Dineh (Navajo) residents living on Hopi Partition Land (HPL) view Judge
Child's March 11, 1996 decision to revoke Peabody Western Coal Company's
(PWCC) Kayenta mine permit application as a landmark decision critical of
PWCC, the Office of Surface Mining (OSM) and the Navajo Nation. In the
decision Judge Child states: " the Indian land, even though held in trust by
the Federal Government for the benefit of the tribe and its members, is
nonetheless private land". Much of the land thereby protected in Peabody's
leasehold is on HPL. This federal decision empowers HPL residents as
private property owners no longer subject to the threats of forced
relocation, livestock confiscations, no housing improvements and no home
construction. As private property owners, HPL residents are now free to
remain on their aboriginal land, rebuild their homes and protect their land
for future generations and are no longer subject to Hopi Tribal Council
jurisdiction.
HPL residents view Sovereignty as resting with the individual family and not
with the Navajo Nation or the Hopi Tribe. During the Administrative Law
Court proceedings Judge Child stated: "If there was no coal mine would there
be a land dispute? I think not!" The Navajo Nation and the Hopi tribe sold
out their tribal members' rights when they negotiated leases with PWCC for
short term monetary profits obtained by coal mining without their consent,
allowed relocation of leasehold residents, allowed surface and ground water
resources to become contaminated, livestock and air to become poisoned and
allowed desecration of sacred sites and burial sites.
Leroy Teeasyatoh, relocation resister and refugee states: "I stand in
solidarity with Religious loyalty of traditional people. We inherited our
Religious territory from the Holy peoples. We live according to sacred
guidelines and live a Religious lifestyle. I cannot be loyal to any adopted
system by the Navajo tribal government. Public law 93-531, the relocation
Act requiring 10,000 traditional Dineh to be forcibly relocated from their
homes and the court ordered Mediation arising from the Manybeads lawsuit
filed by HPL residents for Religious freedom were conducted without the
input of the religious leaders. Congress should consult with Religious
leaders before laws are created so that the laws are blessed in a positive
way. Only the Religious leaders have Jurisdiction."
The proposed agreement would have allowed full Hopi Tribal Council
jurisdiction, making Dineh residents on HPL subject to Hopi laws affecting
their ability to practice Freedom of Religion, requiring permits to conduct
religious ceremonies, and does not allow burial of the dead. And while
payment of rent and exorbitant grazing fees are demanded by the Navajo
Nation to the Hopi Tribe, HPL residents are denied any voice in Hopi laws
created and enforced that effects their ability to survive, practice their
religion and protect the land for future generations. HPL residents as
private property owners will not accept taxation without representation any
more than did people during the Boston Tea Party.