Counting the Responses
The meeting which we all expected to take place today happened
on Friday, June 3. This meeting was with Judge McCue for the
purpose of counting responses to the question of whether mediation
should continue. The Hopi Tribe was not represented. Lee
Phillips, of course was there for the Dine' families. The U.S. was
represented by Dan Jackson. We were there in force: Roman, myself,
Larry Nez, Elmer Clark, & Mary Lucy Joe, plus Land Commissioners
Larry Beck (Pinon), Marlin Scott (Teesto), Stanley Robbins
(Cameron), Eula yazzie (White Cone) and Freddy Howard (Tolani
Lake). Patterson could not make it.
The Judge still insists on calling the "ratification forms"
votes. We feel that they are responses to his ultimatum. They do
not signify any kind of approval of the latest Hopi lease proposal,
but indicate a desire to continue mediation. The results are as
follows;
287 responses were received. 193 responses were "yes"; 41 were
"no"; and 53 forms were sent back blank, or were torn up by the
families, etc. or our field staff were chased away. There were
about a dozen families who could not be contacted and the judge is
allowing us to work on that. One or two people who were not on the
Navajo Nation or the federal list of HPL residents submitted forms
which we are trying to figure out what to do with. The Judge only
wants to count the "yes" and "no" votes. Going that way, it's
about 83% "yes."
We feel that the others should be considered as abstaining and
should not be counted out of the process. The breakdown by chapter
was like this:
Chapter: YES NO ABSTAINING
Jeddito 17 0 0
Teesto 44 5 2
Tonalea 6 0 3
Whippoorwill 11 0 0
Coal Mine Mesa 10 24 0
Forest Lake 32 0 28
Hardrock 39 8 20
Who and where. There is a big block running from Coal Mine
Mesa through Big Mountain and up to Cactus Valley where 81 families
responded yes and 72 responded no or abstained. Furthermore, it was
the community leaders who said no or abstained. The stress which
the government's ultimatum caused the families was evident; in many
cases the elders were willing to sign a yes but the children were
against it. The families could not reach consensus so they
abstained. This is something we could have predicted, anyone who
has spent time with the Dine' could have told the judge: the
families will not let themselves be divided against themselves by
outsiders.
Our feeling is that mediation has strong support and should be
allowed to continue AS LONG AS IT TAKES. If the results are good,
then the other families will come back in. If the results are not
good, then all those yes "votes" will evaporate and we will be back
where we were before.
The Hopi Tribe has indicated that its last lease proposal is
final and there can be no more changes. We feel that there is lot
of room for talk and will be providing technical support where the
communities request. Our fist priority will be to work with the
communities which responded favorably and see what kind of
settlement terms can be worked out. If the religious. land &
livelihood, community and "people" issues can be resolved, then
there will be a settlement.
The Hopi Tribe has indicated it wants those families who
"voted" no or abstained to be evicted. They want the Navajo Nation
to "assist" in this. This is not likely to happen and we hope that
the Hopis and the feds will see reason on this point.
What can the Support Groups Do?
In 1986 there was a 360,00 acre land exchange proposal in
front of Congress, the Udall-McCain bill. The support groups
launched a mail campaign against it, with the result that it was
withdrawn by its sponsors. A flimsy repeal bill which was not
actively supported by its sponsors died in committee. At the time
there were over a thousand families resisting. After Udall-McCain
went down, most of those families gave up and relocated. THINK.
If the mediation continues, its result will have to be enacted
into law by Congress. At that time, the specific issues which
could not be resolved by negotiation must be addressed. In the
meantime, mediation can yield results, IF the U.S. shows good faith
and commitment. Any issue resolved in mediation is one less thing
Congress has to deal with. What outsiders can do, I think, that
will be most effective is to let your representatives know that:
the people did not "vote" approval of the Hopi lease; that there
are big issues to be resolved: religious issues, grazing issues,
land base, Hopi jurisdiction, and concerns about the 75-year term.
If the administration continues its blind support of the Hopi
position, these issues cannot be resolved.
When the settlement goes in front of Congress, it MUST be a
permanent settlement; it must provide the communities with a secure
land base and with self-determination; it must be constructed so
that either the settlement itself or Hopi law cannot be used to
evict the Dine' families.
Prayer Service at Teesto
Saturday evening I went out to Teesto, it was dark by the time
I got there. I drove over to Cecil Miles' place, thought I saw a
tipi but when I got there it was just Mr. Miles' huge pile of
firewood! Dine' like to stack big cedar logs in a cone shape to
keep them from rotting on the ground. So I cut across the valley
to Roger Attakai's place.
There were three tipis there I went into the first one. The
road man had just started with the opening prayer so I coughed a
little by the tipi door. Soon as it was OK the doorman let me in -
it was Marlin Scott - and I took my rug in and sat down in a
humble place, next to Kenneth Jensen. Elmer Clark's little
brother Calvert was the Road Man, Elmer was Cedar, Frances Bahe
and her daughter were sitting in the northwest, where the-person-
it's-for sits. Jennie Paddock and her daughter, Helen Lewis were
next, then (I think) Fidel bahe and his wife, then Calvin Bahe,
then the fireman. It was a good service, the drummer was goin like
summer thunder. There was a family of young men sitting in the
southwest, all great singers and they all sang along with each
other, sang their hearts out. There was no Chief Smoke, but
Kenneth and I rolled cigarettes and did a prayer together, on our
knees while the drum went from south to west. We go through these
things, it creates a bond among us all that stays with us in our
day to day lives.
After the service there was a flag ceremony. Roger calls his
place the Teesto Veterans' Memorial Park. He has 3 flagpoles a
little to the east of his tipi ground. Sunday morning he got all
the veterans to line up in front of the flagpoles, then a drum
group from Jeddito set up and sang some songs for the flag, for the
veterans and for the resistance. The Road Man blessed the flag and
the veterans all saluted while it was raised. I should have been
in the line, but instead I got out my old Graflex and took
pictures. It will be a good remembrance for the community, and
also I wanted to have something to show this: after all their
suffering at the hands of the U.S. government, here were the men
and women who served their country honoring the flag, and honoring
themselves for having served. It would have made me cry except I
was still had so much happiness left from the prayer service.
jon norstog.