for NBC-TV. He interviewed such sports figures like Mike Ditka, (who doesn't do interviews) to nice guys like NBA legend Bill Walton, and former LA Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda.

From 1997-2001 he enjoyed news reporting at radio station KTNN-AM- Navajo Nation Broadcast Enterprise in Window Rock, AZ. He started on primary election night and worked his 15 hour week allotment, successfully! He was then offered a full-time job, the following week. Murphy was operating solo, producing the entire news and public affairs programming, on a meager budget.

In April 2000 at Shiprock Chapter, Murphy gained an exclusive interview with U.S. President Bill Clinton during his presidency, scooping the White House Press Corp (SEE HERE). He was proud to be the last American journalist to interview the president who faced scandal while in office. While Navajo president Begaye was stuck in traffic, Murphy was obtaining a successful background check with US Secret Service. He and the Chief of Navajo Public Safety, Herb Clah, got to meet President Clinton in Shiprock High Chieftain Pit gymnasium. Another scoop! Patrick enjoyed scooping the Navajo Office of the President, Vice-President on always knowing first what was to happen. On Saturday mornings, Patrick was at the radio station checking voicemail and checking the AP wire when one morning, he got a call from US Senator Jeff Bingaman's (D-NM) office telling Patrick that former Navajo chairman Peter MacDonald, who was in a federal prison in Oklahoma, was going to be released! President Clinton signed his commutation which is quite different from a pardon. At another historical moment, Patrick stood there among Navajo Nation council delegates who would be the Navajo president after Albert Hale resigned, then his vice-president Atcitty resigned. The tribe could not be without a CEO! Working in broadcast journalism on the largest Indian reservation, it was easy for Patrick to scoop all the regional newspapers. He was practicing journalism when there we less than 25% of households without Internet service in the U.S. In the late 1990's, Murphy did use the Internet to send contributed radio stories to the late Native Alaskan journalist Nellie Moore at National Native News - Koahnic Broadcast Corporation, Anchorage, Alaska. He was covering federal Indian policy stories from throughout the Southwest for National Public Radio.

But the Window Rock native truly wanted to help his people in communications to help them improve life on the Navajo Nation and win the battle against inequality.

Murphy was instrumental in helping the Navajo Code Talkers of WW2 earn Congressional honors for their valor while serving in the Pacific with fellow United States Marine Corps against the Japanese. He produced all the programming at KTNN-AM 660 to tell the story and solicit public support in Arizona, Utah and New Mexico. The grandson of a Code Talker, Murphy's cheii was Frank Marianito (Todich'iinii - Bitterwater Clan), of Pinedale, New Mexico. Marianito served in the 6th Marine Division beginning in Guam, then Guadalcanal, Mariana Islands, then landing on Okinawa, 1 April 1945, earning the Presidential Unit Citation.

Little did Murphy know his life was about to change for the better. Murphy thought in his lifetime, he would leave the rez to go to school, return to the rez to work for his people, learn the Dine Bizaad language, and live happily ever after in Window Rock.

In 2001, after meeting his beautiful wife (pictured with President Bill Clinton) in a Las Vegas, NV casino, they decided to make their home in Albuquerque, New Mexico where they were both employed at a federal corporation that was owned by all the tribes they served in risk management. Murphy earned a director's award at a San Francisco Indian film festival for the film, "Amerind: Our History," a success story of Indian Self-Determination. He traveled to dozens of Indian Nations after horrific natural disasters such as Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan, Jeanne and Katrina.

After spending a decade serving over 350 tribes/Alaska villages in worker's compensation insurance and risk management, he started his own company and created the first C-Corp on the Navajo Nation in clean energy. The Obama-backed project would provide a clean and safe form of reliable energy for 20,000 Navajo homes. His work in battery storage, solar energy received praise at the first-ever WHITE HOUSE DEMO DAY (SEE HERE) , August 4, 2015 in Washington, D.C. Murphy was invited into the Blue Room to meet privately with President Barack Obama. This is the same room President James Monroe met with chiefs of the Great Plains Indian Tribes. He was happy to be a resident of Albuquerque, a business owner from Shiprock, NM and a representative from west of the Mississippi River. He had so much to share with the leader of the free world on how we can win the battle against inequality. President Barack Obama said this technology was needed in Africa and Murphy let him know that it was needed in New Mexico and Arizona (as well as in Utah). Who knows? Perhaps the way to Chichinbeto, Arizona was by way of Zimbabwe. The last hurdle was to receive the green light from the Navajo Nation Office of the President, Vice-President who deferred the Obama-supported project to the tribal utility, where it was killed - despite the White House and DOE offering $20 million to obtain federal loan funding. Some things never change on the Navajo Nation. The world witnessed the effects of the Corona virus as it killed hundreds of tribal members. Nearly 1 in 4 homes do not offer sanitation, wastewater, access to clean drinking water and a reliable source of electricity. Overcrowded housing has been a visible inequality for over twenty years now in many Navajo towns. According to U.S. News and World Report, traditional, public high schools on the reservation perform "well below expectations," have a graduation rate below the state median around 65-70%. 3 out of 4 students come from "economically disadvantaged households" and participate in the free lunch program. Testing proficiency and college readiness, over 90% of the high school population is not prepared each year.

Murphy has always understood the importance of proficiency and attaining the skills necessary to keep safe on the worksite.

He had a successful side hustle working as an electric grip, production assistant and production coordinator in the TV/film industry in New Mexico from 2003 to 2016. He loved working for BBC-America, the "Haunting Of" series, Ford and many other productions. He switched gears and started getting in front of the camera.

He continues to audition for speaking roles in film/TV. Murphy has appeared in background work on:

Preacher (TV Series)
Better Call Saul (TV Series, "Dylan Torres," credit)
Graves (TV Series, credited)
The Night Shift (TV Series)
In Plain Sight (TV Series)
Ideal Home
Sicario
Two Men in Town
We're The Millers

His Navajo tribal clans are:

Born of the Black Sheep People clan (Dibé Lizhíní nishlí)
For the Towering House People clan (Kinyaa'áanii baashaashchiin) *first Original clan
Maternal Grandfather: Bitter Water People clan (Tódích'ii'nii da shicheii) *first original clan
Paternal Grandfather: Tree Clamp People clan (Tsín Síkaadnii da shinalí)

The Murphy family are generations of Navajo cowboy ranchers who hail from Fort Wingate, New Mexico on Navajo Allotted lands. They received the first Spaniard horses in the canyons of the Zuni Mountains mastering the majestic animal in less than one generation.

His Marianito relatives reside in Church Rock/Pinedale, on the Navajo Nation.

He is descended from Hosteen and Kennabah Marianito, Pinedale, NM. Kennabah, it was told, was adopted into the Bitterwater clan at Wheldii (Fort Sumner Apache/Navajo Reservation, NM), a White Mountain Apache infant from Cibeque daats'íí.

Murphy has hundreds of maternal relatives who reside on the Arizona, southern portion of the reservation North of Exit 357 on Interstate 40, near the New Mexico state line; they live in towns called Klagetóh, Oak Springs, Lupton, Cornfields, Sawmill, & St. Michaels.

He is descended from Hubert and Yídithlsbah Silversmith (Smith), Pine Springs, AZ.

Murphy has trust land interests in Apache County and allotted lands in McKinley County.

In a world of so many "pretendians," this is what defines Murphy's Dine identity as a Southern Diné hosteen and Eastern Navajo hósteen!

He is proud of where he grew up in Window Rock, enjoyed graduating from the same high school as his parents in Gallup, New Mexico and now loves living in Albuquerque, New Mexico where his grandparents graduated (survived) from the Indian boarding school, back in the 1920's.

Murphy has no regrets in life. He awakens each day and acknowledges the beauty of morning, keeps happy and enjoys laughter and food. He has fur babies; a Chihuahua, a Boston Terrier and a French Bulldog.

He keeps his fur babies in the house, something his elders would admonish however, he still observes the sacredness of solar eclipses, abstains from eating reptiles, stops if a coyote crosses his path, does not have any tattoos and dozens of other Dine taboos he adheres to. He does not claim to be a traditionalist and no longer practices Catholicism, which he was brought up in, under the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gallup; formerly the Archdiocese of Santa Fe.

In the 1970's, Murphy, as an alter boy at St. Micheal's Mission church, St. Michaels, Arizona, participated in hundreds of hours of mass celebrations at the first church established on the Navajo Reservation. The beautiful mission church was founded by St. Katharine Drexel in 1898. This church and other churches on the Navajo Reservation under the diocese, were home to some of of the accused Order of Franciscans.

He was protected by the songs and prayers of his ancestors from sexual attacks that happened within the church on Navajo children.

The religious leaders escaped the court room and were sent to the Congregation of the Servants of the Paraclete [ /ˈpærəkliːt/; Greek: παράκλητος, romanized: Paráklētos ] is a Latin Church, Catholic religious congregation of men dedicated to ministry to priests and Brothers with personal difficulties, in New Mexico. Fr. Lawrence Schreiber, OFM; Fr. Marcan Hetteberg, OFM (Deceased); Fr. Diego Mazon, OFM (Deceased); Fr. Dennis Fountain, OFM (Deceased); and Fr. Charles "Chuck" Cichanowicz, OFM. Father Bryant Middlestadt is not listed because he did not make the "Credibly Accused" list published by the Gallup Diocese.

Murphy and his wife and daughter attended the canonization of Pope John Paul II, to sainthood, 27 April 2014, Saint Peter's Square, Vatican City by Pope Francis. On their three week trip to Italy, they visited nearly two dozen churches, historic sites throughout Rome, Venezia and Firenza.

He will continue to see the bigger picture of life and embrace diversity and inclusion in daily life because every living being, living organism has a right to live, grow and thrive.

Murphy enjoys auditioning for acting speaking roles and game shows in his quest for equality.