March 10, 1997
Hopi Tribal Council Denies Judge's Extension Request
Kykotsmovi, AZ - The Hopi Tribal Council met today to act on a request from
Federal District Judge Earl Carroll to extend the Accommodation Agreement
signing deadline.
"The deadline had been set to expire on March 31, 1997. Today, the Council
voted to deny this request," said Chairman Ferrell Secakuku. "The Tribal
Council's decision to deny the deadline was based on the Hopi Tribal
Council's view that more than enough time has been provided to the Navajo
families to consider the Accommodation Agreement."
Chairman Secakuku explained to the Council that the request from Judge
Carroll came during the "fairness hearing" conducted by the judge during
the week of February 11 - 14 and on February 21, in Phoenix, AZ.
The fairness hearing afforded the Navajo families an opportunity to
express their views and support for or opposition to the accommodation
agreement as a means of resolving the more than 100 year old dispute
between the Hopi and Navajo Tribes. The lands were set aside for the Hopi
Tribe in the 1974 Settlement Act. The Accommodation Agreement is an
arrangement with the Hopi Tribe which will allow the Navajo families to
live under a long term homesite lease on Hopi lands.
"Judge Carroll now has the responsibility of ruling on the fairness of the
settlement agreement," said Secakuku, "in connection with the proposed
dismissal of a lawsuit filed in 1989 by the Navajo families against the U.S.
government, arguing that removal from Hopi land was a violation of their
religious freedom."
"The time for discussing the terms of the agreement has already expired, the
only decision to be made at this point is the decision of individual Navajo
families as to whether they wish to remain on Hopi land under the terms of
the Accommodation Agreement or whether they wish to be relocated off of
those lands," Secakuku concluded.