Goldtooth was born in Farmington, New Mexico, near the Navajo Nation. His mother is Norma Bell Lee, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation and daughter of Melvin Lee (Dzi l t l'ahnii Clan) and Virginia Peslakai (Dibe'lizhini' Clan). His birth name is Bruce Kendall Goldtooth. His mother was the first Navajo and possibly the first Native American woman nationwide to obtain an undergraduate degree in microbiology, becoming a professional laboratory scientist (medical technologist). His biological father is unknown but said to be a Native American, possibly from a northern tribe. His step-father is Dennis Wesley Goldtooth, a member of the Navajo Nation from the Coal Mine Mesa/Tuba City area of Arizona, and one of many sons of Frank Goldtooth Sr., a renowned medicine man, known as Bȅȅsh Biwoǫ (Iron-Metal [Gold] Tooth). Tom was raised by Dennis W. Goldtooth, who retired after a long history as a Navajo policeman and self-employment as a contractor and rancher.
