WHEREAS: NHLC-019-96 RESOLUTION OF THE OF THE HAVAJO NATION COUNCIL Recommending to the Intergovernmental Relations Committee and 1. It is in accordance with its Plan of Operation as amended by Navajo Nation Council Resolution (CD-68-89), that the Navajo-Hopi land Commission is authorized to coordinate activities of the Navajo Nation relating to the Navajo-Hopi "land dispute"; and 2. In 1994, the Navajo Nation Council authorized hearings concerning the impact of the United States-Navajo-Hopi "Land Dispute", held under the auspices of the Intergovernmental Relations Committee and the Navajo-Hopi Land Commission; and 3. In October and November, 1994, eleven (11) hearings were held throughout the Navajo Nation with nearly one hundred-forty witnesses testifying. Among the witnesses were representatives of the Navajo Nation, the United States of America, the State of Arizona, and Chapter and County officials. Also testifying were Navajo families resisting forced relocation, Navajo families who had relocated but had not received any benefits; Navajo families who had settled into relocation housing; Navajo families who had been denied relocation benefits; Navajo Spiritual Leaders; and Medical, Legal, Economic and Anthropological experts; Elders and Children; and 4. The Intergovernmental Relations Committee and the Navajo-Hopi Land Commission have summarized the hearings in a document entitled Report and Supplemental Findings of the Intergovernmental Relations Committee and the Navajo-Hopi Land Commission on the Impact of the United States-Navajo-Hopi "Land Dispute", which supplements, and is in addition to the Initial Findings of the Intergovernmental Relations Committee and the Navajo-Hopi Land Commission. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT : 1. The Report and Supplemental Findings of the Intergovernmental Relations Committee and the Navajo-Hopi Land Commission on the Impact of the United States-Navajo-Hopi "Land Dispute", along with the Initial Findings of the Intergovernmental Relations Committee and the Navajo-Hopi Land Commission are hereby recommended to the Intergovernmental Relations Committee and the Navajo Nation Council for adoption as the Official Findings of the Navajo Nation Council on the United States-Navajo-Hopi "Land Dispute". 2. The Official Findings of the Navajo Nation Council on the United States-Navajo-Hopi "Land Dispute" shall be presented to President Bill Clinton, Congressional Leaders, Attorney General Janet Reno, Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, and such other officers and employees of the United States Government as are concerned with this issue. 3. Based on the Official Findings of the Navajo Nation Council on the United States-Navajo-Hopi "Land Dispute", the Navajo-Hopi Land Commission recommends to the Navajo Nation Council, in conformity with Navajo Nation Council Resolution (CD-107-94), authorizes the President, Attorney General and Chief Legislative Counsel of the Navajo Nation to continue to negotiate comprehensive, just, and permanent settlement of the United States-Navajo-Hopi "Land Dispute" with a special obligation to promote and protect the religious rights of the affected Navajo families and to make this matter a continuing priority of the Navajo Nation. C-E-R-T- ·I-C-A-T-I-O-N a I hereby certify that the foregoing resolution was duly considered at a duly called meeting in Tuba City, (Navajo Nation)., Arizona, at which a quorum was present and that same was passed by a vote of [6] in favor, [1] opposed, and [1] abstentions this 23rd day of August, 1995. Forenzo Bedonie Lorenzo Bedonie, Chairman REPORT AND SUPPLEMENTAL FINDINGS OF THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS COMMITTEE AND THE NAVAJO-HOPI LAND COMMISSION ON THE IMPACT OF THE UNITED STATES-NAVAJO-HOPI "LAND DISPUTE" DUCTION Throughout October and November 1994, the Navajo Nation Council, under the authority of the Intergovernmental Relations Committee ("IGRC") and the Navajo-Hopi Land Commission, held a series of 11 hearings across the Navajo Nation on the impact of the United States-Navajo-Hopi "Land Dispute". The principal purpose of the hearings was to allow the Navajo people to speak on how the "land dispute" and the 1974 Navajo-Hopi Settlement Act (Public Law 93-531, 25 U.S.C. S$640 et seq. as amended, referred to hereinafter as the "relocation law") have affected their lives. While all aspects of the "land dispute" were addressed, the IGRC focused primarily on its impact on the spiritual and religious lives of the Navajo people. This report is a supplement to the "Initial Findings of the Intergovernmental Relations Committee and Navajo-Hopi Land Commission", which is attached as Appendix A. As the representative body of the Navajo people, the Navajo Nation Council sought the views of the Navajo people for a full report on how exactly the "land dispute" was affecting their lives. For far too long, the debate and controversy surrounding the "land dispute" has been dominated by the federal and state governments, outside organizations, and others with economic interests tied to the land dispute". Even the very term "land dispute" is the creation of "outsiders" and serves to diminish the spiritual and cultural impact of the federal relocation law by making it sound like a simple quarrel over some acreage. As a carefully chosen sobriquet, the term "land dispute" diverts attention from the true degradation of Navajo spirituality and loss of religious rights to a simplistic and more easily disposed of land ownership problem. For the Navajo people, the term "land dispute" is a misnomer; the principal issues of the conflict are the preservation and protection of Navajo tribal religion and the guaranteed freedom to practice that religion. As this report notes below, Navajo religious belief and practice are inextricably tied to a way of life which is rooted in the land in very specific ́ways and which has been destroyed by the relocation process. It is the Navajo people themselves and not "outsiders" who are in the best position to determine the impact of the "land dispute" and relocation law and its effect on Navajo religion and on the Navajo people. The tragedy of the federal relocation policy is all the more poignant because it is not the first time the Navajo people have been forcibly relocated on a massive scale by the Federal government. And because Navajo thinking is circular rather than linear, Navajos even today speak of this horror as if it were yesterday in the collective memory. In 1863, the United States Government dispatched Kit Carson to subdue the "renegade" Navajos who used Hopi and other Indian scouts in his campaign. To force the Navajos out of hiding, Carson engaged in a systematic "scorched earth" policy, killing or setting fire to Navajo livestock, orchards, fields and homes. With no shelter and starvation of their families imminent, many Navajos resigned themselves to surrender. Over 8,500 Navajos were rounded up and marched 300 miles to their "new home" at Fort Sumner, New Mexico. Hundreds died on the march, and thousands died in captivity at Fort Sumner, where living conditions were abominable. The Navajos who escaped capture hid in remote portions of their land, including the Grand Canyon and the top of the Black Mesa (the current "disputed land" area), when they prayed for the return of their brothers and sisters. Finally, in. 1868, the U.S. Army realizing that forced relocation of the Navajo people was a failure, signed a treaty with the Navajo which allowed them to return to their homeland in northern Arizona and northwest New Mexico. This report summarizes the findings of the Navajo Nation Council based on statements, both written and oral, of over 140 witnesses representing, with one exception, all parties'affected by the "land dispute".1 The findings are broadly divided into nine major categories: 1 The one exception is the Hopi Tribe which declined an invitation to testify. |