Dear Big Mountain Supporters,
The article entitled "Hopi Tribe proposes exclusion
of Dineh HPL resident"
appeared in this weeks Navajo Times. It is important that the
activities of
the Hopi Tribe be exposed. The Hopi Tribe is using this Notice
of Proposed
Order of Exclusion" as a test case, clearly demonstrating
what they have in
mind for Dineh Hopi Parition Land (HPL) residents.
The term "exclusion order" was the legal euphemism
representing the reality
of "evacuation" and incarceration, or internment, in
concentration camps of
the Japanese during WWII, a program overseen by Dillon Myer, who
went from
there to head up the BIA after WWII.
The Director of the Hopi Lands Office has stated previously
that any
evictions of non-signers of the Accommodation Agreement is supposed
to be in
the hands of the federal government until February 1, 2000. So
what will the
US government do about this?
The commonality of the programs and personnel, from the Navajo
Long March in
the 1860's - to the Japanese internment camps - to the post-WWII
BIA clearly
demonstrates the continuing history of violations perpetuated
against the
Dineh and all Indigenous peoples.
We will keep you informed about what develops. Please keep the pressure up.
Please call:
Senator John McCain
Link to McCain's address page:
http://www.senate.gov/~mccain/arizona.htm
(for mail, address, email, etc..)
phone: (202) 224-2235
fax: (202) 228-2862
Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell
(202) 224-5852
A complete list of phone, fax, e-mail numbers and addresses
for senators is
available on the web at: www.senate.gov
And please call:
Wayne Taylor, Jr.
Chairman of the Hopi Tribe
(520) 734-3000
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
Navajo Times
Thursday, May 13, 1999
Hopi Tribe proposes exclusion of Dineh HPL resident
By Wendy R. Young
Navajo Times Correspondent
FLAGSTAFF - After observing the course of events that have
taken place, it
appears that the main reason that so many Dineh Hopi Partition
Land residents
entered into Accommodation Agreement leases with the Hopi Tribe,
is the legal
angle - if they did not sign, they would be evicted.
Former Hopi Tribal Chairman Ferrell Secakuku had additional
selling points
related to basic living needs before the AA deadline of March
31, 1997.
Among them were higher livestock permit numbers, and lifting the
decades-old
construction freeze.
At a public meeting held March 29, 1997, former Navajo Nation
President
Albert Hale is reported as reminding Secakuku that the Hopi Chairman
had
verbally guaranteed there would be no evictions of AA signers
or non-signers
until after the 3-year trial period for the AA which would end
February 1,
2000.
At this time, the Hopi Tribe has stepped into a gray area on
their verbal
promises and is further jeopardizing their good neighbor
intentions with
Dineh HPL residents. The Hopi Tribe appears to be preparing their
legal
system for exclusion, or eviction, of Dineh HPL residents
and has already
commenced with a test case.
Dated April 27, 1999, a Notice of Proposed Order of Exclusion
signed by Hopi
Chairman Wayne Taylor, Jr., was sent to an elderly Dineh man whose
traditional use area is cut through by the HPL fenceline.
According to friends of the family, the family residents on
the Navajo
Partition Land but their hogan is located and animals graze on
the Hopi side
of the fence. No one from the Hopi Tribe was available for comment.
The notice specifically alleges that the resident has, ...engaged
in
authorized placement and/or construction of dwelling and associated
structures on the Hopi Reservation, and, ...allowed
the presence and
grazing of unauthorized cattle/animals on the Hopi Reservation.
Most Dineh HPL residents - signers, and non-signers - could
be considered
guilty of these basic living needs and situations
which have been disputed
with the Hopi Tribe by Dineh HPL residents since Congress passed
the
Relocation Act in 1974.
These are the only two activities cited on the document. The
Exclusion
Notice says that these activities are in violation of Hopi Tribal
Ordinance
46, other Hopi Tribal or village ordinances, and United States
law. The
notice states that the Hopi Tribe intends to exclude and
remove him, and
also that the individuals, ...presence on the Reservation
may be harmful to
members of the Tribe.
Earlier this year, Office of Hopi Lands Director Clayton Honyumptewa
told the
Navajo Times in regards to evictions of AA non-signers that, ...its
in the
hands of the federal government until February 1 of 2000.
He continued that after that end of the AAs 3-year trial
period, those
non-signer families, if still residing on the Dineh HPL, would
be subject to
Hopi law. He assumed that the Hopi Tribe would bring those families
into the
Hopi Court system for eviction, under violation of either the
Hopi Civil
Trespass Ordinance or the Hopi Exclusion Ordinance.
The notice in question has begun that process in a way where
the elderly
Dineh HPL land-user will be banned from the HPL but not evicted
since his
summer camp is on the other side of the fence.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Navajo Hopi Land Commission Director
Roman Bitsuie
said he was unaware of the notice but would be looking into it.
Navajo
Nation President Kelsey Begayes Press Officer Tina James
said that Begayes
office was also inquiring for more information in order to establish
a
position and to possibly take action.
In response to 90-day notices to vacate which the federal Office
of Navajo
and Hopi Indian Relocation was to distribute to AA non-signers
back in early
January, then President-Elect Begaye pledged support for those
facing
eviction and he called for a meeting with Chairman Taylor.
Begaye stated, I hope Chairman Taylor and I can find
a way to let these
Navajo families stay where they are.
The current Notice of Proposed Order of Exclusion advises the
Dineh HPL
residents that he has the right to submit a written response no
later than 15
days after receiving the notice or else a decision and order may
be entered.
His letter may also request a hearing, which would possibly
take place in the
Hopi Court. Dispute resolution was an issue to be further negotiated
during
the AAs 3-year trial, but which was never formally resolved.
ONHIR and the U.S. Department of Justice are currently responsible
for having
AA non-signer homesites removed from the Dineh HPL before the
end of the
3-year trial, but bureaucratic operations are holding up the process.
AA signers and non-signers will lose the option of federal
relocation
benefits when they expire on February 1, 2000.