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@IO,Xhh4{X@#|x{2BNavajo-Hopi "land dispute" Update: Dec. 6. 1993
On Thursday, Dec. 2, the Hopi Agency BIA rangers impounded 11 head
of hereford cattle in the northern Big Mountain area. The
livestock belonged to Ms. Mary Lou Banale (1) and her sister, Jane
Banale (10). They were picked up on the HPL side, in Mrs. Carole
Blackhorse's customary use area. Ms. Mary Banale is and HPL
resident, while Ms. Jane Banale lives on the NPL side of the fence.
According to field staff, Mary Banale was able to talk the BIA
rangers into letting four other cattle go, as they were pregnant.
Mrs. Ruby Biakeddy was also able to convince the rangers not to
take some of her and Jesse's livestock, which were in the same
general area.
Today, members of the Banale family, Mrs. Mary Lucy Joe from
our office and attorney Glenn Renner from Navajo-Hopi Legal
Services met with Bob Carolin, who is Acting Superintendent at
Keams Canyon. Ms. Renner said the impoundment was legal and in
order, and the only thing we could do was pay the fees. It came to
$978.00, which is about 1/3 of our total budget for assistance.
Mrs. Banale's daughter agreed to reimburse some of the funds when
she gets paid, so maybe we can continue assisting on a revolving-
fund basis.
Mrs. Joe told me she saw the BIA's trailers heading out toward
Low Mountain this morning, so we put out a notice on KTNN. If we
had someone in Keams or Jeddito who could serve as a lookout that
would help a lot.
We wrote a letter from Pres. Zah to send Ada Deer, notifying
her of the impoundment and his fears that impoundment will
adversely affect mediation. He requested in the letter to call her
to discuss the matter further.
Tomorrow members from all the HPL communities will meet again
in Flagstaff to see if and how they can represent their communities
in upcoming negotiations. They have a little time, as there is
really nobody over at Hopi who can negotiate, and won't be until
they have their elections. Best guess on that is maybe february.
Everyone involved in the last impoundment acted respectfully
and respectably, but also made their positions clear. We will keep
people posted the best we can over the next few days.