Testimony of Ben Little
Cactus Valley Community
To: Ms. Mary Robinson, High Commissioner for Human Rights
Mr. Abdelfattah Amor, Special Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance
Mr. Francis M. Deng, Special Rapporteur on Internally Displaced Persons
United Nations Commission on Human Rights
Re: Human Rights violations against a Dineh veteran
Date: December 2, 1998
Dear Ms. Robinson, Mr. Amor, Mr. Deng,
I am Dineh, born right here in Cactus Valley back in November 1, 1945. I am a veteran, having served in Vietnam in 1967. I went to war, not just for the Dineh people, but for the United States. I took an oath and swore to defend my country. I tried to keep people free from Communism and all that. I had a head injury while I was in Vietnam from an explosion. I was attacked by a rocket and fell into a river with dirty water and my ear drum busted. Dirty water got into my ear and half of my head is not functioning right. I was in a hospital in Vietnam for 2 months. My head pain is bad and there is no relief, not aspirin or medicine - it won't help.
When I came back home from Vietnam, the US government told me that this land is not mine. I came back to another kind of war, not with bombs but to a war with words on my own land. That is really a shame - I fought in Vietnam and turned around and came back to another kind of war - the way the US government treats us. I don't think that this is right. Any other veteran I served with of other races, colored, white, other races serving in the armed forces of the US do not experience this. To me all this is just a shame.
The US government told me not to fix my house, corral, cornfield, livestock. All denied - 30 years denied. I tried to get help from the US government's Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) - they just denied me. When I applied for veterans benefits from my own Chapter of the Navajo Nation - they refused me, telling me I am not a veteran. I have already submitted papers to them proving I am a veteran. I don't know how they can say this. Is it only me or is it all people living on the Joint Use Area (JUA). Believe me, I know this happens to me. I don't think this is right to tell people how to run their life, where to live, what to do, what not to do - this is supposed to happen only in Communist countries. But I know this is happening to us living in the US. The US will deny this - they are denying everything, even the White House is denying what happened to President Clinton - this is a true example of what the US is denying.
I am a veteran of the US army. I should be proud to live where I want to. I earned this right. My family earned this right - to live where I want to. I gave my live. My country owes me this right and owes me a piece of land that I can say is my own and use it. They owe me this in return. That's all I ask for. For me and for all my people on the Joint Use Area.
To me - I been told to get rid of my livestock, my cattle, my sheep. They wrote to me about impounding my livestock. They said don't fix my house, my windows. I have a little travel trailer at my brother's. Even that they say to get rid of. The US government, the Hopi and Navajo tribes say this - my own tribe is doing this. They even sent a lawyer here to tell me to get rid of the trailer. I refuse to get rid of the trailer. It is at my brother's for my kids to use as a shelter when it is bad weather and they have to go to school from there. I am not even allowed to have this.
I asked for the dirt road we live on to be graded - kids go to school from here but the Navajo, Hopi and BIA don't want to do this because they would be helping us. They try to make us as miserable as they can to make us leave - torturing us - not physically but mentally. If we are weak we give up - that's the way the government works - all together against the Dineh people.
I heard other people's livestock were impounded by the BIA and people were thrown in jail and harassed in jail for days before they were released. That is what I heard.
I want all this to stop, I want all my people to be free, at peace! I don't want anyone to bother them, harass them. We are supposed to be free but we are denied this freedom. My people just want to be free. That is what I want for my people.
Please help us.
Yours sincerely,
Ben Little
Address:
Memorandum
To: Mr. Amos Johnson, President, Forest Lake Chapter House
and Secretary, Forest Lake Chapter House
From: Ben Little, veteran and resident of Cactus Valley Community
Re: Veterans benefits
Date: September 18, 1998
Dear Mr. Johnson and Chapter House Secretaries,
The Navajo tribe gave $30,000.00 to each Chapter to distribute to veterans to help them with fixing their house or paying bills. This is the first time in a long time that I have heard them doing this. So I went to the Chapter and submitted all the papers I was asked to submit to qualify for the money the tribe gave you for the veterans - discharge papers, certificate of Indian blood, voting registration for the Navajo tribe. I turned it all in at Forest Lake Chapter House. But when I went there to get the veterans benefits I was denied this benefit. You told me that I was not on the list to receive benefits because I am not a veteran. I was a Sargent in the US army. I asked why I am denied veterans benefits, I have submitted all the papers. Are you denying me because I am on the Joint Use Area?
I was born right here in Cactus Valley back in November 1, 19454. I was born here. My mom is Atta Johnson and my dad Bert Little. I went to school from here to Kayenta Boarding School, Inter-Mountain High School in Utah. And I went into the service, drafted in November 1967. I came back here from Vietnam in July 1969 and was on reserve for 10 years after that. And when I came back from Vietnam in 1973 I got a job at the Black Mesa mine. Ever since then I stayed working there. People that know me as a veteran are Glenna Begay, Amy Johnson-Amy Little, Scott Johnson, my brother Sam Little, Ed Little, Billy Little, Jimmy Little, alot of people, the names would take up all these pages. I have lived where I am since 1973 and before that, all my life. I vote at Forest Lake for the Navajo tribe and I vote in Kayenta precinct for the state and government as a whole.
I tried to get Agent Orange benefits when I returned from the army. But I was told that the only way I could get any benefits was if I was dying. I went to the hospital in Tucson, Albuquerque, Window Rock, Monument Valley, Ft. Defiance, and they took x-rays of me and saw sores in my stomach but still I was denied me. I went to the Agent Orange office in Ft. Defiance, Window Rock to try to get benefits - but they all denied me. I was exposed when they sprayed the jungle and all the leaves fell off and dried up. I've been there, touched the leaves. They never told us it was dangerous. They never said nothing about this. I still get pamphlets from the army, from the Secretary of the Army and the Secretary of Defense telling us what kind of disease Agent Orange is. I have health effects-my legs are weak and I have stomach pain.
I had a head injury in Vietnam from an explosion. I was attacked by a rocket and fell into a river. All dirty water and my ear drum busted. Dirty water got into my ear and half of my head is not functioning right. I was in a hospital in Vietnam for 2 months. My head pain is bad and there is no relief, not aspirin or medicine - it won't help.
I am a veteran having served in Vietnam. I fought in Vietnam and turned around and came back home to another kind of war - the way the US government, Navajo and Hopi tribes treat us. I don't think that this is right. Any other veteran I served with of other races, colored, white, other races serving in the armed forces of the US do not experience this. To me all this is just a shame.
I have already submitted papers to you proving that I am a veteran. I don't know how you can say that I am not a veteran. Is it only me or is it all people living on the Joint Use Area (JUA). Believe me, I know this happens to me.
I am a veteran of the US army. And because of this, I respectfully request that you access the information I have already submitted and immediately issue me the veterans benefits that I am rightfully due.
Yours sincerely,
Ben Little
Address:
Memorandum
To: Department of records - VA Outreach - Gallup, Albuquerque and Tucson; Ft. Defiance Indian Hospital; Gouldings Medical Clinic; and Kayenta Clinic
From: Ben Little
Re: Request for release of medical records
Date: September 18, 1998
To Whom It May Concern,
I, Ben Little am interested in re-submitting an application to receive Agent Orange benefits and am in need of a copy of my medical records.
I hereby respectfully request that you release a complete copy of my medical records as soon as possible to:
Ben Little
Address:
Thank you for your prompt attention to this urgent matter.
Yours sincerely,
Ben Little