To the United States Congress: March 20, 1996 We are residents of the land currently titled "Hopi Partition Land," we know it as Mosquito Springs. We are Dineh (Navajo), we were born on this land, and have spent our whole lives here, as our ancestors have done before us. Seventeen Generations of our family can be easily documented as residing on this very land we are discussing; we believe our ties to this land go back even much further. Our ancestral homeland, the only home we have ever known, and where we currently reside, was given to the Hopi tribe in 1974 by PL 93-531, this is why it is called "Hopi Partition Land." The "Navajo - Hopi Land Dispute" has stemmed out of this, as well as a 100 year old treaty which deemed our land as "Joint Use Area." This is a letter in response, and in opposition, to the "Accommodation Agreement" concerning the "Navajo - Hopi Land Dispute." The current date set for the Senate Hearing to review the Accommodation Agreement and Hopi / U.S. Agreement is March 28, 1996. We would have liked to be there to meet with you in person to discuss this issue and a possible permanent solution. However the date of this hearing was not released to us until March 18, 1996, two days ago, merely ten days before the hearing. As you can imagine, we live a modest, traditional lifestyle, and are completely unable to manage a trip to Washington, D.C., especially with only ten days notice. However we are encouraged that this letter will reach you, and we thank you in advance for your attention. We, the people directly affected by this unjust "Agreement," are making our response to the "Agreement" and will point out why, and how, it authorizes ethnic cleansing, perpetuates cultural genocide, as well as being clearly unconstitutional. The first thing congress members should be aware of is that the Hopi Tribal Council is trying to prevent you from making a decision on the full "Agreement." This is because they know that you will instantly recognize the unconstitutionality of it; therefore they only want one aspect of it, the lease aspect, to be presented to you. This can be confirmed plainly, in Hopi Tribal Chairman, Ferrell Secakuku's, own words in Exhibit G of the "Agreement," dated November 27, 1995. He has written, into the document itself, that the only part which needs congress's approval is the 75 yr. lease aspect. He is attempting to get this illegal and horribly unconstitutional agreement passed without congress's approval. This is why we are requesting, begging of you, to read the whole document, the "Accommodation Agreement," in it's entirety, before you make any decision on the matter what so ever. We trust that you, our congressional leaders will instantly recognize the blatant disrespect for our religion and our individual rights. The "Agreement" is forced relocation, whether we sign, or refuse, the end result is forced relocation. This is the first time in history that we are aware of one Native American tribe being authorized by the United States Government to forcibly relocate another. This "Agreement" is authorized ethnic cleansing, cultural genocide. We need a permanent solution, a lease is not acceptable to us. We do not want to leave this for our future generations to have to deal with. Frankly, we will not give up, or lose, our ancestral homeland, not now, nor in seventy-five years. A better solution would be to properly assess who lives where, and uses what land, and use that information to deal with this appropriately. We have not ever abandoned our land, not even a century ago, back in the time of Kit Carson and what is known as the "Long Walk," nor did we abandon it when the 1974 law was passed, nor will we abandon it now, nor in the future. If we were to agree to this lease, we would not even be allowed to go away to school, due to the provision that if you leave for two years you automatically lose your home site. Not to mention the provisions restricting us from any sort of self-employment. We are restricted by the lease, these provisions, and the meager amount of livestock they allow us in the lease, to becoming solely dependent on welfare. Page 1 of 3 Three acres is too small for a family living traditionally on this sort of terrain, we need room for our out -houses, our corrals, our sweat lodge space etc... Our religion law, and the land, which is one in the same, force us to be semi-migratory, we can not be expected to survive "fenced in." For example, our religion requires us to move from an area if it has been struck by lightning, or if there has been a death, also in order to not overgraze an area, or to look for watersheds for our gardens. The lease directly impedes our religious law. The farming area is too small, the watersheds are different from year to year, if you use one area year after year it becomes useless and infertile, it becomes a desert. Why must we have to designate our land to particular uses? Sometimes we need to put our animals in the cornfield, this is a part of our lifestyle, sometimes there is drought and we have to move our animals to different areas, we need to have access to a lot of area in order to continue our traditional life ways. The annual reallocation of permits is a hassle, we live isolated in a remote area, and are lacking in transportation. It is too easy to lose a permit, and there's too many permits, for every little thing. Why do we have to report our ceremonies, and run around and get permits for them? Religion and politics should not mix, it is abusive to our religion. We don't want the stress of wondering if our ceremony and all it's aspects will be allowed? Does any other religion in the United States have to get their ceremonial aspects approved? Imagine if the Catholics had to get permits for each communion. The termination provisions written into the "Agreement" are completely unreasonable, and there is no protection for us from any maliciousness from the Hopi tribe. The Hopi tribe has worked diligently and malignantly for the last twenty-two years to force us off of our land. We do not trust being left into their hands, for them to decide our future and make the laws as they see fit. It is even written into the "Agreement " that the Navajo Nation can not provide us with legal counsel. We are intentionally being left unable to obtain a lawyer, purposely left unable to defend ourselves. We are a humble people, how are we to pay for legal counsel, to defend ourselves against any unjust decisions? Are we supposed to barter for a lawyer with our meager amount of sheep? The Hopi Rangers could label anything we do as "malicious mischief," three violations could be accumulated easily by anybody. Having to live under these rules and regulations is unconstitutional and frankly frightening. We don't want to be under Hopi law, or mixed jurisdiction. A good example of what has occurred due to the current mixed jurisdiction is when a relative of ours died in his home two years ago. We went to the Hopi tribe, who told us they did not have jurisdiction, then we went to the Navajo, who also told us they did not have jurisdiction. We finally had to haul our deceased relative in the back of our own pick up truck to the Tuba City Morgue, and by that time he was all swelled up. We want to be under one law, our law, Navajo Law, not a confusing tangle of who to go to and for what. What is this Hopi Comprehensive Land Use plan? We don't want any destruction on our homeland!! We do not trust the Hopi's to take good care of our land, we suspect their only real interest in it, and why they are putting so much time and effort into this "dispute," is really for the rich coal and mineral deposits underneath our land. We don't want any mining on our land, that would be desecrating our church, comparable to the bombing of a church in Bethlehem for the Judeo-Christian Religions. The lease itself is set up to expire on its own terms if the Navajo Nation does not keep up timely, and the very expensive payments to the Hopi Tribe. Why does the Navajo Nation have to pay the Hopi Tribe to allow people to live on their own ancestral land? Why do we, the traditional Dinch families, as well as the Navajo Nation, have to pay for the mistake of arbitrarily, and falsely drawn lines. We have paid with twenty-two years of suffering and untold hardships; for example we have been living for years in substandard housing with fifteen people to one small two room house, due to the Bennett Page 2 of 3 Freeze. Another good example is that we have our food, as well as our only sources of income, our livestock,impounded, stolen, from us by the Hopi tribe on a regular basis. Haven't we paid enough already? We are, again, being denied our own culture, our own religion, our own life ways. We would finally appreciate some justice. To sign the "Accommodation Agreement" would be to sign away our individual rights and our religion. It is forced relocation; it is cultural genocide, it is ethnic cleansing. We beg of you to stop it and it's repercussions right now. Thank you and Sincerely, Салий тао Calvin Tso Statement of Dineh Alliance Honorable Senator John McCain Washington, D.C. 20510 Dear Mr. Chairman, We are writing to address the concerns of the traditional Dineh (Navajo) |