From: Black Mesa Projects/ ISCO <bigmnt@efn.org>
If anyone wants us to snail mail a copy of a Petition to Clinton
for an
Executive Order Forbidding Forced Evictions or other letter writing
tips
please reply to: bigmnt@efn.org, thank you! Beth, ISCO
The President
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington DC 20500
November 1, 1999
Dear Mr. President:
We are concerned about impending eviction hearings of traditional
Dine'h
(Navajo) in US District Court in Phoenix after February 1, 2000.
Please
issue an Executive Order forbidding any forced evictions of Dine'h
from
Hopi Partition Lands (HPL) in northeastern Arizona, while you
still can!
Forcing Dine'h to sign unfair "Accommodation Agreement"
leases to settle
legal claims the Hopi Tribal Council brought against the United
States is
neither permanent nor fair. Dine'h are told they must sign AA
leases
under PL 104-301 to stay on the HPL, or face forced eviction to
radioactive "New Lands" contaminating the Rio Puerco
near Sanders. This
is unacceptable!
AA leases are a bad solution and continue to be resisted by
Dine'h
because lease terms limit their sheepherding subsistence, interfere
with
their land-based worship, and deny their due process and constitutional
rights. Also, leases are temporary and ignore the needs of future
Dine'h
generations.
Forbidding construction or repair of housing for 33 years to
force Dine'h
to move under PL 93-531 is a cruel and inappropirate measure to
solve
problems that the United States has created. Young Dine'h families
have
had to crowd into deteriorating existing housing or move away;
those who
have made repairs or built homes since 1966 are told to dismantle
them or
face demolition. Promises that the ban will be lifted under AA
leases
remain unfulfilled. Adequate housing is their treaty right and
human
right! Why force them to give up other rights in order to regain
this
basic right?
Court-ordered evictions would be enforced by a multijurisdictional
police
task force led by the Department of Justice, who is currently
under
investigation for their role in the tragic fire at the Branch
Dividian
Compound at Waco, Texas. Forced evictions can only bring further
tragedy
and national disgrace. Please forbid any forced evictions!
The United States must become more "accommodating"
and stop bullying
American Indians. This is your opportunity to leave a legacy
of righting
centuries of wrongdoing, starting with traditional Dine'h on the
HPL.
Show your commitment to human rights here at home. Please
issue an
Executive Order forbidding forced eviction of Dine'h, before it
is too late!
Yours very truly,
Beth Newberry, President
Indigenous Support Coalition of Oregon