ing the Navajo and Hopi land dispute. Although, I am unable to attend this hearing, I want to share with you and the committee my current thoughts on this subject. As you know, this long and bitter dispute between these two distinguished peoples has been of great concern to me and to the citizens of Arizona. I am gratified that discussions are now centering on settlement and away from forced relocation of Navajo families.

I testified before the Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs on February 10, 1993, in Flagstaff, AZ, and expressed my concerns and hopes for settlement of this issue. Although it was my hope that a permanent solution could be attained instead of a 75-year accommodation, I am now convinced that this is the best that can be achieved at this time and, therefore, I support the 75-year aspect of the agreement. It is my understanding that the proposed settlement should pay the Hopi Tribe a total of $50,200,000.00 in installments as certain milestones are achieved on the path toward full implementation of the settlement. I also understand that the agreement permits the Hopi Tribe to use all or part of this money to acquire land in rural northern Arizona if it is suitable for ranching, farming, or similar agricultural uses. Lands acquired from private landowners would be on a "willing seller" and "willing buyer" basis. Any State trust lands acquired would be condemned by the Federal Government after agreement by the State and the State Land Trust would be compensated at the land's appraised fair market value. No National Forest lands are involved as part of this settlement.

This proposed settlement and accommodation agreement, while not perfect, represents a vast improvement over the initial proposal put forth in 1993 by the Federal Government. For this reason, I support the proposal as a way to put this bitter dispute behind us.

Sincerely,

FIFE SYMINGTON, Governor.

The CHAIRMAN. I'm very pleased that the Governor of the State of Arizona is in support of this proposal.

Mr. Chairman, what will happen to the Navajo families at the end of 75-year leases?

Mr. SECAKUKU. We have also discussed that. It will depend on how many Navajo families are left there by the end of 75 years. If things go the way they should have gone, certainly the Hopi Tribe will allow them another option to stay.

The CHAIRMAN. Maybe this is a question for Mr. Atkinson. What factors did the Hopi Tribe use in determining if $50 million was a fair settlement figure?

Mr. ATKINSON. Mr. Chairman, let me point out, I guess, in terms of the $50 million, we view it as $50 million and the 500,000 acres and the two of them are inextricably linked in our mind in terms of doing this.

The main case we had against the United States was a series of cases in the Claims Court where our complaints had requested. close to $280 million. These were basically based on regulations and statutes that the United States had passed that imposed upon itself regulations to protect the Hopi Tribe that the United States had not complied with. We have been litigating those cases since the mid-1980's and both sides, the United States and the Hopi Tribe, were frankly sick and tired of paying their lawyers to work on this and these were the resolutions that we came up with in terms of the $50 million and the 500,000 acres that we thought made the most sense in terms of dealing with this.

We obviously had to change the nature of the resolution based on the response we got from the city of Flagstaff and the State of Arizona, and the people of Arizona in early 1993. We have tried to change that still in a way that accomplishes the needs of the Hopi Tribe, and yet recognizes the needs of the people of the State of Arizona and also that of the United States.

We also feel that there is a great benefit here to the United States in that there will be no more litigation between us. What Chairman Secakuku referred to previously as escape clauses, we don't view them as such. I think Assistant Attorney General Schiffer was right, from our perspective those were hammer clauses to basically ensure that the settlement agreement is complied with and we fully expect that there will be no lawsuits us and the United States and that all of those will be met.

Something that hasn't been said today, but I think is important, and you may hear this from the families later on, there was a vote among the families in which over 80 percent of them said they were willing to go forward and continue talking with the Hopi Tribe on this. We full expect that numbers in that magnitude will be signing onto these accommodation agreements.

The CHAIRMAN. How many families do you expect will not sign on?

15.

Mr. ATKINSON. Our guess is that the number will be less than

The CHAIRMAN. Less than 15? Attorney General Yazzie, do you agree with that estimate of the number of families that would not agree to sign onto the 75-year lease? Attorney Atkinson just said, in their view, it would be less than 15 families. Is that your estimate?

Mr. YAZZIE. I believe it would be inappropriate for me to give you an estimate simply because under the agreement, as I stated, there is a time period within which individuals will decide whether to enter into the agreement and whether they do so or not will depend upon the actions of the United States and the Hopi Tribe within that period.

The CHAIRMAN. Let me tell you something, Mr. Attorney General. It's my job to ask the tough questions and it is my job to try and see that this has a reasonable chance of success. If we can't even get an estimate from you as to the number of families that we'd have to deal with in a very unpleasant fashion that would cause significant problems, that doesn't give me a lot of hope for a successful conclusion to this issue.

I would hope you would go back, rethink your position, and give this committee in writing an estimate of how many families you think would not agree to this settlement because if there are significant numbers of those families, then we are wasting our time here because we're back where we were at the beginning.

Mr. YAZZIE. On the other hand, Senator, we are confident that this agreement which was accomplished through the efforts of the residents themselves is supported by most of the families who are on Hopi partitioned lands. I don't want to leave the misimpression that the Navajo Nation does not support the Accommodation Agreement.

The CHAIRMAN. I'd still like to have an idea whether it is 15, 50, or 500 because my colleagues in the Senate will rely on me for some judgment as to the prospects of leading this issue to a successful conclusion. I have to have certain facts in order to be able to make that judgment and give them the recommendation because the lease aspect of this will require approval of Congress. I need to know what the prospects are of this just continuing to be

dragged out and us being faced with the very unpleasant option which the first witness, Ms. Schiffer, described and that is charges of trespass or whether we can reasonably expect this to be accepted by the overwhelming majority of the residents so we can resolve this in a peaceful manner which has been our goal all along.

I hope you will be able to provide this committee with an estimate as to the number of families who will not agree to this settlement because other action may have to be taken.

Mr. Attorney General, is there a majority of support on the current Navajo Nation Council for this settlement?

Mr. YAZZIE. This Accommodation Agreement was approved and recommended by the committee that was established by the Hopi partitioned lands residents. We then presented the matter to the Navajo-Hopi Land Commission and they expressed their support for it. We then presented the matter to the Intergovernmental Relations Committee of the Navajo Nation Council just the other day and they expressed support for it.

The matter still has to be presented to the Navajo Nation Council. It's one of those things where you visited two committees who expressed support for it; hopefully that demonstrates that the Council will also support it. Again, the Council has already stated its position that religion is the primary concern here and the feeling of the Hopi partitioned lands residents, their support for it. We will be approaching them in the near future with this Accommodation Agreement.

The CHAIRMAN. Attorney General Yazzie, do you expect the Navajo Nation to take a vote or express their view on this issue anytime soon and if so, when?

Mr. YAZZIE. The Navajo Nation Council meets again in April and that's been our target date of presenting the Accommodation Agreement.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much.

I'd like to ask you one more question, Attorney General. That is, what would be done, what action would be taken in the event of families who both fail to sign the agreement and fail to take any action except remain there? What options are left that need to be exercised in that case?

Mr. YAZZIE. The option, as we read the United States-Hopi Agreement and the Accommodation Agreement together, is that those people who refuse to enter into an agreement and refuse to leave Hopi partitioned lands, will be subjected to eviction action by the U.S. Government.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much. Obviously, neither you, nor I, nor the Hopi Tribe wants that to happen and we will do everything in our power and within our capabilities to prevent that eventuality since it would be a very tragic event.

Mr. YAZZIE. Senator, that's the point that I wanted to especially make here, that in thanking the committee for allowing us this opportunity, we also request your continued interest in the matter so that these matters can be resolved and that Navajos will never have to be forcibly relocated.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you.

I want to thank both of you and I also would like for you, Attorney General Yazzie, to express my appreciation to President Hale

and the members of the tribal leadership both on the Council and in the tribal government who have played a very important role in moving this issue forward. I believe that we are close and I hope that we can pass these few remaining obstacles as quickly as possible.

I have to tell you, Mr. Chairman, that we have to do some education to the people of Arizona as to the details of this agreement and why 500,000 acres is a necessary part of this agreement. I think we have to explain to the American taxpayers why we may have to keep the relocation effort open for another 5 to 9 years depending on whose estimates we have, but frankly, that's one of my duties and I look forward to carrying it out.

I also appreciate the Governor of the State of Arizona going on record in support of this proposed agreement.

I want to thank you all for coming and I appreciate your efforts. Did you want to say anything else, Mr Chairman?

Mr. SECAKUKU. Yes; I want to clarify just one point and also there are two things I want to say.

First is that you asked about the 500,000 acres that the U.S. Government will be taking into trust for the Hopi.

The CHAIRMAN. Exactly, it means $50 million to be allocated for the purchase of 500,000 acres.

Mr. SECAKUKU. I understand. What I wanted to clarify was the fact that there may be 500,000 acres, we have a team that's looking into the situation. Some of the moneys might buy some of the commercial lands or may be used for other things like social services and some of the human needs of the Hopi. I just wanted to make that clear.

The CHAIRMAN. Pay raises for the tribal council and other things?

Mr. SECAKUKU. Yes; that's right. [Laughter.]

The other thing I wanted is to add this resolution as part of the record this morning. This is in support by the Council in the settlement agreement.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much, Attorney General Yazzie. It is great to see you both again.

Our final panel will be Roger Attakai, president, Navajo Families Mediation Team; Mae Tso, who is a member of the Navajo Families Mediation Team, accompanied by Lee Brooke Phillips, counsel; and Christopher Bavasi, executive director, Office of Navajo and Hopi Indian Relocation in Flagstaff, AZ.

Ms. Tso, we will begin with you. Please proceed with whatever statement you want to make before the committee.

I would announce the hearing record will remain open for 2 weeks for additional statements and any prepared statements that have been made will be made a part of the record.

Ms. Tso, please proceed.

STATEMENT OF MAE TSO, MEMBER, NAVAJO FAMILIES MEDIATION TEAM, MOSQUITO SPRINGS, AZ, ACCOMPANIED BY LEE BROOKE PHILLIPS, ESQUIRE, COUNSEL

Ms. Tso. [Remarks given in Native tongue.]

Mr. BITSUIE. [Presenting Ms. Tso's statement in English.]

I'd like to thank the committee for giving me the opportunity to provide testimony and I would address you as my son.

Let me introduce myself. My name is Mae Tso and I'm a resident of Mosquito Springs. In the course of this mediation, I was appointed by the Mosquito Springs residents to represent them in the direct discussion with the Hopi Tribe.

Very recently, the Navajo families that I represent met. This was composed of the elderly, the children as well as the babies. I'm here to represent the Mosquito Springs community, the Big Mountain residents, the Cactus Valley, Red Willow, Tunalea, and the Howard Massard residents.

The purpose for which I'm here is to address the concept of a lease of land for the 75-year period. This is not agreeable to the residents that I'm representing here. The reason for this position is that the Navajo religion has not been fully recognized in the main body of the agreement.

During the mediation process, even though the agreement that is now before you did not address many of the religious aspects of the Navajo religion such as there is no provision that basically protects the sacred sites that are on the Hopi Partitioned Lands. There were places on the land we live on where the holy people have made imprints on the Mother Earth. There are also some petroglyphs as well as some travel shrines. The shrines are located where the holy people have touched the Mother Earth and so we have these sacred sites.

Many of the concerns that we have expressed throughout this mediation process were not really addressed in this agreement that we're talking about. Jennie Manybeads is my grandmother and she still resides in Mosquito Springs. She had instructed us to file this lawsuit against the United States that is requiring us to relocate from our sacred land.

We plead with the Hopi Tribe in terms of the accommodation that will be made in terms of our religious needs and even the children that have participated in this mediation have pleaded with the Hopi Tribe in terms of their accommodations, in terms of permanent arrangement, and they even cry in front of them. As this agreement was becoming finalized, the Hopi Tribe left the room and it was the U.S. representatives that basically brought them back into the mediation process. I have not seen the representatives of the Hopi Tribe that we have been meeting with until today, until just now. To me, the agreement on the religious issues in terms of the protection and the recognition of it is not a part of this agreement.

My son, I need for you to recognize why we do not want to relocate and that we want and need our religion to be recognized and protected. The medicine people that are still on the land and the people that are still out there are the very traditional people. They use the plants, the herbs as medicine. They have planted the water that we use and they have given offerance in those places. There was never an instruction from them that we would lease these sacred sites. Our Creator has placed us on this land and as such, it should not be subject to termination and it should not be limited in nature.