The Ratification Forms are Counted, Sort Of
Roman and Patterson went down to San Diego with Lee Phillips
on Monday to count the ratification forms. The Judge requested a
ritual of having them put into a sealed box, which would only be
opened in his presence on a specified date. The idea, I guess was
to make it look like an election, which it was not. The press is
pretty much going along with it, calling the ratification forms
"votes" and the process "balloting." This gives a kind of
democratic gloss to what is really an ultimatum laid on the Dine'.
The results were not complete. Even with an extension, it was
not possible for all families to be contacted, given the forms, and
then for the forms to be collected later. I had figured it would
take about a month, and that looks about right. The Judge has
directed that all the people who did not return forms be contacted
and that all forms be brought in the first week of June. Since he
announced the scheme in the first week of May, that works out just
right.
"It looks promising" for further mediation is what Roman told
the press. The Judge instructed us not to give out numbers until
all the forms are in and counted. We've got to respect that
directive.
Some of the people who were supposed to sign the forms were in
Washington, trying to lobby Congress. Some people were too tired
in their minds to choose from the alternatives presented by the
mediator, they just did not return the forms or sent them back
unsigned. Grace Smith called me today to say a lot of the older
women, the elders especially up at Big Mountain, did not feel good
about this "voting" process, and wanted to make statements.
What Happens Next?
We are proceeding on the assumption that mediation will
continue, and that the U.S. and the mediator will show good faith
in the negotiations that are supposed to follow the "ratification."
If the Hopi Tribe and the U.S. now take the position that the
families accepted the latest Hopi lease proposal as written, then
the mediation ill probably fail. If there now follows a period of
real negotiation - face to face and with real responses to the
people's concerns - then we may see a settlement.
Meanwhile, the U.S. and the Hopi Tribe are negotiating a
compensation package. They have not told us what will be given the
Hopis, but the assumption is that the Navajo Nation will be forced
to pay out a lot of money and turn over a big piece of fee or lease
land. President Zah has sent a letter to the Mediator indicating
that if there is a revised compensation package, it will require
approval by the Navajo Nation Council. A reasonable mediator would
include the Navajo Nation in negotiating compensation. However, we
have already seen that Judge McCue does not always include the
interested parties in the negotiating process.
The Hopi Tribe meanwhile has taken the position that there
will be no further negotiations. This is what they are saying in
the press. They say the latest lease proposal is their final offer
and there is no room for negotiation. The white people, Judge
McCue, Peter Steenland and all, assume that these statements are
just for public consumption, and the real Hopi position is more
flexible. Our experience with Hopi is that they pretty much mean
what they say.
Rain!
Night before last I was blasted out of bed by two great
crashes of thunder. It was raining, hard. So I rolled over an
went back to sleep, smelling that rain. In the morning at work all
the computers were belly-up, and Paul Notah gone to a GIS
conference for a week. Since then, the ground has stayed wet and
the water is soaking in, the grass already looks better.
The high winds have died down enough that Betty Tso got her
trailer, finally, it's at Yellowman's trailer court in Tuba City.
She still doesn't have enough money to get all the hook-ups, I'm
gonna see if Roman will help out.