Date: Thu, 27 May 1999 21:47:00 EDT
Subject: Part I: The BIA returns 6 of 7 cows and Update on Kee
Shay's
Exclusion Order
To: Big Mountain Supporters
Return of 6 Cows from the BIA impoundment yard
News flash: Monday, May 24, 1999, we secured the release of
6 of 7 cows
promised for return at no cost from the BIA impoundment yard.
Carlos Begay, Glenna Glenna Begay and Marsha Monestersky went
to the U.S.
Department of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Hopi
Agency in
Keams Canyon on Friday, May 21 and on Monday, May 24, 1999. We
went there
negotiate for then pick up 7 cows promised to us by Robert Carolin,
Superintendent on Friday, May 21, 1999. However, when we got
there we
were
told to wait for the results of a conference call between Robert
Carolin
and
Heather Sibbison, Counsel to the Secretary of the Interior Bruce
Babbitt.
What we were told is that Glenna could get back her animals but
Alice could
not because she was not eligible for a BIA permit even though
she has lived
at her homesite all her life as her parents had before her.
The ramifications for the return of Glenna’s cows created
a precedent for
the
BIA to exercise their jurisdiction and honor (or issue) BIA permits
to
all
non-signers of the Accommodation Agreement refusing to sign for
a Hopi
grazing permit.
Like it or not the BIA has jurisdiction over grazing. And
although the
Hopi
tribe is currently trying to lift a court injunction, the reality
is that
they do not have any jurisdiction over grazing. This also brings
into
question how the Hopi tribe can issue grazing permits for anyone
including
signers of the Accommodation Agreement when they are under a court
injunction
that prohibits them from exercising grazing jurisdiction.
So how is the BIA going to exercise their jurisdiction now
that we are
bringing this to their attention? What we have seen so far is
that they
have
been confiscating poor peoples cattle, selling them at Valley
Livestock,
a
public auction in Holbrook, and pocketing all proceeds made from
their
sale.
The U.S. government has been stealing animals from relocation
resisters
including, Rena Babbitt Lane, Ella and Anna Begay, Pauline Whitesinger,
Glenna Begay and Alice Begay to name a few. The BIA is unfit for
jurisdiction
as Carlos Begay says, "The matriarchs on HPL have suffered
enough and have
been abused enough. It is time tnow for us to get out from under
the BIA
and
go under the State Department. This is who we signed the Treaty
of 1868
with."
February 1, 2000 is still nine months away and the resisters
are suffering,
forced to starve, powerless to stop the U.S. government from stealing
their
property, religious resources and livelihood. The BIA does not
even follow
their own federal regulations. No five-day notice was served
to Alice
before
her cow was impounded on April 20 and on May 18. Alice and her
husband
Kee
Z. did not even know these cows were impounded, until on both
occasions,
they
saw a public notice stating that their cow would be sold at public
auction.
What the BIA is calling a five-day impoundment notice properly
served on
the
impoundment of 2 cows is a notice sent to some unknown person
that signed
for
a certified mail at Low Mountain School in Chinle, AZ and at a
post office
box in Kayenta, AZ. We have copies of these documents and a signed
statement
from the Postmaster in Pinon, AZ, the place where they do get
their mail.
Alice and Kee Z. want the BIA to give them back the money they
collected
from
the sale of their cow at public auction on May 5 and the return
of her
cow
promised to her on May 21. Alice Begay says, "Robert Carolin,
Superintendent
of the BIA Hopi Agency promised to give me back my cow. Now he
is refusing
to give my cow. My cow was in with the other cattle in the holding
area
when
Glenna got her cows back. But when they loaded up the cows for
Glenna
they
took my cow out and put it in the impoundment yard with the others.
I
need
my cow to come back. I will keep it in the corral with the others
to avoid
impoundment. I don't want my cow sold at public auction."
Alice Begay continues, “I was born here and have lived
here all my life.
My
family, all of them were born here and my grandmother and mom
before me.
We
have 5 girls, 3 boys, and more than 50 grandchildren. I am illiterate
and do
not speak, read or write English. I depend upon my animals for
my survival.
How can the BIA tell me I am not eligible for a permit to graze
my animals
and continue to steal my animals when they refuse to give me a
permit?
Doesn’t that just make them cattle rustlers, stealing my
animals then keeping
the money they make when they are sold? I have no money to pay
to get my
cow
out. It is making me sick thinking about my cow in the impoundment
yard.
Robert Carolin lied about giving me back my cow. It made me depressed.
Everything is bad. I can't eat at all and the stress is putting
me down.
All this just gives me heartache. Both me and my husband are
already sick
from the stress.”
Glenna Begay says, “The BIA is just backing us into a
corner and even though
I got my cows back I am forced to have my sheep exiled on the
other side
of
the fence (NPL) where they are denied access to water that is
on the HPL
side
of the fence. How can I live like this? I need to have my animals
near
me.”
She continues, "I see how they feel about us because when
I was at the
BIA, Fred Chavez and Robert Carolin said they know everyone of
my horses
and
their colors. And if they see them on the range they will impound
them.
It
seems that everyday they are watching us. We have no privacy."
She continues, "When we were just finishing loading up
my cows to bring
them
home - the BIA Rangers and Hopi police brought in 2 bulls and
1 Heifer
brand
(IGB) Brand impounded from HPL. The officers said they captured
them from
Range Unit 451. They were just standing there laughing, happy
that they
could impound our cattle. How could the US government be allowed
to make
us
starve?" “We are just like the people in Kosovo, refugees
on our land
with
no choice but to leave. We are being told that we must leave
our land
empty
handed and leave all our animals behind. I fear for the end of
my ways
of
life and my ability to survive.”
Because the BIA has jurisdiction over grazing issues on Hopi
Partition
Lands
until February 1, 2000, we need your help to ensure that the BIA
honor
old
BIA permits for all those non-signers not holding a Hopi permit
and issue
new
temporary BIA permits for all non-signers that do not hold a BIA
permit
like
Alice and Kee Z. Begay. The irony is that the non-signers need
these
permits so they can stop the BIA can stop impounding their animals.
Glenna Begay says, “I know that the BIA has already been
found guilty of
having 2.5 billion in tribes trust funds with no record of either
deposits
or
withdrawals. Haven’t they stolen enough of Indigenous peoples
money?
The
excuse that the BIA has for stealing our animals is the condition
of the
rangeland. If this rangeland is endangered why don’t they
just provide
hay
and feed to supplement the range? We have been told that the
Navajo Nation
can apply for and receive hay and feed for our animals. So why
won't they
help us? This is not really about range management at all, it
is about
starvation tactics. Why do they want to make us suffer and starve?
Maybe
they are just doing this so we will give up and just leave our
land.”
The people had a victory today securing the release of 6 of
Glenna Begay’s
cows. But what we really need to do is to stop the impoundments
altogether
and get Alice and Kee Z. Begay back their cow. What the BIA must
do to
remedy this tragedy is to issue permits to all non-signers not
holding
Hopi
permits and honor these permits until February 1, 2000. What
the Navajo
Nation must do is apply for and receive hay and feed for the resisters
animals forced to remain in the corral.
The BIA is feeling the pressure. There must be a humane solution.
Please
help us keep the pressure up.
Please call:
Robert Carolin, Superintendent
U.S. Department of the Interior
Bureau of Indian Affairs
Hopi Agency
(520) 738-2249
Also please call:
Kelsey Begaye, President
The Navajo Nation
P.O. Box 9000
Window Rock, AZ 86515
(520) 871-6000
and
Roman Bitsuie, Director
Navajo Hopi Land Commission
P.O. Box 2549
Window Rock, AZ 86515
(502) 871-6277
Thank you,
Yours sincerely,
Marsha Monestersky,
Consultant to Sovereign Dineh Nation
See Part II Update on Kee Shay and who to contact. I had to
send this
in 2
segments....
....................
Dear Big Mountain Supporters,
The inhumanity of the tragedy the US government is perpetuating
against
the
Dineh people is demonstrated by the Notice of Order of Proposed
Exclusion
given to a Big Mountain elder Kee Shay. With the deadline date
of February
1, 2000 fast approaching, we need your help to obtain repeal of
the
relocation laws Public Law 93-531 and 104-301.
Update on Kee Shay's Notice of Order of Proposed Exclusion
by the Hopi
Tribe
The deadline of May 22 came and went and the Hopi tribe has
refused to
respond to a letter sent by Kee Shay on May 17 via certified mail,
return
receipt requested. The basis for the letter sent that was released
previously on the Big Mountain list, is that Kee Shay says he
needs copies
of
the Ordinances he is being cited in violation of by the Hopi tribe
before
he
can make a proper response. But the Hopi tribe has refused to
provide
him
with this information.
As you know, Kee Shay and his wife, May Shay are being told
they are
trespassing on their land. May Shay says, “I have lived
here since before
I
was 18 years old when I married Kee Shay. I am now 76 years old.
My sheep
corral, my house and my ash pile is here. This is where I live.
We are
even
told that our hogan which we need to rebuild in order to have
ceremonies
in
is illegal. How are we to survive? How can the Hopi tribe say
we are
a
danger to the Hopi Tribe? I am afraid when I am here alone, the
Hopi police
come by here and tell me to leave my home and that I do not belong
here.
They do this to me when I am out sheepherding alone. Who is going
to protect
me? How can they do this to me?”
Shay Benally, Kee Shay’s son says, “I was concerned
with the deadline for
response to the Exclusion Order approaching that we would not
receive the
information we needed to make a response so I went to see the
people at
the
Tuba City Navajo Hopi Land Commission to ask them if they could
give me
a
copy of the Ordinance 46 and 43 and the other Ordinances that
my father
Kee
Shay is being cited in violation of. The people at the Navajo
Hopi Land
Commission told me that they have this information but would not
give it
to
me. How are we supposed to respond to the Exclusion Order? They
should
just
take the word Navajo out of Navajo Hopi Land Commission.”
Shay Benally continues, “Kee Shay was concerned when the
Navajo Hopi Land
Commission would not release the information he needed and we
still had
not
received any response to our letter asking for copies of the Ordinances,
so I
went to the Hopi tribe to see the Hopi Chairman Wayne Taylor on
Friday,
May
21. I asked him if he would give me the text of the Ordinances
that my
father Kee Shay is being cited in violation of. He just told
me that he
would not give me the information and that he wanted to keep this
information
confidential. Confidential from who? My father Kee Shay and
my mother
are
being told they are going to be excluded from their home.”
We need you to contact the Hopi Chairman and tell him to stop
the Exclusion
process against Kee Shay and release copies of all Ordinances
he is being
cited of.
Call: Wayne Taylor, Jr.
Chairman of the Hopi Tribe
(520) 734-3000
and
Kelsey Begaye, President
The Navajo Nation
P.O. Box 9000
Window Rock, AZ 86515
(520) 871-6000
and
Roman Bitsuie, Director
Navajo Hopi Land Commission
P.O. Box 2549
Window Rock, AZ 86515
(502) 871-6277
Thank you,
Marsha Monestersky
Consultant to Sovereign Dineh Nation
Phone: (520) 673-3461
E-mail: dinetah29@aol.com
Web site: http://www.theofficenet.com/~redorman/welcome.html
and
www.solcommunications.com
......................
From: DINETAH29@aol.com
Date: Fri, 28 May 1999 00:06:52 EDT
Subject: Part III-Call Rep. J.D. Hayworth to support repeal of
section
10(f)
of P.L. 93-531
Dear Big Mountain Supporters,
Please act now to support repeal of section 10(f) of Public
Law 93-531
and
tell the Representatives you speak with that the whole of Public
Law 93-531
must be repealed.
URGENT URGENT URGENT URGENT
Representative J.D. Hayworth is currently introducing legislation
in the
House of Representatives to repeal Public Law 93-531 section 10(f)
commonly
known as the "Bennett Freeze".
Section 10(f) of Public Law 93-531, commonly known as the Bennett
Freeze
is
the part of the law that has legalized the denial of Dineh people
to any
infrastructure, including access to water, housing improvement,
new home
construction, dirt road maintainence and all services. The Bennett
Freeze
makes it illegal to even fix a broken window or a leak in your
roof .
Public Law 93-531 as a whole is the Relocation Act passed in
1974. It
is
responsible for the relocation of over 12,000 traditional Dineh
people
with
those trying to hang on facing a relocation deadline of February
1, 2000
authorized by Public Law 104-301. Both of these laws are inhumane.
How
can
any legislation condone forced relocation within the borders of
the United
States as we enter the new millenium? Haven't the people suffered
enough?
President of the Navajo Nation Kelsey Begay is being asked to
support its
repeal. Please make sure he supports the repeal of the whole
of Public
Law
93-531 and repeal of Public Law 104-301.
A complete list of phone, fax, e-mail numbers and addresses
for
representatives is available on the web at: www.house.gov
Please include Representative J.D. Hayworth, AZ
and other AZ, UT and NM Representatives
Also please call:
Kelsey Begaye, President
The Navajo Nation
P.O. Box 9000
Window Rock, AZ 86515
(520) 871-6000
and
Roman Bitsuie, Director
Navajo Hopi Land Commission
P.O. Box 2549
Window Rock, AZ 86515
(502) 871-6277
URGENT URGENT URGENT URGENT
Yours sincerely,
Marsha Monestersky
Consultant to Sovereign Dineh Nation
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------
To repeal the Bennett Freeze thus ending a gross treaty violation
with
the Navajo Nation and allowing the Navajo
Nation to live in habitable dwellings and raise their living
conditions,... (Introduced in the House)
HR 151 IH
106th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 151
To repeal the Bennett Freeze thus ending a gross treaty violation
with
the Navajo Nation and allowing the Navajo Nation to live in
habitable dwellings and raise their living conditions, and for
other
purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 6, 1999
Mr. HAYWORTH introduced the following bill; which was referred
to the
Committee on Resources
A BILL
To repeal the Bennett Freeze thus ending a gross treaty violation
with
the Navajo Nation and allowing the Navajo Nation to live in
habitable dwellings and raise their living conditions, and for
other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that--
(1) the Navajo Nation is one of the largest and most
economically depressed Indian reservations in the United States;
(2) the Bennett Freeze, named after former Bureau
of Indian
Affairs Commissioner Robert Bennett, was
administratively issued in 1966 to restrict the Navajo
tribe
from constructing and repairing their dwellings on land that
was subject to a land dispute with the Hopi Tribe;
(3) the Bennett Freeze has affected 1,500,000 acres
of land,
approximately 9 percent of the total acreage of the
Navajo Nation, covering 10 chapters and affecting nearly
8,000
people;
(4) only 3 percent of the families affected by the
Bennett
Freeze have electricity and only 10 percent have running
water;
(5) since 1966, the population has increased by approximately
65 percent in the Bennett Freeze area, forcing several
generations of families to live together in dwellings
that
have been declared unfit for human habitation;
(6) members of the medical community confirm that
overcrowding
and the absence of running water, refrigeration, and
adequate sewage disposal adversely impact the mental
and
physical health of Navajos residing in the Bennett Freeze
area;
(7) the Bennett Freeze has halted essential construction,
including power line extensions, waterline extensions, road
improvements, and community facilities improvements;
(8) when the Bennett Freeze was temporarily lifted
in 1992, an
ambitious $20,000,000 construction plan for new
dwellings was proposed that would have raised living
conditions and increased the economic viability of the Bennett
Freeze area, however, the plan did not become a reality
because a Federal judge reinstated the freeze;
(9) the Federal Government has not taken the steps
necessary
to end the Bennett Freeze in this already economically
depressed community; and
(10) the Bennett Freeze is a gross violation of treaty
obligations to the Navajo Nation.
SEC. 2. REPEAL OF THE BENNETT FREEZE.
Section 10(f) of Public Law 93-531 (25 U.S.C. 640d-9(f))
is
repealed.