Date: Wed, 27 Nov 1996 11:03:12 -0600 (CST)
From: Sovereign Dineh Nation <sdn@primenet.com>
Subject: Big Mountain: Statements to U.N., Tribal Council
Sovereign Dineh Nation
sdn@primenet.com
http://www.primenet.com/~sdn/
Commission on Human Rights Inter-Sessional Working Group on the draft
declaration for the rights of indigenous peoples, 21 October - 1
November 1996, Geneva
Intervention by Kee Watchman from Cactus Valley/Red Willow Springs, Big
Mountain, Arizona USA
Date: Mon, 4 Nov 1996
Subject: Big Mountain Statement to the UN Working Group on a Draft
Declaration.
Thank you Mr Chairman for giving me this time to address some important
matters affecting our Traditional Dineh' Peoples. My name is Kee
Watchman and I am a traditional Dineh from Cactus Valley/Red Willow
Springs in the region of Big Mountain, Arizona USA.
There are many items within this present Draft which have strong
implications which would allow our issues and concerns be adequately
addressed in our homelands.
Some of these issues are:
1) Culturally adverse impacts:
The Traditional Dineh' communities are affected by forced relocation
policy. This for instance has serious effects on the health of those
who are to be relocated and those who have already relocated outside of
their traditional homelands. Suicides, alcoholism are increasing these
health concerns. Mining operations on our lands cause severe health
problems.
Our songs and prayers for our ceremonies and rituals are deeply
dependent on our lands. Our land is our BIBLE! Without our Bible how
can we tell this international body and our people of where we come
from, our Genesis. How can we teach our children and young people to
respect and honor one another, as in the books of Proverbs and Psalms.
How can we tell our relations and the world of the prophecies yet to
come (book of Revelations), when they are being destroyed forever by
so-called progress in the name of God? How can we as People proof who
we are, "The People", when there are no more People to be found on Big
Mountain?
2) Freedom of Religion:
Our religious rights are being further violated by past federal court
decisions. The Manybeads First Amendment court case is an example of
our efforts for our rights to be respected by both national and
international law. Further protection of our rights to freedom of
religion, beliefs and religious practices which take into account our
spiritual relationship with our traditional lands are necessary as
provided for in Artile 13 of the draft declaration.
3) Environmental concerns:
Our lands are being polluted and wasted by the mining industries
especially by Peabody Coal Company, America's largest and second in the
world coal producer. Black Mesa is only 2.8 million acre, it has over 3
billion tons of high grade of black coal, uranium, oil, gas and the
largest prestine underground water aquifer in northern Arizona and
southern Utah. Our water is being pumped 276.7 miles to the Mojave
Power Station, nearby Bull Head City.
We also have North America's worst selenium problem on Black Mesa
Plateau. Previous studies in the 40's and recent data by the
Environmental Protection Agency acknowledge the concern with selenium in
the water and in the land. There are concerns with fugitive coal dust
flying in the air into our homes, on our livestocks, our medicinal
plants and trees and into our bodies. Our lands are becoming weak and
therefore unable to provide us the proper strength to our medicinal
plant's and tree people in our region.
To be able to protect our lands from environmental destruction and
exploitation by companies we need to have the rights to remain on our
lands, to determine the use of our lands and to restitution of our lands
as provided for in Articles 27, 28 and 30 of the draft declaration.
4) Treaties:
Our Treaty of 1868 with the US government has been violated then and to
this very day. We were to live in peace with the US government and
their federal agencies, but there has only been impoverishment and
exploitation of ourselves as People and of our homelands. Article 36
says that conflicts and disputes which cannot be settled otherwise
should be submitted to competent international bodies. This should
include a follow-up of reports and communications by international
bodies. The issues of Big Mountain need to be recognized by the
International Court of Justice. With respect to Article 39, I would
like to underline the right to access to mutually acceptable and fair
procedures for the resolution of conflicts and disputes with States. In
the course of negotiation processes with the government we are often not
properly informed about meetings or hearings and often have to travel
thousands of miles to be able to attend these meetings. Some people
cannot afford to attend a meeting because they have no one to look after
their livestock in their absence.
Mr Chairman, distinguished leaders and organisation representatives, in
my conclusions I want to stress the need for support by the
international community for my peoples and therefore hope for a speedy
adoption of this draft declaration.
Thank you.
****************************************************************************
*
Big Mountain Press Conference at the United Nations, Geneva, Switzerland
October 31, 1996
Subject: Big Mtn. Press Conference at the UN-Geneva, Switzerland
Thank you for giving us this time to address some important matters
effecting our Traditional Dineh' Peoples. We are traditional Dineh from
the region of Big Mountain, Arizona USA.
The traditional Dineh people have been resisting forced relocation for
over twenty years. The policy of forced relocation of Dineh people was
induced by the United States Government and the Hopi Tribal Council in
1974 through the Relocation Act of 1994, Public Law 93-531. A former
joint-use-area was divided into Hopi Partition Lands (HPL) and Navajo
Partition Lands (NPL). 10.000 Dineh people living on HPL were to be
forcibly removed from their ancestral lands on which they lived for
hundreds of years to "new lands" on NPL. About 1000 traditional Dineh
people still living on HPL today are resisting this forced relocation
from their sacred lands which forms the basis of their religion, culture
and identity. The underlying aim of this policy is to clear the region
of Big Mountain for further coal mining by Peabody Coal Company.
There have been recent developments with regards to the issues in the
region of Big Mountain, and we would like to take this opportunity to
inform you about them.
We are currently facing severe harassment of our religious sites and
practices by Hopi Rangers. Recently our religious ceremonies have been
disrupted, ceremonial sites have been destructed and access to their
annual Sundance ceremony was blockaded. The United States Justice
Department and the Hopi Tribal Council set forth an ultimatum for the
Dineh to sign an"Accommodation Agreement" by 31 December 1996 which was
postponed recently to early 1997. This "Accommodation Agreement" would
allow the Dineh to stay on their land only under 75 years leases with
conditions under Hopi jurisdiction. Those who do not relocate within 30
days or do not sign the "Accommodation Agreement" will be considered as
trespassers and subjected to forced eviction from their ancestral lands.
Crucial hearings and meetings are taking place within the next months.
A "Fairness Hearing" for verbal testimonials with regards to the
'Accommodation Agreement' is scheduled for 10-14 February 1997.
Through the "Accommodation Agreement" the traditional Dineh need to have
permits to gather ceremonial material and to erect sacred structures.
They are not allowed to bury their dead according to their traditional
ways and at sites of their choice. The "Accommodation Agreement"
constitutes a gross violation of the Dineh's right to freely practise
and manifest their religion as it severely restricts the Dineh's access
to and use of their sacred land. The Dineh's religion and ceremonies
are inextricably bound to the use of this land and its particular sacred
sites. Without this land, the Dineh religion, their culture and the
people themselves will not survive. Those Dineh who have already
relocated into "new lands"- which are highly radioactive-, are seriously
affected by illnesses, alcoholism and suicide due to inadequate housing
conditions, insufficient provision of land and loss of their cultural
identity.
Some of the impacts of these developments are:
1) Culturally adverse impacts:
The Traditional Dineh' communities are affected by forced relocation
policy. This for instance has serious effects on the health of those
who are to be relocated and those who have already relocated outside of
their traditional homelands. Suicides, alcoholism are increasing these
health concerns. Mining operations on our lands cause severe health
problems. Our songs and prayers for our ceremonies and rituals are
deeply dependent on our lands. Our land is our BIBLE!
Without our Bible how can we tell this international body and our people
of where we come from, our Genesis. How can we teach our children and
young people to respect and honor one another, as in the books of
Proverbs and Psalms. How can we tell our relations and the world of the
prophecies yet to come (book of Revelations), when they are being
destroyed forever by so-called progress in the name of God? How can we
as People proof who we are, "The People", when they are no more People
to be found on Big Mountain?
2) Freedom of Religion:
Our religious rights are being further violated by past federal court
decisions. The Manybeads First Amendment court case is an example of
our efforts for our rights to be respected by both national and
international law. Further protection of our rights to freedom of
religion, beliefs and religious practices which take into account our
spiritual relationship with our traditional lands are necessary.
3) Environmental concerns:
Our lands are being polluted and wasted by the mining industries
especially by Peabody Coal Company, America's largest and second in the
world coal producer. Black Mesa is only 2.8 million acre, it has over 3
billion tons of high grade of black coal, uranium, oil, gas and the
largest prestine underground water aquifer in northern Arizona and
southern Utah. Our water is being pumped 276.7 miles to the Mojave
Power Station, nearby Bull Head City. We also have North America's
worst selenium problem on Black Mesa Plateau, which previous studies in
the 40's and recent data by the Environmental Protection Agency
acknowledges the concern with selenium in the water and in the land.
There are concern's with fugitive coal dust flying in the air into our
homes, on our livestock's, our medicinal plant's and tree's and into our
bodies. Our lands are becoming weak and therefore unable to provide us
the proper strength to our medicinal plant's and tree people in our
region. To be able to protect our lands from environmental destruction
and exploitation by companies we need to have the rights to remain on
our lands, to determine the use of our lands and to restitution of our
lands.
4) Treaties:
Our Treaty of 1868 with the US government has been violated then and to
this very day. We were to live in peace with the US government and
their federal agencies, but there has only been impoverishment and
exploitation of ourselves as People and of our homelands. The issues of
Big Mountain need to be recognized by the International Court of Justice
and the international community. We ask for support in our peaceful
struggle to remain on our ancestral lands and that our rights be
respected. All we ask for is the right to continue living on our
ancestral lands as traditional Dineh people and that the violation of
our Mother Earth stops.
End...
****************************************************************************
****
Sovereign Dineh Nation
P.O. Box 40319, Flagstaff, AZ 86004, 520/724-3494 October 21, 1996
Dear Tribal Council Delegates:
This is a call for the Navajo Nation tribal council and its delegates to
support the people affected by passage of S. 1973 The Navajo Hopi Land
Dispute Settlement Act of 1996. This bill was passed into law without
going through the legislative processes of the Navajo Nation. It was
passed without representation by the affected Navajo families.
In the Navajo Times dated October 10, "IGR Advises Hale to Stay Away" it
states, "IGR Committee member Genevieve Jackson sharply criticized Hale
and tribal attorney general Herb Yazzie for failing to adequately
represent the Navajo Nation and prevent passage of the Settlement Act.
Jackson said Hale and Yazzie sold out the Navajo Nation." When
President Hale ran for office he made a promise to the people on Hopi
Partition Land (HPL) to fight for our right to remain on our land..
Meetings about the proposed Accommodation Agreement, 75-year lease were
never announced and when we did find out, they were held at locations
hours away from where we live. When we appealed for help to the Navajo
Nation, we were told we had to move out. It was never, we are here to
protect your rights. The people never even knew about Senate bill 1973.
This was never communicated to the people. S. 1973 completes the
relocation begun when Public Law 93- 531, the Relocation Act passed in
1974 without a hearing, even though it prompted the relocation of 11,000
Dineh people. We did not even know about this law until after it was
passed.
The Navajo Times article continues, "Yazzie said she had July
memorandums from the tribal council's Legislative Council Steven Boos
about his concerns on the proposed Settlement Act. And Yazzie said she
was the one that really pushed for a report from Hale and Herb Yazzie
because the Settlement Act had "never" gone before the IGR committee and
the council." It never went before the Navjao tribal council, it never
went before the Hopi tribal council. At Teesto Chapter House, our
delegate never informed the people about Senate bill 1973. The same is
true for all Chapter houses.
In Section 2 "Findings", # 7 of S. 1973 it states: "Neither the Navajo
Nation nor the Navajo families residing upon Hopi Partitioned Lands were
parties to or signers of the Settlement Agreement between the United
States and the Hopi Tribe." S. 1973 offers limited rights to the
affected people who had no access to the process in the final decisions.
Also because of the Federal District Court decision, December, 1995, the
HPL Navajos were left out of the meetings, granted no input. Therefore
all legislation done since December, 1995 is invalid because it has been
done without the participation of the Navajo Nation and the affected
families. Passage of S. 1973 is also questionable because it leaves the
Manybeads case unresolved, and the peoples concerns bypassed, because
our case has not been heard yet by Arizona District Court.
We are aware of numerous discrepancies in the voting processes and
seriously question the role of the US Department of Justice in the
mediation process. All votes taken were overwhelmingly rejecting the
Agreement. If this Agreement is bad for the Navajo Nation and was
pushed on us, then we appeal to you to step forward and intervene on our
behalf. We want to know why there was never any attempt to fix the
Agreement. We question why it was rushed through so fast without
communicating with the people most affected, even though all our actions
have been to overwhelmingly reject it. We have been abandoned by our
own Nation. Please demonstrate by way of a special session we can have
advance notice of and participate in. Please support us in a resolution
rejecting S. 1973 and Public Law 93- 531, the Relocation Act. We pray
you will stand with us.