MEETING WITH JUDGE McCUE YESTERDAY
Roman Bitsuie called me this morning, he just got back from
San Diego. Judge McCue had called a meeting for the Navajo side
and the U.S. Department of Justice. The Hopi Tribe did not send
representatives. I have not seen the Judge's memorandum for this
meeting so I do not know if the Hopis were supposed to be present.
President Zah, Roman, and Patterson Joe represented the Navajo
Nation. Lee Phillips was there for the Dine' resisters as their
only representative. U.S. Department of Justice was represented by
Peter Steenland, and a new person -- Gerald something-or-other,
Roman couldn't remember his last name, who was sent as a personal
representative by U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno.
Roman said that the judge is willing now to admit that
"something other than a lease" may have to be considered. He also
understands that some communities may be ready to sign an agreement
with the Hopi Tribe, but that others may need more time. He is
concerned that the Hopi Tribe has not indicated whether it will
return to the negotiating table, with the deadline he set on
January 11 only a few days from now.
The Judge admitted that non-Indian political opposition to the
original Agreement in Principle's provision for compensating the
Hopi Tribe with lands around Flagstaff may require changes in the
lands which are provided. A lot of people were vocal about the
proposed transfer of 1/2 million acres of prime recreational land
to the Hopi Tribe, not just "rednecks" either, also
environmentalists and people like that. There are other lands
available, also inside the Hopi traditional claim area (the
Tuts'qua), and the Governor of Arizona said that he would support
transferring State lands to the Hopi, even though he opposed
transferring U.S. Forest Service lands. These lands are outlined in
the Navajo Nation's August 5, 1993 offer of settlement which was
made at Rocky Ridge School.
According to the Judge, the Hopi Tribe is still very
interested in the offer of water from the lower Colorado River (the
Lake Powell pipeline) which was also included in the August 5
settlement offer. The Hopi Tribe has been making a number of
approaches since then to see if they can get the water without
settling the "land dispute." The Judge was informed yesterday by
both Roman and the President that there has to be justice for the
Dine' living on the Hopi-partitioned Lands, and a comprehensive
settlement. At the same time, if the Hopis do the right thing by
the Dine' families, then the water will be there.
These are new developments in the MANYBEADS mediation. I
think all the letters people have been sending to Janet Reno have
had some effect, at least she is now keeping an eye on things.
Perhaps the Judge has started to realize that a real accommodation
must be made with the Dine', not the sham of the 75-year lease.
HOGAN DEMOLISHED IN HPL
Mary Lucy Joe reported recently that she had talked to Mrs.
Sally Yazzie, also Irene Yazzie and Gilbert Yazzie. Sally Yazzie
is an elder who lives in a dugout shelter, way out in Coal Mine
Canton. She was checking out a story that the home of Darrell
Yazzie Sr. and his wife Alma had been torn down by the Hopi Tribe
just before Christmas. Although mostly they stay with relatives in
Tuba City now, they actually live way out in Blue Canyon, the
miniature Grand Canyon that Moenkopi Wash has cut into Black Mesa
where it runs down to Moenkopi and Tuba City. Coal Mine Canyon is
a branch of this canyon, which very remote, wild and beautiful.
Hopi tribal workers came out to destroy the Hogan, with
bulldozer or tractor. They knocked it over and then plowed the
ground. Irene Yazzie went to confront them, told them that they
were not supposed to destroy or dismantle a structure where people
were living until all the family members have relocated. They did
it anyway. They believed the hogan belonged to a man named Alfred
Yazzie, a marine corps veteran who relocated in 1984.
This happens a lot. The Relocation Office will pay a
relocatee for their "improvements," people cal it selling your
hogan to the government. Sometime relocatees sell things that
don't really belong to them, then it goes on the record, no matter
if someone else lives there. The Yazzie hogan had a padlock on it,
a sure sign that it was till in use. But what counts for the
government is what's on paper, not what's on the land, or what the
real facts are of peoples' lives. This is your tax dollars at
work.
A couple years ago Kee Watchman lost his hogan the same way,
also Leroy Teesyatoh, I know there are others.
The Hopi Tribe recently took over the job of "dismantling"
homes from the BIA. They are a lot more eager to remove things
than the Bureau was. The BIA would usually let homes, hogans.
corrals, etc. sit and deteriorate slowly. The Hopis in contest are
going in and doing their best to erase all traces of Dine'
occupation, even cutting down shade trees and windbreaks sometimes.
After the meeting at Mae Tso's place on the 5th, I drove past
what used to be the home of mr Harry Nez and his whole family.
There were ten or twelve families living there, lots of children,
women weaving rugs all over the place. There was a couple of good
houses and a beautiful hogan covered with red mud and a layer of
flagstones. Also corrals and a sweathouse and a fruit orchard
growing where the water ran in during the rains. The place had a
big view out over open country, you can see for miles there. Mr.
Nez was for many years a leader of the resisters in Coal Mine Mesa
and Howell Mesa areas. But most of his children relocated, also
his neighbors, and he and his wife finally gave up a couple years
ago.
When I drove by, it was like a punch in the stomach to see
nothing there, just the sacred ground plowed up and naked where all
that life used to be. A lot of the tress and bushes had been cut
down and piled as brush. The Hopis DID leave the fruit trees and
couple of elms standing. So I felt like crying and wondered if Mr.
Nez or any of the family ever come out to visit any more, or pray.
The Dine' usually do not tear down a hogan, because of the
prayers and things that are done when it is built and during its
life. If a hogan is abandoned for any reason the practice is to
let it return to the earth. If you try to tear a hogan down it
will make you sick -- all the men who helped dismantle Mae Tso's
hogan got sick from it for instance.
So today as I write, the snow is coming down, just a little
bit. I pray for all the people who are out there in the cold, out
on the so-called HPL.
Jon Norstog