NAVAJO-HOPI "LAND DISPUTE" UPDATE 12/30/93
MORE HARASSMENT OF DINE' FAMILIES: CHRISTMAS INCIDENT AT TEESTO
Mr. Alvin Clinton of the Star Mountain/Teesto resister
community called me the morning of Dec. 27, to say that some Dine'
elders from the Finger-point Rock area, northwest of his place, had
been stopped by Hopi Rangers while hauling wood the day before.
The Hopi rangers asked for Marie and Kenneth Begay's their wood-
hauling permit, but refused to recognize the xerox copy which Mrs.
Begay provided. The Rangers made them unload their wood and told
them to go get their original permit. When the Begays returned,
all the rangers and all the firewood were gone.
I called Eugene Secakuku at the BIA first to see what he knew
about it. He looked through his records and said, yes, the Begays
have a firewood permit valid until 12/13/94. He said that "his"
men only take wood when they see that the individual hauling has no
permit. He referred me to the Hopi Rangers.
The duty Chief at Kykotsmovi, Sgt. Kollateata, told me the
wood was at Kykotsmovi. He said the Begays had been
"confrontational" and that they had been cutting green wood, which
is illegal under Hopi law. I asked if it was all green, he said
no, I asked if the family could get back the dry wood anyway, cause
it's winter and they don't have coal or anything.
It did not make much sense to me as people don't really burn
green wood. It smokes up a hogan. The Sgt. said he thought they
threw in a big piece of green with some dry, to burn all night...
I thought about that. Nah. The worst smoke would be a low fire
and green juniper.
I asked Betty Tso to investigate. She tried to get a look at
the confiscated wood, but wasn't able. She talked to the Begays,
they said there were two logs that still had a little green left,
but were mostly dead. the rest was dead dry. Juniper trees have
a number of big trunks that come out of the ground, and when they
get old some of the trunks die off. Trunks like that die slow, so
for the last few years of their life there might still be a strip
of live bark and a few green branches hanging off it. But the rest
of the trunk is shiny silver and dry.
Mr. and Mrs. Begay have a vehicle but they are letting their
kids use it for work. Their daughter called me from Chinle
yesterday while I was out. Today she told me her parents have a
handwritten note, not signed or anything, saying they can pick up
their wood at Kykotsmovi. But they don't have their truck and
anyway they feel the Rangers should bring the wood back. She also
told me that the seizure was actually on Christmas day, and the
family was going to use the wood to cook their Christmas dinner.
Betty Tso is going to put together a legal letter to the Hopi
Rangers on the matter. This is an example of the many cases of
wood seizure which have occurred. The Hopis are always accusing
Navajos of cutting green wood. It is like a slogan with them.
They KNOW that Navajos don't cut green wood - not when they have a
choice. And especially in winter when you are cutting wood to use
NOW, not after you dry it 6 months. If Dine' made a habit of
cutting green wood, there wouldn't be a tree in sight in Window
Rock. But there's plenty.
IMPOUNDMENT ALERT CONTINUES
The BIA police have not been having much luck with their
impoundment activities, as the Dine' are keeping a close watch on
livestock, and keeping them in pens when they can.
We had asked for the use of an undeveloped part of the so-
called "New Lands", the former Chambers Ranch, as overflow grazing
so the Dine' families could remove excess livestock and get the BIA
off their backs. The Relocation Commissioner asked the Hopi Tribe
for their input. "The Hopi tribe objects strenuously to the
proposal ... it will delay even further the Office of Relocation's
compliance with its statutory mandate to relocate all Navajos from
the HPL and 2) it rewards the Navajo for their intransigence and
refusal to comply with the law." The letter goes on to say that
the request for alternate grazing is a "ploy..by the Navajos to
avoid the consequences of their behavior."
So the Hopi Tribe on the one hand is demanding reduction of
Navajo livestock, because they say the range is being damaged. On
the other hand, when we come up with a sensible and LEGAL
alternative, they manage to block it.
The Chambers Ranch, for you old-timers, was the scene of a
VERY heavy livestock impoundment in Oct. 1988. At that time, Dine'
families from the HPL were grazing on it under a carry-over
arrangement from when it was tribal fee land. The BIA sent in
several van-loads of heavily armed men against a few elders. They
did not notify Navajo Police or anything, Some of them came in an
unmarked van with South Dakota plates. They were not very
friendly. I talked to Bruce Ellison about it afterwards, he said
they sounded like SOGs - they're a Special Operations Group that
was active in South Dakota for a while. The BIA always refused to
release the documents on this operation.
Well, happy new year to all of you. I hope the next year
brings a better life to everyone. And I hope and pray that the
fences come down off Star Mountain in the next year.