This article is from the twice monthly newspaper, News From Indian
Country. It is published by Indian Country Communications, Inc.
with offices at Rt.2 Box 2900A, Hayward, WI 54843. They may be
contacted by calling (715) 634-5226; FAX (715) 634-3243.
------------------------------------------------------------------
[There is a photo of Roberta Blackgoat with a caption which
says, "Roberta Blackgoat, Navajo, has been arrested several times
for cutting (U.S.) government fencing separating the Hopi and
Navajo Nations. Blackgoat, 76, lives alone in a small stone house
and drives her pickup truck 33 miles down unpaved roads to reach
the nearest fresh water, telephone, gas station or post office.
In 1977, the federal courts divided the reservation and ordered
the Navajo off the Hopi lands. In many cases, the Navajo were
forced off land their families had lived on for generations. The
forced relocation left much of this land uninhabited and open for
mining. Some of the Navajo, including Roberta Blackgoat, have
refused to move.
Roberta is being honored at a pow-wow in Lakeland, Florida June
5-6.]
------
Navajo Elder Fights To Keep Land, Traditions
by Geri Moore
(ICC) - Thumpthumpthumpthumpthump. The handcarved wooden batting
comb thumped the yarn in place. Roberta picked up a piece of black
yarn and tucked it in and around the warp threads.
Thumpthumpthumpthumpthump. The sound was steady. She sat on the
floor. Only a small, thin pillow covered in a faded gingham check
provided her with comfort from the floor. She sat weaving as she
has done for many years. Her only source of income is from weaving
of rugs. Navajo rugs are now collector items, becoming very scarce,
very expensive.
Roberta and other Traditional Navajo women use only the wool
from their sheep, sheep that they have raised from lambs, herded
through the heat and the frostbite. They have shorn their sheep
with shears that look like oversized scissors because the
Traditional Navajo do not have electricity to use modern shears.
The wool is combed out by hand; the children and grandchildren
often find this their task. The wool is combed and recombed until
it is soft and clean of burrs; then comes the spinning. No spinning
wheels here on the Navajo lands. Just a piece of wood that looks
like a toy top. The wool is spun by hand and then it is dyed and
hung to dry. Finally, it is ready to become a rug.
True Navajo rugs are becoming scarce because more often than not,
wool is being bought from K-Mart and Wal-Mart stores. Why? That, my
friends, is where the sticky begins.
Many Navajo people are being forced from their lands in a war
that is undeclared yet just as devastating as the real thing.
Lifestyles are disappearing and lessons are being lost. Children
that have grown up in disputed land areas have lost their family
title to those lands. It is a complicated web spun by the growing
need for energy, jobs, and money on the Navajo lands.
In the middle of the web sits Peabody Coal Mine, ready to dig
even deeper into Navajo lands for more black rock. The Hopi have
woven their own web through no fault of their own. It is so
complicated that it will take a master web-spinner to sort it all
out.
What it boils down to is Roberta Blackgoat is losing her land.
Roberta Blackgoat, at 76, has earned the right to sit on her own
front porch and gossip about her neighbors like everybody else
does. But Roberta is a fighter. She will not take this forced
relocation without a battle. She marches to Washington, D.C., not
once but many times.
Last May 1992, I spoke with Roberta, She spoke of the time the
problems really began. "...the main starting in 1978. A time they
were doing the fencing and making harassment. A lot of our ladies
had been arrested during that time and that time it was when we
joined the walks that was being set up from San Francisco to
Washington, D.C."
"Then of course, we did talk and tell why we are joining this
walk. The main trouble is all the struggles we are having there
with the animals and the land and the relocation issue. Then we
were told that we are getting paid, getting us welfare assistance
and commodity food and that is payment for the land.
"I say 'No way! I'm not going to eat my land.' So I refuse
getting all this free stuff and I oppose these things. Especially
in order for us to leave our land!
"I will tell you why I am resisting and why I had to stay and
try to fight. I say I am doing it for my children and my
grandchildren, and for those that are coming, for more generations
that are ahead of us.
"We are not allowed to sell or exchange our land; we are not
allowed to according to the Traditional Way. And finally, I have
been told that according to the sun, we have four sacred mountains;
it is most important to us.
"These sacred mountains are the posts of our hogan. Now, inside
the room of our hogan, there are a lot of mice digging here and
there. I mean the mining company digging here and they are mice.
How would you like it if mice were making holes in your room?"
"They are destroying a mountain that is sacred to us, where we
have been offering our prayers. Now they don't understand and they
don't believe us and they want to destroy our sacred shrine. And
also, our own great grandfather and great grandmother is buried
here, and there in time they have no cemetery. They have now turned
to soil and we are walking on the soil and whatever is underneath.
And this is what I want them to know, we have our sacred places!
Thumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthump. Roberta returned to her weaving.
She has traveled to Germany and to The Netherlands. In 1988, she
went to Switzerland to the United World Conference to tell any one
who would listen what was happening to her people. And it still
goes on.
Before livestock reduction, Roberta had a herd of 150-200 sheep
and goats. They came with guns. Her herd was forcibly reduced.
Now she has 40 sheep. If the new proposed plan passes, she will
only be allowed 5-10 sheep. How many rugs can she weave in the
traditional way with only 5-10 sheep?
How will she feed her family when they come to visit? Mutton is
a staple of the Navajo diet. Life without sheep cannot be
imagined. Without sheep, the whole culture of a traditional people
will be history.
Roberta Blackgoat does not move. She stays. She fights. She cuts
fences. She gets arrested. She joins protest marches. She goes to
Sundance. She prays. But mainly, she stays. She is protecting her
lifestyle the only way she knows how; by living it. By informing
the rest of the world what is happening in her corner of Arizona.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Each time a man stands up for an ideal or acts to improve the lot
of others or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny
ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different
centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that
can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.
-Robert F. Kennedy, South Africa -1966
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Michele Lord + If you have come here to help me,
+ you are wasting your time.....
+ But if you have come because
+ your liberation is bound up with mine,
milo@scicom.alphacdc.com + then let us work together.
Aboriginal Woman
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~