NAVAJO-HOPI "LAND DISPUTE" UPDATE: FEBRUARY 18, 1994
MORE LIVESTOCK IMPOUNDMENT
I was out of the office two days, when I got back this morning
there was a message to call Mae Zee. Ms. Zee is a big, smart,
good-looking woman from Big Mountain. She relocated years ago and
went to work as a counselor for the Relocation Commission. Her
father and mother, Jimmy and Rebecca Zee are still on the Hopi-
partitioned lands and are resisting relocation.
When I called, Mae told me that the BIA had impounded her
father's cattle, 8 cows and one calf. She had called to see if our
office could assist. She said that on tuesday her father took her
mother in to the clinic at Tuba City, about fifty miles from where
they live at Big Mountain. While Mr. and Mrs. Zee were gone, the
BIA rangers got the livestock.
Ms. Zee told me that the family finally went to see Lorenzo
Bedonie, the Hardrock Chapter council delegate. Mr. Bedonie was
able to get $400 in assistance toward the $850.00 impoundment fee,
and the family rushed off to Keams Canyon to get the livestock out
before the fees went up again.
Mae told me she has been urging her parents to relocate to the
"New Lands" as there is still some vacant rangeland on the former
Chambers Ranch. It is similar to a lot of the northern HPL, in
that it has a lot of juniper, the grasses are the same and even the
soils are a lot alike. But it is not the same place, and a person
who relocates their will be able to pray and know that their prayer
will have an effect.
According to Mae, though, the livestock impoundment has made
her parents "stressed out, and they were losing sleep."
MEETINGS TODAY AND TOMORROW
Today Roman Bitsuie, Patterson Joe, Lee Phillips and I suppose
the federal negotiators (Dan Jackson, Peter Steenland and Katherine
Hazard) and the Hopi team, whoever that is now, are in San Diego
meeting with Judge McCue, the MANYBEADS mediator.
Tomorrow there was supposed to be a Dine' Bikeya Committee
meeting in Teesto, Mr. Alvin Clinton called it and it is for all
the HPL. Mr. Clinton wants all of the HPL people to get together
on a unified position regarding mediation. This is a real problem,
as the feds are trying to get a few Dine' to sign the 75-year lease
so they can say to the Court: "see, the Navajos WILL accept the
Agreement in Principle and the lease. Those who refuse to sign
have rejected a reasonable settlement, and should be required to
leave." This is a real problem because when the court changed the
format of the mediation to "direct talks" between the Hopi Tribe
and the Dine' families, the Navajo Nation was no longer there
taking the lead with a unified position. There is no unity among
the various Dine' communities, and the danger is that the other
side will take advantage of this. Mr. Clinton wants all the
communities to stand firm for land exchanges or nothing, but some
of the communities are willing to consider some kind of lease and
do not want to lose the opportunity presented by mediation.
I called Teesto Chapter and got hold of Judy Keyonnie. The
Dine' Bikeya Committee meeting has been postponed for a while, no
date set. I will report as soon as I can about the meeting in San
Diego.
DOCUMENTS WILL SOON BE AVAILABLE
Many people have asked for copies of the Agreement in
Principle, the proposed Hopi lease, and other documents relating to
the "land dispute." Many of these documents are controversial,
people taking positions on them, even if they have never seen them.
There is an electronic archive, the World Center for Indigenous
Studies, which scans paper documents and then makes them available
over the net. I sent off a bunch of docs including:
the Agreement in Priciple
the proposed Hopi Lease
Navajo Nation Council Resolutions: (1) Establishing principles for
a comprehehnsive settlement; (2) "Ratifying" the agreement in
principle; (3) the August 6, 1993 Settlement Proposal.
Letters from Janet Reno and Sen. McCain spelling out the
Administration and Congress' positions on the "lan dispute"
Our correspondence with the United Nations
Lee Phillips' court briefs of Aug. 5, 1993 and December 27, 1993
and some other stuff.
They should be available in a month or two, soon as the World
Center can put it into electronic form. Contact
jburrows@halcyon.com for details.
jon norstog