MEDIATION MEETING AT FLAGSTAFF
Yesterday I was in Flagstaff to attend a full session of the
MANYBEADS mediation. This meeting was arranged by Lee Phillips,
the U.S. negotiating team, and Judge McCue to go over the report
which was submitted on December 21, 1993. The Judge directed that
the Navajo Nation and the Hopi Tribe be represented as well as the
Dine' families on the land.
The Dine' families present included: from Mosquito Springs,
Mae Tso, Betty Tso, Juanita Tso and Jared; Cactus Valley, Teddy
Begay, Mrs. Begay, Kee Watchman; Coal Mine Mesa, Jack Hatathlie and
Theresa Hatathlie; Coal Mine Canyon, Anna Begay; Big Mountain,
Violet Ashike, Pita Wood, John Wood, Tom Bedonie, Louise Benally
(her husband, George, and her child were there but did not come
into the meeting); Sand Springs, John Yazzie and Alfred McCabe;
Teesto, Alvin Clinton, Frances Bahe, Judy Keyonnie and Frank, her
husband; Jeddito, Louise Begay and her husband; also a group of
three people from the Cliff Springs area (Kitsillie Chapter) whose
names I did not get.
For the Hopi Tribe, there were Chairman Masayesva and Eugene
Kay, also Kathleen Shebala and Mrs. Laban, the latter three are
presently Hopi Tribal Council Members. Their Attorney, Tim Atkeson
of Arnold and Porter's Denver Office, as usual did most of the
talking for the Hopis.
For the Navajo Nation, Roman Bitsuie (my boss), myself, Patsy
Yazzie, Irene Begay, Mary Lucy Joe, Larry Nez, and Elmer Clark all
from the Navajo-Hopi Land Commission Office, Freddie Howard,
Council Delegate from Tolani Lake and a Land Commission member, and
Peter Tasso an attorney from Justice who is standing in for
Patterson Joe.
The federal representatives included Dan Jackson from the BIA
Solicitor's Office and Katherine Hazard from U.S. D.O.J.
Judge McCue presided.
Confidentiality in mediation: I will not report on the give-
and-take or discussions which took place. originally Judge McCue
had directed that all discussions be kept confidential, which the
Dine' families honored. All through the 2 1/2 years of mediation,
copies of documents were xeroxed and circulated among the families
living on HPL. Yet not a single mediation document was ever given
to the press; it was a federal agency, the U.S. Forest Service
that broke confidentiality and actually went to the press.
Although the confidentiality order can be considered no longer an
issue I will try to respect the mediation as a private process in
which frank discussion can flourish. But I will discuss outcomes,
and things which reflect well on everyone.
Betty Tso started by talking about the process through which
the people wrote the Dec. 21 report. Essentially it was a
"charette" in which the group participated, writing up their ideas
on big sheets of paper, hanging them all over the place to be read
by everyone, then going over everything and putting it into a
report. Betty acknowledged the guidance of Mr. Clinton regarding
ceremonies, objects, and said she hoped the report reflected his
teachings.
The mediation lasted from about 11 AM until 2:30 or so, with
a lunch break. Before leaving for San Diego, Judge McCue directed
the U.S. to send a letter within fifteen days to the Hopi Tribe
indicating that U.S. felt mediation should continue. He gave the
Hopi tribe 45 days to reconvene a negotiating team which would be
authorized to work with the Dine' families to negotiate a
settlement. At the end of sixty days there will be another report
to the 9th Circuit Court, in which modifications to the lease
agreement and the Agreement in Principle will be presented to the
Court.
The Hopi Tribe will write any new language which will then be
offered for consideration to the Dine' families.
NEW ATTORNEY ON SCENE
Some of the Dine' families from Big Mountain have engaged a
new attorney, Mr. Michael Rott of San Diego. He sent a letter on
Dec. 27 informing Judge McCue that he now represented the
Traditional Elders of the Independent Dineh Nation. I talked to
him today. He says that he has filed a petition with the court on
behalf of his clients and that he will be representing them in
future mediation. I wish him luck, it's a lot of work even for a
young guy. He says he's doing it Pro Bono. When we get the court
documents, we will report more fully on who is being represented by
Mr. Rott and who continues to stick with Lee Phillips.
LIVESTOCK IMPOUNDMENT
We paid the impound fees on the cattle belonging to Teddy
Begay (three head) and his sister in law, Alice Begay (four head).
For Mr. Begay's cattle the impound fee was $778 and for Alice
Begay's it was $814. Paying those fees completely depleted our
office's funds for assistance - maybe we can find some funds in
other accounts to transfer. Otherwise, the next impoundment,
people are on their own.
FIREWOOD CONFISCATION
I asked Colbert Dayzie, the Director of Navajo-Hopi Legal
Services, to provide legal representation for Louise Begay's sons
on the charge of cutting green wood. We have also asked the Hopi
Tribe for a clarification of their definition of "green wood." We
have put announcements out on KTNN that people should (1) always
have their wood cutting permits with them when they are cutting and
(2) to be on the safe side only take dead dry wood with no bark
left on it. There's not much of that kind of wood left in most of
the HPL, so this is going to put an extra hardship on people who
are already suffering greatly from all the restrictions the Hopi
tribe and BIA have put on their lives.
In the evening after the Flagstaff meeting I was taking the
long drive back, down from the pine forests through the pinon and
juniper, past all the cinder cones and down through open country.
Leupp is on the Little Colorado River at about 4,000 feet
elevation, then you climb back up on a big plateau through Dilkon
and Bitahochi, turn over to Greasewood. It's all open country with
scattered volcanic cones and buttes. You can see the lights of the
towns a long way in the night, see all the Hopi villages glowing up
on the mesas, get a glimpse of the banks of orange lights at
Winslow prison. At Ganado you drive up onto Defiance uplift,
almost 8,000 feet, through more pinon and juniper, then into the
big pines of the Navajo forest. In the dark there are always
livestock. You can't see them until you're just about on top of
them, but the other drivers will signal by flashing their lights
"Cow! Horse!watch out!", same way people elsewhere flash their
lights when a cop is around.
It's a long drive, two and a half hours driving fast. I was
listening to Jack Jackson on KTNN reporting the Phoenix Suns-
Charlotte Hornets game in rapidfire Navajo. The Suns lost, 95-93.
But all I could think about was the direction this mediation was
taking, and how much Judge McCue, Peter Steenland, Dan Jackson,
Katherine Hazard had yet to learn. My own feeling is that it will
take many months for a settlement to be reached, and not until this
latest group of white people learns to keep still and listen to
what the Dine' people are saying. Really listen.