DIRECT NEGOTIATIONS HAVE BEGUN
The first of what the Dine' families hope will be a series
of negotiations was held yesterday at Rocky Ridge Boarding
School. The Dine' families representatives were on one side of
the table, with the Hopi negotiating team on the other side. All
of the communities were represented: Big Mountain by Katherine
Smith, Louise Benally and Bonnie Whitesinger; Coal Mine Mesa by
Jack Hatathlie and Anna Begay; Tonalea by Rena Babbitt Lane;
Cactus Valley by Clarence Blackrock and Kee Watchman; Sand
Springs by Calvin Nez, Alfred McCabe and John Yazzie; Jeddito by
Mary Yellowhair; Low Mountain by Alice Tsosie and Margaret Bahe;
Teesto by David Begay, Frances Bahe and Roger Attakai. Roger
Attakai was the Dine families Chairman and Kee Watchman was Vice
Chairman. The Speaker's Office provided Robert Salabye, a
legislative interpreter, to interpret and read documents into the
record. The Nation also supplied taping and PA equipment.
The Dine' families have been meeting fairly regularly the
last few weeks, developing a strategy and putting together their
statements. They went in with a seventeen-page document
explaining all the issues, especially the religious issue. The
Dine' families proposed ground rules and a timetable for
negotiations. Outlines were included on religious issues, land
use, and self-governance. Finally, there was a list of ten
requests which were made of the Hopi Tribe and/or the U.S.
The "ten respectful requests" were presented in response to
the "ten demands" which the Hopi Tribe laid on the Dine' families
and the Navajo Nation in 1991 as a precondition to negotiations.
The Dine' families' requests are these:
1. Grassroots-level meetings to discuss religious matters with
Hopi religious leaders.
2. A stop to livestock impoundments.
3. A stop to "monitoring" activities such as surveillance,
"spotlighting" and photographing families in their homes,
searching homes, etc.
4. A lifting of the construction freeze.
5. An end to demolition of hogans and other structures on the HPL.
6. A stop to confiscation of firewood, wood cutting tools, and
threatened confiscation of vehicles.
7. An "undoing" of certain BIA projects which desecrate sacred
places, such as the fences on Star Mountain, capping of sacred
springs, etc.
8. An exemption from permit requirements for religious
structures.
9. Improved road maintenance.
10. Hopi and Dine to work together to reduce tensions.
There was a request to add some language to the
"Accommodation Agreement" (AKA lease agreement) which the Hopi
Tribe offered this spring. The Dine' requested the following
language be added at the beginning:
"This is an agreement in good faith between the Navajo families
who live on the Hopi Partitioned Land, and the Hopi Tribe and
Hopi people. Under this agreement, the Navajo families and the
Hopi people agree to be friends and always think and speak well
of each other. We agree to respect each other as Native people
whose origin is in this very land. We agree to support and
assist each other in the continuance and protection of religious
activities. We agree, each of us to assist the other if called
on. We agree to meet together as needed to resolve any issues
which arise as a result of our sharing of this land.
This agreement is reached between us as a result of the Manybeads
v. United States lawsuit. For this reason, this agreement is
based on religious concepts and natural law, and provides first
and foremost for the protection of the religion and way of life
of the Navajo families, as well as the Hopi people. Its purpose
is also to provide for the continuing well-being of the parties
to this agreement, as individuals, families and communities."
The ground rules are reproduced below:
1. These discussions are between the decision-making leaders of
the Hopi Tribe and the representatives of the Navajo families and
communities who are suing the United States for freedom of
religion in Manybeads v. United States. The Navajo
representatives will be prepared to discuss all substantive
issues relating to the Manybeads lawsuit and the mediation
process which arose from it, as well as the outcome of mediation.
We are requesting similar flexibility from the Hopi Tribe.
We do not expect the Hopi team to make decisions on the
spot, but we want the Hopi team to include key decision making
leaders who have the authorization to negotiate in the meetings
and the ability to secure any needed approvals from the Hopi
Tribal Council.
The Navajo Nation is requested to send observers to all
meetings and to provide technical and logistic support for the
Navajo families.
United States representatives, if present, are not to enter
discussions unless invited by both the Hopi Tribe and the Navajo
families.
2. The Hopi Tribe as well as the U.S. government and the
Manybeads mediator will respect the Navajo community decision
making process. The Navajo families will convene community
meetings as needed to discuss proposals and to keep all the
Navajo informed as to the progress of negotiations.
3. A major cause of the failure of previous mediation efforts
was the secrecy imposed by the Manybeads mediator. The Navajo
families and the Hopi Tribe will jointly issue press releases
reflecting the issues raised in the discussions and any progress
made. Proposals and position papers which are submitted in
discussions will be made available at that time to all Navajo
residing on the HPL.
4. The Hopi village representatives and grass-roots people
should have the privilege of observing these discussions.
5. Meetings will be held at a neutral location, or alternately
at locations chosen by the Hopi Tribe and the Navajo families.
6. We are requesting that the United States assist the Hopi
Tribe and the Navajo families in meeting the expenses which will
arise from these discussions.
7. The Hopi Tribe should give us a response to our requests and
concerns at the next meeting scheduled for March 9, 1995. If the
Hopi Tribe agrees to continue the mediation the discussions
should follow a timetable such as the one outlined below, with
meetings scheduled every other week.
Meeting 1: Discuss religious issue, exchange of views, etc.
Discuss sacred sites, burial issues, religious structures, need
to perform certain ceremonies, and the way these things can be
accommodated.
Meeting 2: Discuss land use issues which have a bearing on
traditional way of life, including: residence/homesite, grazing,
wood cutting, farm plots, customary use. This discussion should
also involve the Hopi Tribe's comprehensive land use plan and
certain Hopi laws.
Meeting 3: Discuss jurisdictional and governance issues.
Meeting 4: Equal treatment and civil rights issues.
Meeting 5: Proposals to resolve outstanding issues. At this
meeting each community will present its proposal for addressing
local concerns or issues which remain unresolved.
What Happened?
Apparently the Hopi Tribe's representatives came prepared to
discuss the burial issue, and maybe the issue of cutting green
boughs for ceremonial use. They seemed to be taken by surprise
by the comprehensive nature of the Dine' proposal. They were
also, I think, thrown off balance by the families' coming in with
a well-developed agenda. The Hopis are used to setting the
agenda themselves.
They caucused for a while, then came back and said they
could not discuss the various issues raised until they had some
time to study them. Katherine Smith got on Chairman Secakuku's
case over the Hopis' not negotiating immediately. Roger Attakai
then jumped up and said he understood, the Hopis had only seen
the document this morning and he could see they needed time ...
"BUT we want a response before the 18th (of March, when the
mediator has called another meeting), maybe we should meet before
then. We expect you to be ready to really talk with us next
time."
Roger was nominated as the delegation's chairman the day
before at Hardrock Chapter House. He wasn't there and nobody
told him he was chairman until about an hour or two before
Friday's meeting. He did just fine.
It was really good to see all the resisters up there
negotiating as equals with the Hopis. There were no Navajo
Nation or U.S. representatives at the table. We were all in the
audience, with the rest of the community members. There were
probably 150 people sitting in chairs watching and listening.
It took all the folding chairs from both Rocky Ridge School and
Hardrock Chapter House.
The Hopi representatives left about 12:30 after agreeing to
meet again on March 9th in Flagstaff. The Dine' families
continued their meeting until about 2:30. Everyone seemed pretty
happy, lots of people made little speeches to sort of take
credit. That's a good sign I think. Success always has aa
couple hundred fathers and/or mothers, while failure belongs to
.. the Tribe!
I am making the full document available on request. It is
too long for an Indig.Info posting, I think Mr. Trujillo likes to
keep postings to 3-4 pages max. I am sending the full text to
our regular "mailing list."
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Comments from NATIVE-L co-moderator, Gary Trujillo (gst@gnosys.svle.ma.us):
This article was posted to an "electronic conference" called "indig.info" on
the APC (Association for Progressive Communications) system by Jon Norstad.
Bulletins from that and several other conferences are made available via the
NATIVE-L mailing list. If anyone would like to be on Jon's mailing list,
in order to get the full text of bulletins he produces, please get in touch
with him at the "navajonation@igc.apc.org" address given in the "Original
Sender" line above.