Ya'a' teh & Aloha All... FAX Action Alert Feb 1st. 2000
The Altar-Land at Black Mesa is one of the sacred power-centers
of our planet, and the balance of all life is being jeopardized
by the
ruthless and brutal rape of this mineral-rich area adjacent to
the Grand
Canyon.
My Aunty, Roberta Blackgoat, is one of the "resistors",
or traditional
elders, who is holding out till the last, faced with guns, bulldozers,
barbed wire, helicopters, and constant harrassment... in order
to protect
the medicine ways and family ties to this sacred place, now referred
to
simply as "Big Mountain."
The extent of the conflict, the war of attrition carried out
by U.S. &
multinational corporate terrorists, and the total ecocide of the
North
section of Black Mesa (literally turned into a "hell on Earth"!)
by
United Energy & Peabody Coal through stripmining, is difficult
to
convey in words, or even pictures.
Please take a short time out of your lives and visit the links
below,
watch ::: "Vanishing Prayer" (RealPlayer)
<http://www.freespeech.org/senaa/VanPrayr2.ram>
Sign the online petition at SENAA, and after you've reviewed
the
situation, please send your letters of protest to the people below.
Having lived out there with the elders, and walked in the footsteps
of the ancients, having listened to the Hopi Prophecies, and the
wisdom of the medicine carriers, I can testify to the importance
of this struggle for sovereignty and self-determination, both
culturally and ecologically. Walk the Altar-Land yourself, and
feel the Spirit move in and around you...
In the Spirit of Crazy Horse, Emiliano Zapata, and Queen Lili'uokalani
BZ Bonoboy
Hilo, Lawful Kingdom of Hawai'i
sheeva@shaka.com
Protests & Support for Elders to:::
Secretary of Interior Bruce Babbitt
bruce_babbitt@ios.doi.gov
BIA Office of Congressional & Legislative Affairs
<http://www.doi.gov/bia/clahome.html>
U.S. Department of the Interior ::: BIA West
OAIT@ios.doi.gov
jackie_dean_cheek@ios.doi.gov
danae_wilson@ios.doi.gov
National Academy of Public Administration
<http://www.napawash.org/napa/index.html>
Comments to cbrouwer@napawash.org
(Panel Urges Major Reforms at the Bureau of Indian Affairs)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Assistant Attorney General Eric Holder
United States Department of Justice
PO Box 44378
Washington DC 20026
January 28, 2000
Dear Mr. Holder:
I am concerned about the impending forced eviction of traditional
Dine'h
(Navajo) from Hopi Partition Lands (HPL) in northeastern Arizona.
Please
instruct the Office of the United States Attorney for the District
of
Arizona, to NOT seek court ordered evictions in the United States
District
Court in Phoenix, nor enforce any evictions! Instead, please instruct
them to protect Dine'h human, civil and religious rights.
Dine'h are being forced to sign "Accommodation Agreement"
leases that are
neither permanent or fair. Those who do not sign face eviction
hearings
sometime after February 1, 2000 under PL 104-301, which attempts
to
settle a legal claim brought by the Hopi Tribe against the United
States.
This matter must be handled non-violently by the United States
Department
of Justice, with sensitivity to the traditional Elders and different
culture of the Dine'h. The DoJ must halt any threatening actions
against
United States citizens whose beliefs counter federal policies
that
directly affect their children!
Despite any perceived land dispute between Dine'h (Navajo)
residents or
the Navajo and the Hopi Tribal Councils, forced relocation continues
to
violate Dine'h religious and human rights. Many outstanding issues
remain unresolved in the Manybeads V. United States et al. class
action
lawsuit, now in review at the Ninth United States Circuit Court
of Appeals
in San Francisco. Also, related concerns continue to be heard
within the
United Nations. With time, these matters will be addressed, if
evictions
do not happen first. Please allow these matters to be resolved!
Currently, Dine'h who repaired their homes on the HPL, despite
a 33-year
old construction ban, are told to dismantle the necessary repairs
or face
demolition under the "Bennett Freeze" section of PL
93-531. This ban
violates Dine'h treaty rights and human rights and will hasten
evictions!
Since the US Department of Justice is under investigation for
it's role in
the tragic fire at the Branch Dividian Compound at Waco, Texas
and the
FBI has been held responsible for shooting deaths at Ruby Ridge
in Idaho,
I urge you to please direct US Attorneys in Phoenix to not seek
or enforce
court ordered evictions of traditional Dine'h from lands shared
for
centuries!
The United States must be more "accommodating" and
learn to stop bullying
American Indians or it will only continue to exasperate the ongoing
situation. Forced evictions can only bring further tragedy and
national
disgrace. Instead, protect the human and religious rights of the
traditional Dine'h, regardless of their lease status, who remain
on the HPL!
I thank you for your kind consideration of these matters.
Sincerely,
(your name)
Fax -- Print and send to: (202) 514-0467 Spread the word!
also
FAX ::: Asst. Secretary of Interior John Berry
202-208-3230
Call the DoJ-- Express key points in the above letter (202) 514-2101
Please let us know you did and/or send us a copy, thank you!
For Big Mountain-Black Mesa updates and background information,
petitions,
letter writing or phone tree tips, worker/witness orientation
packets, or
to send donations please write: Indigenous Support Coalition of
Oregon,
PO Box 11715 Eugene, OR 97440 or e-mail us at bigmnt@efn.org
<mailto:bigmnt@efn.org>, or call us
at (541) 683-2789. Please call to prearrange before sending us
a fax.
The Dine'h people always ask for your ongoing prayers. On their
behalf, thank you for your sincere interest and your helpful support!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
PETITION TO END THE RELOCATION AND GENOCIDE OF THE DINE'H
Written and distributed by SENAA International
2324 Georgetown Rd., NW, No. 602, Cleveland, TN 37311-1268
To: The United Nations Commission On Human Rights,
The President of the United States,
All Members of the Congress of the United States, and
All Applicable United States Government Agencies
We, the undersigned, address you with a matter of grave concern
regarding
unconstitutional laws that have been enacted by the United States
of America
which condone and order the practices of human rights violations
and planned
genocide upon the Dine'h (Navajo) living at Big Mountain, at Black
Mesa, in
northeastern Arizona, and regarding the human rights violations
and genocide
that are now being perpetrated against these same Dine'h people.
Because the enactment and implementation of these laws, namely
Public Law
93-531; Public Law 104-301; and The Hopi Navajo Land Dispute Settlement
Act
of 1996 (Senate Bill S1973); and specifically PL 93-531, section
10(f),
known as the Bennett Freeze, are depriving the Dine'h of all human,
civil,
and constitutional rights, including their rights to to life itself,
through
deprivation of all means of sustenance, these laws, by their nature,
are
unconstitutional and inhumane by every standard, both domestic
and
International, are not in the best interest of the Dine'h, and
violate every
principle that the United Nations upholds.
We, the people, indicate by this petition bearing our signatures,
including
the signatures on attached pages, that it is the consensus and
will of the
citizens of the United States of America and the citizens of all
nations
that value freedom and human rights that House Resolution HR-151
be
immediately approved by the government of the United States, which
will
repeal PL 93-531, section 10 (f), known as the Bennett Freeze;
that removal
of the Dine'h to radiation contaminated "new land" immediately
stop and
those previously removed be allowed to return to their original
homes at
Black Mesa with due compensation; that the February 1, 2000 removal
deadline
be dismissed; that threats to and abuse of the Dine'h by all federal
agencies, including the BIA and BIA directed Hopi police, immediately
stop;
that the laws named in paragraph 2 above be repealed; that all
human, civil,
and constitutional rights be returned to the Dine'h people of
Black Mesa;
and that the government of the Navajo and Hopi people, which are
each
sovereign nations, be returned to the people of those Indigenous
American
nations without undue interference from United States federal
agencies,
including the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).
We, the undersigned, strongly recommend that all applicable
United Nations
and United States government agencies give immediate and serious
consideration and speedy compliance to the terms of this petition,
which
represents the sentiments and consensus of the citizens of the
United States
of America, citizens of the world, and all Indigenous American
people.
Sign Petition Online
http://members.xoom.com/senaa/sign.html
senaa1@netscape.net
senaa@mail.com
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Traditional Dineh Testimony
**********************
ROBERTA BLACKGOAT:
"We have no choice. Everything is out of our pockets.
Emptying ourselves. Digging our Mother Earth, killing, making
weapons.
Money is also part of Mother's precious body and now turning around
and
trying to kill
her. Now children are not respectful.
(They) wanted to get rid of all these human beings; to take
(Mother Earth's)
hearts, intestines, which (we're) supposed to be living on.
This is how it's been set by Indians' prayers; taken care of
by Indians'
Holy Songs and this is not being respected. Visitors not respecting
this.
This has to be stopped!
We need our children to respect the earth. Write to congressional
leaders in
Washington
& call them too. Their hearts have to be touched.
The Creator has sent us here to take care of the land. If they
want us to
leave then SUE THE CREATOR FIRST!"
PAULINE WHITESINGER:
"I have no formal education to move to the city to pay
bills. Here is simple life, I need no money to live here...."
We borrow this land from Mother Earth. Nobody on Earth can
say it's their
land. Father Sky is looking at us saying we shouldn't be saying
'this is our
land.'
Nobody on Earth can say it's their land! Father Sky is looking
at us saying
we shouldn't be saying that this is our land They have no right
impounding
(livestock)
because I told them not to come over to my house or to even come
to the top
of the hill to
look at my house or even to write to me."
"What do they want? We just borrow (the Land) and live here."
RENA BABBITT-LANE:
"There's alot of pollution from Peabody Coal Mine and alot
of
the people are sick from it.
It's our land on this Mesa-they don't need to bother us. They
cannot impound
anymore. What they are doing to us is making us sick. There has
been
destruction of
grave sites.
They're crushing cement foundations of people's homes that
have been
abandoned
because of relocation. They are taking. It shows you how they
are greedy.
They're erasing all evidence of genocide. Two burials of our family
were
destroyed. They
were torn down and taken away somewhere.
Let them all come! Whoever can come, come! Supporters can put
tents up at
the roads for lookout."
LOUISE BENALLY:
"It's (the use of direct action) up to the people who have
to live with it every day and some Navajo are scared. Apply public
pressure
at all
levels, churches, students-an uprising in the universities.
Nov. 30th: In a vision there were possibly 1,000 teepees in
the clouds in
the East. Later that day the sun had horns, like buffaloes, meaning
'war.'
It shows that the
universe knows there's an imbalance.
It's a global matter. Burning fossil fuel is depleting not
only our culture
but the planet too. People who went to Seattle we give high honors
too
because they stood up
to...the beast. We felt we were there in spirit too. They (WTO)
are
disregarding the planet.
This is a global issue; WTO is a big contributor (to the problem)."
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
"It is in the inherent nature of human beings
to yearn for freedom, equality and dignity.
Brute force, no matter how stongly applied,
can never subdue the basic desire
for freedom and dignity."
H. H. Dalai Lama
SAVE Sacred EARTH Cultures!!!
http://www.savetibet.org
"Our country has been and is being plasticized, cheapened,
and exploited. They're selling it in plastic leis, coconut ashtrays,
and cans of "genuine, original Aloha."
"They've raped us, sold us, killed us, and still they
expect us
to behave... Hawai'i is a colony of the imperialist United States."
Kehau Lee re: U.S.Federal removal of Hawaiians
from Hawaiian HomeLands & military occupation (1970)
Access Hawaiian Sovereignty
http://www.hawaii-nation.org
http://www.nativehawaiians.com
EarthAction UH-Hilo ::: Go Wild Go Global
http://www.zyworld.com/earthaction
"Show me your garden and I shall
tell you what you are."
-- Alfred Austin (1835-1913)